Dallas Stars Cap Off Nine Straight Over Washington

The Dallas Stars let another substantial lead dwindle in the third, but retained control in their 4-3 win over the league-leading Washington Capitals.

In what seemed like a perfect rerun of Thursday’s trouncing of the Blackhawks, the Stars struck hard and quick and dominated with their two-way game. Despite the valiant effort of the Capitals in the third period, the Stars hung on extend their win streak to three and remain undefeatable to the best team in the league.

Game Recap

This game really was an almost carbon copy of the most recent Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks matchup. The Stars came out with their jet packs on early, playing impeccable defense. However, the Caps matched their stride, skating with them for the first twenty to keep it scoreless, the calm before the storm.

All that tension came to a head when the Stars’ offense exploded early in the second. Mattias Janmark opened up the scoring, followed by a wrist shot from Jamie Benn and a pair of goals, one on the power play, from Tyler Seguin to give the Stars four goals in the first frame.

The Caps responded in the third, with a powerplay goal from Ovechkin and goals from Williams and Burakovsky to put the win within Washington’s grasp, but even with an empty net they remained down one.

Thoughts and Observations

Making strides or baby steps?

The Dallas Stars have come a heck of a long way from the team that fumbled blindly through the month of January. Within the span of three days, they’ve put down the top two teams in the league in a dominating and dramatic fashion. However, it’s clear that the Stars still need to work on their closing.

The Capitals, just like the Blackhawks, came back in the third, and with a bit more vengeance. Dallas is finding reasons to slack off in the third, and although they’ve made leaps and bounds toward being a playoff-ready team, until they can play a full sixty minutes like they played the first forty tonight, they simply won’t be there.

Waking the beast

Some may disagree with me on this, but Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin have been more quiet than usual in the latest part of this season. Not in terms of being good forwards. They’ve both got point streaks to confirm that they are. However, in terms of being the offensive sparkplugs that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing, they’ve been a bit dull.

Well, until the last two games. Both put pucks home tonight to extend their point streaks to four games. What’s more, Seguin’s home goal count is starting to get some love, and Jamie Beast-mode Benn seems to be on the comeback as well.

It’s lonely at the top

Although the Dallas Stars have fared much better than expected with Jason Spezza on IR, even Jason Demers‘ return to action doesn’t signal that things will be smooth sailing from here on out. Both Seguin and Eakin, who had great nights, were injured during the game, hopefully with optimistic updates to come.

What’s written in the stars for this team?

The last two games the Stars played could have doubled for playoff games. One away and one at home, the Stars are demonstrating that they are growing into the sort of flexible team that can dominate on anyone’s ice, in front of anyone’s fans.

The Dallas Stars onslaught caused both the Blackhawks and Caps to desperately pull their best goalies to start the second period of play, and for once the Stars have started to play first periods like they have more often played third periods when they trail. And the Hawks’ loss tonight means that the Stars have recovered the Central division lead.

If the Stars keep growing through these third period slumps instead of staying stagnant, there’s no telling how far they could make it. Let’s just say, they could take it all the way.

Next: Dallas Stars Send Message To NHL With Win Over Chicago

We’ll have to wait until Monday, when the Stars travel to Nashville to take on the Predators, to see how Dallas builds on all this forward momentum.