Dallas Stars Sing The Blues, Fall 3-2 In Shootout

Despite a strong two-way start from the Dallas Stars and a heroic effort from Niemi in net, the Stars fell to the Blues in an adrenaline-laced nine-round shootout.

Game Recap

First Period

As expected, both teams came out in the first with jet packs and laser focus. Early on, the Dallas Stars exhibited smart two-way play, putting forth a very purposeful, decisive defensive effort thanks to Oduya and company. Although the Blues matched them well on defense, the Stars nonetheless persisted in pressure and seeking out shot opportunities.

Antoine Roussel drew out a roughing call against Bortuzzo to send the Stars to the power play, where the Blues’ 93.5% penalty kill proved effective still. However, the Roussel-Bortuzzo scuff provided a little extra heat, and Niemi provided some solid saves with scuffles around the net.

As the first period wound down, SOG were 7-6 in the Stars’ favor.

Second Period

Less than two minutes in, and a Goligoski holding call sent the Blues to the power play, which the Stars were able to kill off without damages. Although the Blues began to pick up speed and show signs of surpassing the Stars, Antti Niemi continued to come up big with timely and solid saves on muddled, front-of-net scraps and powerful long-range shots alike.

Mattias Janmark took a minor for high sticking 6 minutes in, bringing on another Blues power play. It didn’t take St. Louis long to make the most of the opportunity, and Alexander Steen put the Blues on the board first with a slapshot.

At this point, the Stars had no shots in the second, and had to regroup during a TV timeout. Lindy Ruff said the right stuff, whatever that was, and Colton Sceviour scored on the Stars’ first shot of the second period at 8:15, assisted by Cody Eakin and Jamie Benn.

Niemi continued to shine, and the Stars kept pushing offensively, nudging up their shots on goal. With five minutes remaining in the second, SOG were 19-13 in St. Louis’ favor.

With about forty seconds left to play, Tyler Seguin let rip a stunning slapshot, with helpers going to Patrick Sharp and Alex Goligoski, that put the Stars up 2-1.

There was still time for a little more action, as Jason Demers went down and was called for interference. At the close of the second, the Blues still had about three fourths of a power play to go.

Third Period

The Dallas Stars killed the penalty off effectively, shutting down the shooting lanes well. With four minutes gone, the shots were still in St. Louis’ favor 27-18. Tarasenko and Parayko seemed dead set on scoring, but were continuously shut down by Niemi.

Energy spiked yet again when Shattenkirk tried to get a piece of Roussel, but the Stars couldn’t do anything in the way of scoring. Janmark received another minor, leading to the Blues’ fourth power play of the game. Again, the Stars’ penalty killing unit was up to the task.

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However, at 18:10, Robby Fabbri followed in Seguin’s footsteps to tie things up late in the period with a slapshot. The Stars simply couldn’t recover enough to answer, and the third came to a close with a 2-2 score sending both teams to three-on-three.

Overtime

It’s no surprise that the three-on-three between the Blues and Stars would be intense, but it was certainly that. The Stars had several denied rushes, but none were successful. Even a sure-shot from Patrick Sharp late in overtime was batted right out of the goal, mid-air by Shattenkirk to keep the game tied and leave the decision to the shootout.

Shootout

Cue the seemingly never-ending shootout. After Steen and Tarasenko scored and Seguin was denied, Jamie Benn scored to keep the Stars in the game. Niemi saved Shattenkirk’s shot and Sharp netted his own, while Fabbri and Sceviour both could not capitalize on their chances.

Lehtera and Spezza both scored in the next round, but neither Paajarvi nor Klingberg could push the score any further. Jaskin and Eaves both met each other’s strides by scoring in the next round. Brouwer then missed his shot and Allen saved Jordie Benn’s.

So it was the ninth round- yes, the ninth round- when David Backes secured his shot against Niemi, but Fiddler was unable to answer to keep the Stars in the game.

In the end, the Stars fell 3-2 to the Blues in the shootout.

Thoughts and Observations

There were a lot of potential factors at play in tonight’s eventual loss.  The Stars seeming to tire out first, combined with some arguably one-sided calls could have played a role in putting the Stars down in St. Louis tonight.

The Dallas Stars will certainly want to remedy some sluggishness as well as loss of focus heading into the second game of their back to back tomorrow.

However, Niemi had a solid show in regulation and was a major factor in keeping the game as close as it was.

Next: Dallas Stars' Central Division Lead Makes Sense

The Stars will leave St. Louis with one point, hoping to pick up the full two for their troubles back home tomorrow in Dallas, where they’ll take on the Blues again at 5 PM CT.