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Dallas Stars Round 3: Top Game Of Year Poll: PIT vs. NSH

By Josh Clark |

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.

Rounds one and two are 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 @ Pittsburgh Penguins on October 16th VS. Nashville Predators @ Dallas Stars on April 11th

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.

Nashville Predators @ Dallas Stars, 4-1 F:

There probably isn’t much hope for the Pittsburgh game in this match. To be fair, there may not be a chance for any game that goes up against Game #82 for the Dallas Stars this past year.

Though the Stars were already out of playoff contention and the Predators had already clenched a spot, there was still much to be played for in Dallas. Within the past four games leading up to Fan Appreciation Night, Jamie Benn had himself on a tear. Scoring eight points since April 3rd, he had surprisingly gotten himself into the conversation for the Art Ross Trophy, which is awarded to the league leader in points at the end of the regular season.

As the final game began, Benn found himself with 83 points, down only one to the leaders Sidney Crosby and John Tavares. At the end of the first period, Benn had scored two goals and held a one-point lead on the other two in the race. Crosby’s game ended early, and he finished the year at 84 points.

As the third period began, new information began to circulate through the American Airlines Center. John Tavares had scored a goal and tallied an assist in a shootout loss to the Blue Jackets, ultimately pinning Tavares at 86 points, one ahead of Benn.

With just 2:05 remaining, Benn sent an almost full-ice shot into the empty net to give the Stars a 3-1 lead and secure the victory in their final game. But it wasn’t about the win. After people had a few moments to look up the tiebreaker considering Tavares and Benn were knotted at 86, the sad reality sunk in. The tiebreaker turned out to be whichever player had more goals, which Tavares led by a good amount. Not many had hope, but the Dallas Stars had other plans.

With around 15 seconds to go, the Predators had their goaltender back in the net. Benn took a hopeful shot from the point, only for it to be saved by Preds goalie Carter Hutton. Nashville regained possession of the puck and went for the clear to end the attack. Jamie Benn skated into the best position possible and almost magically deflected the puck off his shin and perfectly down the boards to the awaiting Trevor Daley. Daley fed it over to Cody Eakin in front, who cashed in for the fourth goal of the game, giving Benn the secondary assist and clenching the Art Ross Trophy with just 8.5 seconds remaining.

The Stars put on a show for their fans in the final game of their season, with the Captain leading the charge as the main character.

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 News: Mount Rushmore Picks, NHL's 30-in-30

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