Dallas Stars Get Chances, but Fall to Edmonton Oilers 4-0

The Dallas Stars fell to the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 4-0 tonight to lose two points and their game in hand in the playoff race. They’ll look to get back on track tomorrow night when they face off against the Vancouver Canucks.

Recap

It only took thirty-three seconds to establish a 1-0 lead over the Stars after Tyler Seguin misplaced the puck in the neutral zone, leading to an odd man rush against. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins then passed the puck from the goal line to an uncovered Jordan Eberle in front of the net who tapped in the puck with ease. The Stars had the first power play opportunity of the game when Taylor Hall tripped Curtis McKenzie, but they were unable to convert. Shawn Horcoff looked to have scored a goal with Richard Bachman down and out, but the referee had blown the whistle so the goal didn’t count. The Stars trailed the Oilers 1-0 after the first period, but led in shots 10-6.

The second period saw a changed Dallas Stars club. Brett Ritchie hit the post less than fifteen seconds after the center ice faceoff and the Stars worked for a few quality offensive opportunities early on. Despite increased offensive time, however, Dallas failed to tie the game up. Hall delivered a cheap shot to Jamie Benn, which infuriated him, but Hall retreated once as he realized he’d have to fight an angry Benn. Kari Lehtonen and Bachman both made a few excellent saves on breakaway chances, the best for Kari being a glove grab on Nugent-Hopkins. Dallas had a 4-on-3 man advantage after a scrum in front of Lehtonen that led to offsetting roughing minors to Antoine Roussel and Matt Fraser in addition to a tripping minor against Nugent-Hopkins. The Stars went 0-for-2 on power plays through forty minutes and trailed the Oilers 1-0 after two.

The third period again started with Dallas having a jump in their step. Jamie Benn made a long pass to break Ales Hemsky, but Bachman stood tall and preserved the 1-0 lead for the Oilers. Alex Goligoski pivoted his skate to kick the puck out of the crease after he turned it over in the Stars’ zone, but it went right to the blade of former Dallas Stars Derek Roy‘s stick and he scored to increase their lead to two. Benoit Pouloit made it 3-0 Edmonton when Cody Eakin failed to cover the back door with just over six minutes left in the third. Andrew Miller scored his first NHL goal on a penalty shot with 3:20 left in the third period to make it 4-0 Edmonton. The Oilers shutout the Stars and left Dallas’ playoff hopes even further diminished.

Thoughts and Observations

Turn Over Central

The whole game essentially consisted of breakaways and odd man rushes at both ends of the ice. Most of those chances, however, came as a result of untimely turnovers that have no place in the Stars’ game this late in the season. Seguin’s neutral zone turnover led to the first goal of the game only a little over thirty seconds into the first period, which is exactly the opposite of how Dallas wanted to start. Although they tried to come back and play better as the game went on, consistently turning over possession when you’re in the fight for a playoff spot is dangerous.

Goalie Strong

The sheer volume of opportunities against both goalies in tonight’s game was outstanding, especially when considering the quality of those opportunities. Despite the numerous chances both Bachman and Lehtonen stood tall and made incredible saves. Bachman made a good stop against Patrick Eaves in the second period after he got a pass from Jason Spezza while on the rush, while Lehtonen’s stop on Nugent-Hopkins’ breakaway was impressive in its own right. Ultimately tonight’s game was decided mainly on the goalie match-up and Bachman had the edge with help from his defensemen and a decent amount of luck.

Big Names are No Show

Other than a solid performance by Lehtonen the Dallas Stars’ elite players weren’t as good as they need to be. Jamie Benn was -2 on the night and had a few turnovers throughout the game. Seguin not only missed the net on a handful or so prime opportunities, but he also turned over the puck at the start of the game that directly led to the first goal against. Spezza found himself unable to contribute in numerous quality offensive opportunities and Hemsky had some skilled moves, but they didn’t result in anything. Goligoski, who had been excellent during recent games, was directly involved in a goal against. Overall tonight’s loss, and lack of performance from elite players, was disappointing in terms of not only Dallas’ playoff hopes, but the level at which they should be playing at the end of March in the NHL.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to check back for the preview and post game analysis tomorrow night as the Stars take on the Vancouver Canucks.