Dallas Stars Lag In Loss To Oilers

The Dallas Stars struggled to gain their footing against the Oilers and a solid Nilsson in net, eventually falling 2-1 in three on three overtime.

Recap

Period 1

The Dallas Stars came out with immediate pressure on the puck. Right away, Anders Nilsson began a stellar performance with an alert save on Tyler Seguin which would not be the only one of its kind.

Within the first five minutes, Nilsson had robbed both Seguin and Benn, and it seemed the Stars’ intensity would finally be supplemented when Darnell Nurse went off for hooking and put the Stars on the power play. Although Benn and Sharp had an exciting chance, the PP passed quietly, leaving SOG 10-4 Stars.

Then Travis Moen, who’d been a bit of a stranger after recovering from his lower body injury, was sent off for hooking to send the Stars to their NHL 11^th-ranked penalty kill, which the Stars enacted effectively.

There was no relief to be found, though, when Mattias Janmark also went off for high sticking. Soon after the penalty was killed, Taylor Hall took advantage of a Stars line change and put the Oilers on the board first with a wrist shot at 14:49.

The Dallas Stars kept the shots coming, but despite the added pressure, just kept shooting wide of the net. When the first 20 minutes ran out, the SOG were 14-8 Stars, but the score stood at 1-0 Oilers.

Period 2

The second 20 carried on with more missed shots, pings off crossbars, and scrambling in the crease. Patrik Nemeth sent the Oilers to a power play around the halfway mark that left the Stars slow and looking tired.

The Oilers continued to have more promising-looking chances than the Stars, despite still trailing in shots on goal. Hendricks went off for hooking and brought on a Stars power play, which never clicked.

However, immediately afterwards at the 18:24 mark, Mattias Janmark finally beat the shabby Oilers’ defense and cracked Nilsson with a rebound. The assists went to Vernon Fiddler and Jamie Oleksiak, who played solidly at the end of the second period to hold the Oilers at a tie score of 1-1.

Period 3

The Stars came out to play in the third, working hard to stay on the offensive. Janmark had another good breakaway chance on net but Nilsson would not allow another breach.

More from Blackout Dallas

• Dallas Stars Traverse City Tournament: Who had great performances?
• Grushnikov and Stankoven lead Dallas Stars to 6-3 win over Columbus
• Dallas Stars prospects look to wrap up tournament with a win
• Burn the tapes: Dallas Stars prospects lose 5-1 to Toronto Maple Leafs
• Dallas Stars look to continue success today against the Maple Leafs

Nurse went off for interference, but another Dallas Stars power play passed quietly and rather uneventfully. They would get another chance when Fayn was called for holding, and the Stars finally had something that looked like a power play on their hands, but failed to cash in.

The period came to a close with the Oilers looking frazzled and the SOG a staggering 42-20. But the Stars couldn’t overcome Nilsson and the full 60 minutes ran out with the score stuck at 1-1

Three on Three

Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and John Klingberg seemed to take control early in the three on three, but a defending error led to a chance for Jordan Eberle 45 seconds into overtime that he did not pass up. The Oilers pulled ahead 2-1, giving the Stars their first taste at loss in the three on three OT.

Thoughts and Observations

After two periods of disjointed play, the Stars only really started to hit on all cylinders in the third. At that point, it was already clear that they were up against a brick wall in the form of Anders Nilsson.

More consistent and willful play in the first two periods could have turned the tide of this game for sure, as the Oilers defense was lacking, and more pressure could have easily put the Stars up by several goals.

Next: Dallas Stars December: Reason For Season Cheer

However, that’s not the way things fell tonight, and despite falling to one of the league’s bottom teams, the Stars still pulled out a 2-0-2 record to close out their road trip, giving them a 20-5-2 record so far for the season.