Dallas Stars Play Most Complete Game Of 2015 Against Blues

The Dallas Stars won a 3-0 matchup against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. Whatever they did, they need to keep on doing it. That way the wins come easier.

After a disappointing shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night in Missouri, both the Dallas Stars and Blues caught a flight home. This was no ordinary flight though, as it was in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The two teams were set to match up in Dallas at the American Airlines Center just 19 hours after their prior game had ended in St. Louis, with an early puck drop of 5:00 p.m. scheduled.

It may not have been the most fair game, but considering both teams were facing the same scenario, it had to work.

The Dallas Stars entered the game as the best team in the NHL with 55 points. Their record was 26-7-3, giving them a seven point lead in the Central Division on the second place Blues, who were 22-11-4 with 48 points.

The only worry was that the Stars had yet to find success against the Blues in the 2015-2016 season. After the shootout loss, the Stars were 0-1-1 against St. Louis and had been outscored 6-2. This was not typical for the Dallas Stars, either. Last season, when the Stars were the second worst in the Central Division, they still managed to go 2-2-1 against the Blues, and both regulation losses came at the end of the season when all hope was basically lost.

The bright side the Stars had was their back-to-back record. They were 3-1-1 heading into Sunday evening’s game, while St. Louis was 3-3-0.

Surprisingly enough, even on limited sleep and a supposed lack of energy, the Dallas Stars played their most complete game of the 2015-2016 season.

It had just the right amount of everything that a coach or fan would ever look for: a Central Division rivalry game with lots of offense, defense, goaltending, and physicality.

For starters, the Stars scored three goals. While one of them was an empty netter, the first two were both on the power play and both scored by superstar forwards. Jamie Benn and Patrick Sharp (happy belated birthday) both had a goal and an assist. The defense only gave up 12 shots in the first 40 minutes, and five through the first period alone.

The Stars took double digit shots in all periods except the third when they hit nine. They took 38 total on the night, and Brian Elliot had to make a few highlight-reel saves to keep the Stars from pulling away early.

Kari Lehtonen had a massive bounce-back performance. After a disappointing slump that started in early December, Lehtonen pulled his act together and made some quality saves on his way to a 22-save shutout.

The Stars were 2/3 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill. Both of their special teams areas had been in a bit of a short term funk, so putting it back together last night was exactly what they needed.

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Not to mention the fighting. After Jamie Benn was slashed by Robert Bortuzzo late in the first, the intensity began to heighten and would finally spew at the opening face-off of the second period. Antoine Roussel was quick to drop the gloves with Troy Brouwer, and both were sent to the box after the scrum. Just four seconds later, Travis Moen fought with prior agitator Robert Bortuzzo.

The Stars also won in the face-offs, giveaways, and takeaways categories. They tied in hits. They defended their teammates with passion and ferocity. And they did this all on a back-to-back.

The Stars improved their Central Division record this season to 6-2-1. Their greatest downfall the past two seasons has been not being able to finish games in their division, but this year they seem to have cleaned out the cobwebs.

If you were in attendance at yesterday’s game, congratulations. If not, as long as you watched it, you’re good. And if you did not watch it, time to get GameCenter and rewind.

Next: In A Very Heated Matchup, Stars Pick Apart Blues 3-0

The Dallas Stars will now hit the road for an early 6:00 p.m. puck drop in Columbus tomorrow. They have already beaten the Blue Jackets once this season and will look to complete the sweep tomorrow night. If they play like they did Sunday for the rest of the season, the Stars will have no problem snagging the President’s Trophy and maybe even put together a deep playoff run. Who’s up for that?