They fought, they battled, they scrapped, and the Dallas Stars came away with a victory tonight over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kari Lehtonen showed a tremendous amount of fortitude as he fought all game long to keep the Stars playoff hopes alive. The full game recap is below.
Recap
Fans expected this to be a fast-paced game and they were not disappointed in the first. One minute in and the Stars were on the attack, as Brett Ritchie and Shawn Horcoff combined for a good scoring chance. Each team had powerplay chances in the first but were unable to convert. Late in the period, Blake Comeau had a quality scoring chance but was denied by Kari Lehtonen. That is about where the game started to get a little chippy, as Kris Letang and Curtis McKenzie got into a scuffle late in the period. No goals were scored in the first but there was plenty of action.
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The second period was all about speed and chances for both sides. It started early for the Stars, as Ritchie got a fortunate bounce as his attempted-pass to Horcoff was redirected into the net by a Penguin’s stick. Just over a minute later, Tyler Seguin found Jamie Benn alone in front of the net, who took two shots and slid it past Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. Minutes later, the Stars had a 4-1 opportunity but were unable to generate a shot on goal. They were then awarded back-to-back chances but again, they were not able to score. Missed opportunities have cost the Stars wins in the past. The Penguins were given a powerplay after a Jason Spezza penalty, and they did what the Stars could not. Kris Letang snapped a goal past Lehtonen to cut the Stars lead in half. The period ended chippy again and the Stars held a 2-1 lead.
The third period began with a Stars powerplay but again, they could not seem to get much going and the opportunity was wasted. Curtis McKenzie had yet another active period, as his pretty toe-drag chance ended with a Fleury save. The Penguins were given a powerplay opportunity as well and Kari Lehtonen came up big. That was the story of the game really, Lehtonen played one of his better contests of the year. Letang had multiple chances in the third but every time Lehtonen was there to make the save. With 10 seconds left and lots of open space, Jyrki Jokipakka made a mistake by throwing it down the ice looking for his first NHL goal and iced the puck. His rookie mistake did not cost the Stars however and they won the game 2-1.
Thoughts and Observations
I feel like we say it after almost every single game, but the McKenzie/Horcoff/Ritchie trio was once again on their game. Ritchie scored a goal, McKenzie was his usual chippy self, and Horcoff was solid throughout the game. McKenzie looks like a future fit with Cody Eakin and Antoine Roussel, potentially.
I said it above, but Kari was incredible tonight. He has shown flashes of this throughout the season and if they can get this consistently, the Stars will make the playoff race in the West a little more interesting.
A midst all the good, there was some noticeable bad tonight. The Stars coughed up pucks at their own blue line frequently and a majority of the time it was due to players flying the zone a little too early. It is bound to happen occasionally as the Stars play a speedy game, but it happened way too often tonight.
The Stars hit the ice again on Saturday as they host the Chicago Blackhawks. Keep reading Blackout Dallas for all of your Stars coverage!