Dallas Stars Earn Wild Comeback Win In St. Paul

The Dallas Stars more than redeemed their absent first two periods tonight by absolutely rolling on the Minnesota Wild in the third period, evening up the score and then pulling ahead in a dramatic 4-3 OT finish. Catch the recap below!

Last years’ Dallas Stars took the ice for the first two periods of play in St. Paul, reverting to old ways and inspiring some doubt. But thankfully, this season’s Stars found their way back to the ice in just enough time to come back from a 3-0 deficit to crush the Wild’s hope of winning in OT, 4-3.

Game Recap

Period 1

The Wild came out aggressively, perhaps throwing the Stars for a loop, if their first period play was any indication. Perhaps back to back games and travel fatigue combined for a nightmarish start, but the Stars were not quick enough on the attack.

The Wild were not quite so slow; Thomas Vanek put them up 1-0 5:52 into the period with a snap shot that Niemi never saw coming. From then on, it seemed like a total loss of control as the Dallas “Turnover” Stars allowed yet another goal, this one a two on one rush which ended in a Charlie Coyle slapshot to sink the Stars even further at 2-0.

At the buzzer, Minnesota led in SOG 9-7, and in goals 2-0, with the Stars looking dazed and confused despite being 1 minute into a power play.

Period 2

The Stars’ remaining power play time ran out uneventfully, and a mere 6 seconds after the Wild killed the penalty, Jason Pominville’s slapshot found the back of the net to give the Wild a discouraging 3-0 advantage.

The frustration was evident when Roussel took a penalty, and though the Stars killed it efficiently, the energy level began to increase. The Stars’ offense starting getting desperate, and suddenly led the Wild in SOG 26-14.

The Stars started to shed the last-season style of play they had been stuck in all game and the second period ended with minimal damage and a slight air of hope.

Period 3

We don’t know exactly what was said in that locker room, but the Stars came in to the third period looking much more like the Central Division-dominating team they have been of late. Just 4:57 into the period, a deflected shot credited to Alex Goligoski put the Stars on the board, with Jordie Benn and Valeri Nichushkin helping.

Then, Oduya took a penalty defending the goal, and the Stars went on the penalty kill. But scoring was forefront in Jamie Benn’s mind, and he put away a shorthanded snapshot at 9:43 with an assist from Cody Eakin to put the game at 3-2 and extend Benn’s point streak to 8 games.

From there, the pressure on the Wild net only increased. The tipping point was John’s Klingberg’s heroic tip in at 14:34, assisted by Cody Eakin and Tyler Seguin. This epic goal tied the game, redeemed Klingberg from some ugly turnovers, and extended Seguin’s point streak to 8 games as well.

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The last minutes were a frenzied scuffle and absolute barrage of the nets, but neither team could notch the game winner, sending the contest into overtime.

OT

The 3 on 3 team of Benn, Klingberg, and Seguin was predominately defensive; Jamie Benn got one shot on Darcy Kuemper, and it was a tired one at that. Sharp, Eakin, and Demers cycled through as well, with a tragedy of a shot from Sharp that ricocheted off the crossbar in the most mocking of ways.

Tyler Seguin finally put an end to the nonsense 3:57 into OT with a backhand shot assisted by both Jamie Benn and John Klingberg, which resulted in what I’m sure was somehow simultaneously the most exhausted and most exuberant of cellys.

Thoughts and Observations

Despite an on-fire third period and a breath-taking comeback, the Stars were by no means without error tonight- which is why they had to launch a comeback to begin with.

It seems more and more here lately that the Stars have turnover on the brain, and not the delicious pastry kind, either. Careless blind drop passes at inopportune moments have led to the Stars giving up goals on more than one occasion, and this is a problem that simply must be taken care of.

As exciting as this brand of game is, and as many comebacks as the Stars seem to have hidden up their jersey sleeves, it is only a matter of time before they dig a hole too deep.

That being said, we have yet to encounter anything that can put out the fire of this team when they are down and desperate. Even when the Stars started getting back into the game, it seemed it would be too little too late. But despite two periods of inadequate play plus being shorthanded, Jamie Benn was once again the perfect leader and energizer for this team.

Next: Dallas Stars Quotes After Riveting 3-2 Win Over Vancouver

The Dallas Stars will get a little down time before they face their next road opponent, the Calgary Flames, at 8 PM CT on December 1^st. Hopefully this will give them enough time to rest, reboot, and perhaps get their fill of turnovers. The delicious pastry kind.