Dallas Stars Unravel In Loss To Blues
By Marcus Gatto
Apr 3, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) and left wing Jamie Benn (14) leave the ice after their game against the St. Louis Blues at the American Airlines Center. The Blues won 7-5. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Stars dropped their second consecutive game by a score of 7-5 to the St.Louis Blues tonight. The Stars heavily outplayed the Blues but were unable to defend well enough to earn two points. Stars’ starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen gave up 6 goals on 20 shots and was pulled in the third period. Both Valeri Nichushkin and Travis Moen made their return to the Stars lineup after lengthy stays on the injured reserve. Jamie Benn (2), Tyler Seguin, Travis Moen, and Antoine Roussel scored for the Stars tonight.
First Period
The Stars got off to a great start against the Blues in the first period. They carried the play for most of the period and earned the only two powerplays of the opening frame. Unfortunately, the Blues would strike first. Patrik Berglund redirected a point shot from the right point past Lehtonen’s blocker for his 11th of the season. Less than two minutes later, Stars forward Travis Moen would even the score on a penalty shot. Moen, who had been out since mid-January, slipped a slick sweeping wrister past Brian Elliot to knot the score. The two teams would head to the dressing room tied 1-1 although the Stars held a 12-5 shot advantage.
Second Period
The second period was one of the most entertaining periods of the Stars season. The Blues immediately came out and scored two goals in just over 30 seconds to take a 3-1 lead. Berglund scored his second of the game and 12th of the season while Jaden Schwartz found the back of the net for his 26th of the season. Captain Jamie Benn responded by sniping a quick wrister past Elliot’s blocker only six seconds later to cut the Blues lead to one. Tyler Seguin would even the score at three when he buried a wrister from Benn halfway through the period. At this point the Stars were dominating the play and the American Airlines Centre crowd was raucous. Benn would get his second of the game on a beautiful tip between the legs of Elliott, and Antoine Roussel would give the Stars a two goal lead when he jammed in a wraparound for his 13th of the season. The Blues wouldn’t exit the period quietly as they got within one when Schwartz sniped his second goal of the game off the far post and past Lehtonen’s glove hand. The Stars would head to the dressing room nursing a one goal lead.
Third Period
Entering the third period the Stars knew they would have to play some superb defence infront of Lehtonen if they were to nail down a win. Unfortunately for them, the Blues would score twice within the first 10 minutes of the period and chase Lehtonen from the game. Zbynek Michalek would score first from close range and then Alex Pietrangelo scored with spin-o-rama wrister from the point on the powerplay. The Stars would throw everything they had towards the Blues goal for the remaining 10 minutes but could not find the equalizer. Eventually, Schwartz scored into the empty net to record the hat-trick.
Notes & Observations
-Val Nichushkin and Travis Moen both had triumphant returns to the lineup tonight. Nichushkin had one assist while Moen scored a goal on a penalty shot.
-The Dallas Stars surrendered 7 goals on 21 shots tonight. That equates to a team save percentage of .666.
-Jamie Benn scored his 30th goal of the season in tonight’s loss.
-The Stars tragic number is now reduced to 3 points. A combination of three points that are either lost by Dallas or gained by Winnipeg or Los Angeles will effectively eliminate the Stars from playoff contention.
-The Stars will be back on the ice tomorrow night when they head to Nashville to take on the Predators in a back-to-back. Be sure to visit Blackout Dallas for all the pregame and postgame coverage!