Dallas Stars Round Two: Top Game Of The Year Poll: STL vs. PIT

Today, Blackout Dallas will be starting up a series for a second year. It was meant to start up at the beginning of July but with the NHL offseason mess, it had to wait. But now that 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.

Round one is officially in the books, and the eight games have moved on. The next round is set and ready to go, and we will start it today.

Here is the next piece of the bracket and this playoffs: Dallas Stars @ St. Louis Blues on February 17th VS. Dallas Stars @ Pittsburgh Penguins on October 16th

Dallas Stars @ St. Louis Blues 4-1 F:

The Dallas Stars faced many trials along the path through their 2014-2015 campaign. From a young defensive core that lacked necessary experience mixed with one of the league’s best offenses, you never really knew what you would see in a given game.

One of their biggest trials, one that many accredit the Stars missing the playoffs to, was the three-week absence of Tyler Seguin. After having his knees taken out by a gutless hit on February 13th against the Florida Panthers, it was made known that Seguin would miss a good amount of time. With the prime piece of their offense missing, things did not look good for the playoff hunt.

But Jamie Benn had other plans, at least for the second game without Seguin. After being throttled 4-1 against the Avalanche the night after Seguin’s injury, Benn turned a lot of heads two days later. He scored his first career hat trick against the Blues, leading the Stars to a 4-1 win. Along with a fight between Antoine Roussel and Barret Jackman, the game could not have gotten much better.

Dallas Stars @ Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 F:

It seems as though every time the Penguins and Stars are getting together, the games always seem to be intense. This one was nothing short of that.

As the fourth game of the season on the calendar, the Dallas Stars headed for Pittsburgh with a record of 1-1-1. The game was a lively one, with a high-energy enemy crowd surrounding it. In the first period, it looked as though it may be “another one of those games” after the Penguins scored a pair of early goals to lead it 2-0 at first intermission. As the second rolled on, Antoine Roussel found a way to cut the deficit in half with an excellent one-timer.

As the third dragged on, neither goalie would give way and it seemed as though 2-1 may be the final score. Until Tyler Seguin found himself on a breakaway. Spezza ended up scoring on the rebound, but would later have the goal waived off due to Seguin’s contact with Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. This did not sit well with Jamie Benn, who scored a goal just 30 seconds after to tie it up with 2:57 left in the game.

What happened next may have been one of the best moments in the entire season. With 9 seconds to go in the third, Sidney Crosby committed a tripping penalty against Jamie Benn. With a 2-2 tie, the Stars had nine seconds of 5-on-4 and they used it to their advantage. After some quick movement of the puck, Jason Spezza found Seguin open and fed it to him to rip it home. The Stars took the lead with 2.9 seconds to go and won a nail-biter 3-2.

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: Is Lindy Ruff On Hot Seat After Another Big Stars Offseason?

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