Dallas Stars Shutout by Jake Allen and the Blues

Final. 0. 119. 3. 99

The Dallas Stars lost a crucial two-points tonight against the St Louis Blues at the American Airlines Center. The Stars are now (32-28-10) with little chance of a post-season appearance. Dallas will look to score some goals and get back on track against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

Recap

The first period started with a few quality chances on both sides with the best save being Kari Lehtonen’s stop against St Louis’ TJ Oshie a few minutes into the game. Then at 5:26 of the frame Blues defenseman Barret Jackman tripped Ales Hemsky in the offensive zone to put Dallas on the power play, but they only registered one shot during the two-minute advantage. Fewer than four minutes later Petteri Lindbohm high sticked Colton Sceviour to grant Dallas their second power play of the game, but again it failed to amount to anything. Dallas’ Brett Ritchie took a high sticking penalty of his own at 12:02 of the period to test the Stars’ penalty kill for the first time. Like that of the Stars, the Blues’ power play was unsuccessful. The period ended goalless with Dallas having the shots advantage 9-5.

The second period had a rather slow start. Dallas failed to score on another power play making them 0-for-3 on the night after the Blues killed a minor to Alex Steen. Dallas registered one shot on their fourth man advantage of the game when Steen was in the box again, making them 0-for-4. Other than a few strong hits from Stars captain Jamie Benn the second period was rather uneventful. The Stars and Blues went into the second intermission scoreless with Dallas leading in shots, 16-12.

The third period had more animosity than the first two as Curtis McKenzie and Blues captain David Backes got matching roughing minors less than five minutes in. St Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko broke the scoreless tie with his tenth goal against the Stars this season at 4:26. Then while playing 4-on-4 Oshie high sticked Jamie Oleksiak to give Dallas their fifth power play of the game, in which they accumulated five shots. The Blues’ goal scorer Tarasenko was called for tripping with just under ten minutes left in the period to give Dallas their sixth power play opportunity of the game. The Stars were obviously frustrated after not being able to get anything on their multiple chances and continued the trend of poor power plays as they, once again, failed to register a shot. Steen netted his 20th goal of the season when Vernon Fiddler was in the box for tripping to put the Blues up 2-0. Oshie added an empty netter to ensure the win for St Louis 3-0.

Thoughts and Observations

Power Play Lacked Power

The Stars had four power play opportunities through the first two periods and they only registered two shots on all of them. Most of the time was spent chasing the puck back down around Lehtonen a full 200 feet away from the Blues goal, or Dallas was turning pucks over allowing offensive opportunities against. This late in the season with a healthy Tyler Seguin on the first unit the Stars shouldn’t be struggling on the power play, much less getting zero shots on six minutes with the extra man. The Stars also failed to convert on two more power play chances in the third period, despite registering five shots on their fifth opportunity.

Energy

Maybe it was the fact that the Blues played last night, or the Stars were thrown off by the early start time, but this game was unusually uneventful. Most of the time hockey is high paced and it’s difficult to keep up with puck, but tonight’s game lacked that energy. It could also be that there was no scoring through forty minutes, mainly due to the lack of offensive opportunities, or Dallas’ lack of scoring chances on their multiple power plays, but regardless tonight’s game wasn’t typical Dallas Stars hockey.

Third Period Woes

Once again the Stars crumbled in the third period. They gave up three unanswered goals in the final twenty minutes and were shutout by Jake Allen and the Blues in a game that they desperately needed to boost their confidence playing at home. It was definitely not the start to their four-game home stand that features challenging opponents to the likes of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks. Ultimately Dallas’ play in third periods this season has been their biggest downfall and has resulted in numerous losses for the team.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to check back for the preview and post game analysis on Thursday as the Stars take on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins!

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