Dallas Stars 2014-2015 Season: Top Game Of The Year Poll
Today, Blackout Dallas will be continuing a series for the second year. It was meant to start up at the beginning of July but with the NHL offseason mess, it had to wait. But since there is a bit of down time, now is the time to start it up!
We have made a bracket, one like you would see for the NBA or NHL playoffs, of the 16 best games of the Dallas Stars 2013-2014 regular season. We’re sure you will agree entirely with the 16 games that have been chosen, and if not, then just play along and comment at the end with which one you feel should have been given a chance.
So, we will put a poll up for each of the next 15 days featuring two of the games going head-to-head, with a brief argument for why it should be considered. Then, you can go to the bottom and vote on which one you think deserves to move on to the next round. The poll will expire 24 hours after it is put up, just in time for the next bracket of games to be put up. At the end of the Sweet 16, we will announce the winners of the entire round and start up the Elite 8, and so on and so forth. This is our second year to do this. Last season we received a good reaction from the readers, so we are going to do it for the second straight year.
This is the third day of the bracket. On day one, the Stars @ Blues game crushed the Stars @ Flames game. Yesterday, the Stars @ Penguins game almost pulled off a landslide victory against the Stars @ Panthers game, receiving 97% of the votes.
Today, we will take a look at the next two games: Dallas Stars @ New York Rangers February 8th VS. Dallas Stars @ Boston Bruins February 10th
Dallas Stars @ New York Rangers, 3-2 (OT):
The runner-up for Eastern Conference champion had their fair share of struggles this past year against the Stars. In fact, while the Rangers swept the Stars in 2013-2014, the Stars returned the favor in 2014-2015.
On the second day of a back to back after playing the first day and being ruined by the league’s-worst Buffalo Sabres, the Dallas Stars were slated to play at Madison Square Garden. With three straight losses trailing them, they were going to have to beat one of the best teams in the league if they wanted to keep pace with the final wild card spot.
After Jason Spezza helped the Stars gain an early 1-0 lead, it was tied up around 4:30 to go in the first. Erik Cole found the net with just 1:55 remaining. This lead held true for the majority of the game, and it looked as though the Stars may walk away with the win. That was until 1:20 remained in the third period and Chris Kreider was able to beat Kari Lehtonen to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The Stars were not the greatest overtime team, but they were determined to find a way. Just 1:02 into overtime, Ales Hemsky found an open lane parallel to the blue line and took the puck to the right circle. This is where he ripped it past Rangers backup Cam Talbot, who was filling in at the time. The Stars walked away with the 3-2 victory, with Lehtonen stopping 34 of 36. This was the perfect way to liven up the Sunday afternoon that followed Super Bowl Sunday.
Dallas Stars @ Boston Bruins, 5-3 F:
The Dallas Stars always seem to play a great game when they show up to the TD Garden to face the host Boston Bruins.
Just two days after beating the Rangers in overtime (as mentioned above), the Stars were back on the attack with the Bruins facing off against them.
After Vernon Fiddler scored a shorthanded goal early in the first frame, the Bruins countered to tie it just 3:15 later. But Jamie Benn was determined to continue adding onto his point total, scoring two goals to finish out the first period.
As always, the Stars settled in with a two goal lead, and with 13:18 left in the second it was tied at 3. But a second shorthanded goal was scored for Dallas, this time by defenseman Trevor Daley. His goal would prove to be the game winner. With a hilarious empty netter from Erik Cole to finish it off, the Stars strutted out of Boston with a 5-3 win. Kari Lehtonen had his second dazzling performance in a row, saving 41 of 44.
Now that you have been refreshed somewhat on the games, it’s time for you to let your voice be heard. Vote below on which game you think was the more entertaining. The poll will deactivate in 24 hours and the winning game will move on to the next round. Apologies to anyone using the mobile app as it does not currently support our polls. But we encourage you to find us online or through social media and vote there!
Be on the lookout tomorrow for the next edition of this series. The Stars had some memorable games this past season, but which one was the most memorable? You can help make this decision by casting your vote down below.
Next: Dallas Stars Top Game Of 2014-2015 Rd. 2
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