Stars Hold On to Beat Hurricanes, 5-3 – Postgame

The Dallas Stars gave their fans another scare by allowing a couple of late goals but they were able to hold on for the 5-3 victory in Carolina.  Although they won the game, those third period demons were in their heads again and could have cost them valuable points.  The full game recap is below.

Recap

Perhaps the Stars should consider giving their opponents a 1-0 lead, because it has been working well for them of late.  Victor Rask got the scoring started for the Hurricanes after he slammed home a rebound off of Kari Lehtonen.  The Stars were quick to answer however, as Curtis McKenzie was rewarded for going hard to the net.  The McKenzie, Shawn Horcoff and Brett Ritchie line was easily the best of the game as it has been for the past week.  Following that goal, the Stars held the puck in the Carolina zone for minutes at a time.  They were rewarded again for their efforts when Alex Goligoski scored with a wrist shot from the slot.  They were done there, as soon after the Goligoski tally, Jason Demers would join the scoring with a shot from the point.  Vern Fiddler had a chance to make it 4-1 late in the period but was unable to get it past Anton Khudobin.

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The second period was filled with back-and-forth play and numerous chances for each team.  Alexander Semin was denied on a breakaway attempt by the blocker of Lehtonen.  Benn had a good chance during a 2-on-1 but was unable to pad the lead.  Both Ales Hemsky and Jason Spezza had glorious chances on odd-man rushes as well but ultimately were unable to score.  Elias Lindhom, the young Cane, was able to breakaway late in the period but Lehtonen was once again there to keep the Stars ahead by two.  There was no scoring in the second period.

The third period started with the Stars looking like they would be able to hold a lead.  There were not a lot of chances in the first half of the frame and the Hurricanes were unable to generate a shot on goal until there were about seven minutes left in the period.  Cody Eakin was able to tip a shot past Khudobin with eight minutes to go to give the Stars a three goal lead.  But as many of you have learned from watching the Stars this year, no lead is safe.  The Hurricanes countered with two quick goals and all of a sudden it was a one goal game with five minutes left on the board.  Luckily for the Stars, Patrick Eaves was able to salt the game away with a long empty net goal and gave Dallas the 5-3 win.

Thoughts and Observations

The McKenzie/Horcoff/Ritchie line continues to dominate.  All three of them are incredibly hard to bump off the puck and they spend a majority of their shifts deep in the attacking zone.  They are just the kind of line the Stars need right now.

If the Stars are going to make the playoffs, they need the depth scoring like they got tonight.  Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, and Ales Hemsky had one point combined tonight and they won the game.  That is the effort they need moving forward.

The defensive game was OK, about what you would expect from all of those rookie defensemen.  The less chances, the better and they played a solid game until late in the third.

The Stars hit the ice again tomorrow night against the Washington Capitals, check here for game coverage!