Dallas Stars Top Game Poll Pt. 6: Pittsburgh or Arizona?

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 fourth day of the bracket. So far, the Stars @ Blues, Stars @ Penguins, Stars @ Bruins, Predators @ Stars, and Stars @ Blackhawks have moved on.

Today we will take a look at the next two games: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Dallas Stars on March 19th VS. Arizona Coyotes @ Dallas Stars on November 20th

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Dallas Stars, 2-1 F:

The Dallas Stars ended up playing the Pittsburgh Penguins twice during the 2014-2015 season. The funniest part is that both games made their way into the countdown for best game of the year. The first one from October 16th moved on earlier this past week, and now it is time for the second one to face judgement.

The Stars took on the Penguins at the American Airlines Center on March 19th in front of a sellout crowd, one that was made up of quite a large chunk of the Penguins fan base. The game was dead in the middle of the Stars so-called “playoff push that they put on in mid-March. After winning five of their first seven games in the third month, they started an eight-day home stand off with a disappointing 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

With the Stars 10 points out of a spot with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks up next, the Stars playoff chances seemed as good as dead.

But the Stars made sure to stand tall and defend the AAC, something they had not done very well since the beginning of the year. After a stalemate in the first period, Brett Ritchie and Jamie Benn both scored within the first four minutes of the second to hand off a valiant 2-0 lead. Kris Letang scored on the power play with 6:34 to cut the deficit in half, and it seemed as though the Penguins were going to tie it up.

But after a period of being outshot 15-4, the Stars were somehow able protect their one goal lead and they snuck away with the win. Kari Lehtonen received first star honors after a 31-0f-32 save performance and the Dallas Stars captain tallied two points and a +2 rating.

Arizona Coyotes @ Dallas Stars, 3-1 F:

While the Penguins game was in the midst of a long winning streak through March, this game was simply the Stars trying to stay above water.

After starting the month of November with a record of 2-7, it was crucial for the Stars to establish more wins if they wanted to be taken seriously for the rest of the year.

Enter the Arizona Coyotes. On November 20th, the Coyotes visited the AAC for a matchup with their former Pacific Division rival. Just a week earlier, the Stars had received one of their two wins of November in Arizona when they beat the Coyotes, 4-3.

This game was coming on the heels of a three-game skid for the Stars. Lowly and almost out of hope, the Stars needed to do something for their home crowd, a crowd they had not won in front of since October 21st. They made sure to do it in dramatic fashion.

After falling down 1-0 late in the first, the Stars managed to make it to the end of the second still down goal. Now, the Dallas Stars are not a team that is known for their third period rallies. In fact, the Stars were usually the team that had a rally invoked upon them by another team.

So the third period stared them down, and they met the challenge head on. Just 19 seconds into the third period John Klingberg, who was still rather new to the NHL at the time, scored his first career goal. It was a slick one too. Check the video below. Not only that, but 33 seconds later Cody Eakin brought the Stars their first lead of the game. With 4:18 to go, Jason Spezza put the final nail in the coffin, giving the Stars hope once again with a 3-1 victory.

Now that you have been refreshed 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: How Does Antti Niemi Solve The Dallas Stars Crease Problems?

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