Dallas Stars Cannot Extend Win Streak, Fall 2-1 To Wild

Final. 1. 119. 2. 98

The Dallas Stars truly looked desperate yet could not get their regular team play going on Saturday night. As a result, they fell 2-1 to the Minnesota Wild in their last game until Friday.

The Dallas Stars just did not look like their regular force on Saturday night. Their offense put up plenty of shots, but only a handful were excellent chances, their defense coughed up turnovers like it was their job, and their goaltending once again tried to give them a chance to win but was unsuccessful. Postgame wrap-up for Stars-Wild is below.

Game recap

First period

The Dallas Stars first period efforts made it look like the old Stars were back. They were fast in the offensive game and paced themselves on the defensive side. The goaltending of Antti Niemi was excellent and the Stars looked like they would tame the Wild for the fourth time this season.

With around five minutes into the first period, John Klingberg found a puck trickling between the circles and sniped a shot past a screened Devan Dubnyk. The AAC went into an uproar until Dubnyk began to argue with the referees. Antoine Roussel had been in front of Dubnyk when the shot went in and the goaltender wanted a goalie interference call. Well, the referee sided with Minnesota and retracted the goal.

With 11:24 left in the first, Jamie Benn and Ryan Carter were called for slashing before the face-off occurred. Neither team capitalized in the four on four, and play shifted back to full strength. Carter was called for a cross-checking minor just two minutes later on Johnny Oduya, but the Stars power play went dry once again. At the end of the first period, the scoreboard showed a 0-0 tie. The shots were 11-6 Stars.

Second period

The second period was where things went bad for Dallas. With 16:26 left in the period, the Stars gave the Wild a broken play opportunity and they capitalized. Carter scored to take the 1-0 lead. The assists were given to Erik Haula and Jarret Stoll. The Stars continued to burp up turnovers, and it once again came crashing down on them.

At the 11:20 mark, Charlie Coyle caused a turnover in the Stars zone and passed it on to Thomas Vanek who cashed in on the breakaway to make it a 2-0 lead for the Wild. Things only got worse, as Patrick Sharp was called for tripping with 4:00 left in the period. The Stars were able to kill off the penalty, but they could not put a goal on the board by the end of the second frame. After two, it was 2-0 Wild. Shots were 21-19 in favor of Minnesota.

Third period

If only the Klingberg goal had counted…

The Dallas Stars came out on the prowl in the third, as they always do whenever they are trailing. At one point, the shots in the period were 12-2 in favor of Dallas. It was all Stars, all period. But Dubnyk would not be beaten. That is until the Stars had a critical power play opportunity with 4:54 left in the game. Stars head coach Lindy Ruff decided to pull Antti Niemi from the net and give the Stars a 6-on-4 advantage.

It took a little while more, but with 3:13 left Jamie Benn rammed the puck top shelf past Dubnyk for the Stars first goal of the game. Patrick Sharp and Tyler Seguin were credited with the assists. The Stars would basically keep Niemi out of the crease for the remainder of the game and have a handful of chances, but nothing would work. The Stars ended up falling 2-1 to the Wild. The final shots were 35-25 Stars.

Thoughts and Observations

The Dallas Stars seem to still be stuck in a funk. Though they beat the Winnipeg Jets the other night, it was in the most extreme way possible in the shootout. So far in 2016, the Stars are 1-3-1. This is their most disappointing funk of the season.

The Stars fell to 29-11-4 on the season and continue to fall further from first place in the league.

More from Blackout Dallas

The Central Division is just as tight as it is every year, and a scary fact came into play with the loss. By this coming Friday the Chicago Blackhawks, who are a measly six points behind the Stars for the division lead, could take over the first spot.

The Stars bested the Wild in just about every aspect of tonight’s game. They outhit them 29-23, went 1/2 on the power play and 2/2 on the penalty kill, won 29 face-offs to the Wild’s 26, and had eight takeaways to the Wild’s five. But the Stars gave up 12 chances while the Wild only coughed up 7. The biggest factor of the night was the blocked shots, with Minnesota blocking 26 while Dallas only got in front of 11.

The Stars sat Jordie Benn once again tonight due to injury and started Jamie Oleksiak in his position. It may have been because of a bit too long on the shelf, but the pairing of Oleksiak and Jyrki Jokipakka went -2 on the ice tonight. That is not a good sign.

Patrick Sharp, Jamie Benn, and Valeri Nichushkin each logged six shots on net tonight. That means that these three players combined for half of the Stars shots.

Devan Dubnyk did something tonight that was just unsolvable for the Stars. This may have been the most disappointing Stars game of the year, and Dubnyk finishing with a .971 save percentage was a big factor in making that so.

The Stars are now entering a five-day break. Though it is disappointing to go out on a loss, the Stars have desperately needed a definitive break to regroup and get back to their old game. Hopefully, that is what they end up doing.

Next: Jim Nill For Five More Years; A Championship Is Imminent, Right?

Although it is nice to know that the Dallas Stars are still 17 points away from being out of a playoff spot, they are in a certain danger zone. After once being on top of the NHL as a whole, the Stars are now close to being overtaken in both the Western Conference and Central Division. That’s not a terminal problem, but it is disappointing to see the Stars struggling all of a sudden. We’ll hope that changes when they head to California next weekend.

Home / Dallas Stars News