Dallas Stars Throttled 6-2 By Rangers, Continue 2016 Skid

The Dallas Stars stumbled in the final stop of their road trip tonight as they dropped a 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers. The Stars are now on a three-game streak where they have not picked up two points. Postgame wrap-up is below.

The Dallas Stars once again fumbled their chances of winning on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers. The Rangers brought all they had to Dallas and won the game 6-2. The Stars have now lost three straight games. Postgame wrap-up can be found below.

Game recap

First period

The Dallas Stars opened up the first period with a bit of an unenthusiastic effort. As a result, the Rangers took control of the puck and put on a push. As a result, Derek Stepan scored to take the lead for New York just 1:56 into the frame. Rick Nash and Jayson Megna were given credit for the assists. This goal gave the Stars some fits, and they once again resorted to their early penalty ways.

Johnny Oduya took a hooking penalty 23 seconds after the first goal was scored, but the Stars were able to kill it off. Jamie Benn was called for tripping with 14:44 left, and the Stars once again killed another penalty off. The Rangers played a much more aggressive period and owned puck possession for the majority of the frame.

But the Stars snuck the puck away for a chance, and John Klingberg scored on a wrist shot on the Stars second shot of the game. The goal came with 6:10 remaining, and Jason Spezza and Alex Goligoski were given the assists. It would not last long though, as Keith Yandle scored on a deflection off of Jyrki Jokipakka just 18 seconds later to regain the lead. At the end of the first, it was 2-1 Rangers. The shots were 14-6 in favor of NYR.

Second period

The second period was a bit of an uneventful one. The Dallas Stars came out with more tenacity and energy than they had in the first, but it still did not get them much. Derick Brassard was called for hi-sticking with 16:03 to go, but the Stars could not capitalize on their first power play of the night. Niemi had to make a few dazzling saves early and during the power play to keep it at a one-goal game.

Dan Boyle was also called for delay of game 11:39 in, but the Stars once again could not capitalize on the man advantage. Brassard put a shot on net with just 2:37 left in the period, and the puck found its way off of two Stars defensemen and into the back of the net. J.T. Miller was credited with the assist. Spezza took a penalty with 1:09 left, but the Stars would fight it off. At the end of the second, it was 3-1 Rangers. Shots were 20-14 in favor of New York.

Third period

The Dallas Stars turned up their intensity in the third period as they always do, yet they still could not climb back in the game. After an early push by Dallas, Dominic Moore was called for tripping with 15:48 to go in the game. The Stars had some good chances, but a defensive breakdown caused a shorthanded chance for Stepan, and he cashed in. The assists were given to Rick Nash and Dan Girardi.

Viktor Stalberg scored less than three minutes later to make it a 5-1 game. Assists were awarded to Oscar Lindberg and Kevin Klein. The Stars would fight back though, with Antoine Roussel scoring at the 8:40 mark. Spezza and Sharp were given the assists. Valeri Nichushkin scored a few minutes later, but the play was challenged by the Rangers and it was called back on account that Spezza was offsides when they entered the zone.

Jayson Megina capped the game off when he scored his first goal of the season with 6:22 to go in the game. Nash and Klein were credited with the helpers on the final goal. The Stars would continue fighting but eventually fall by a final score of 6-2. The shot count was 29-23 in favor of the Rangers.

Thoughts and Observations

The Dallas Stars are now 28-10-4 on the season with 60 points. They are now one point behind the Washington Capitals for first place in the league and the Caps have three games in hand. It doesn’t look good for the Stars in regards to the President’s Trophy race.

The Stars did not receive any love from their trip to the Big Apple, going 0-2-1 in their three-game skid.

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This is the Stars first losing streak of the entire season. Whether you count the overtime loss against the Devils or not, the Stars have still lost two straight. They’ve given up six goals in each of the regulation losses.

This is their first time losing in regulation when they were outshot. The Rangers outshot the Stars 29-23 tonight.

The Stars were outhit, lost more face-offs than they won, had less takeaways, had less blocked shots, and went 0/3 on the power play.

The Stars top players just could not get it done for them tonight. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin both had no points and a +/- rating of -3 on the ice tonight. Benn admitted after the game that he played bad and his effort was not good enough to win the game. It was good of him to take responsibility, but he needs to step back into the middle of things and prove it.

Antti Niemi was left out to dry tonight and did not entirely deserve the ratty save percentage or loss that he ended up with. Niemi made a few show-stopping saves to keep the game from getting way out of hand in the first and second periods of tonight’s game.

The Stars now face a two-game home stand against two Central Division opponents. They are 7-2-1 in their division this year, but they need to not take any more of their opponents lightly if they want to stay atop the division and Western Conference.

Next: Dallas Stars' New Years To Do List

The Stars next game is against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. They are 1-0-0 against Winnipeg this season but need to fix up some of their issues if they are wanting to achieve their first two-point win of the 2016 year.