Dallas Stars Rally, But Lose 5-4 In OT To Blues

The Dallas Stars wrestled with the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night but fell just short of victory. They rallied in the third, but lost 5-4 in overtime. Wrap-up is below.

The Dallas Stars went into Saturday night looking for a back-to-back home sweep of Central Division rivals. They welcome the St. Louis Blues to the AAC, but the Blues would get the last laugh. Though the Stars put on a strong rally to take the game to overtime, the Blues had the last laugh and won the game 5-4.

Game recap

The Dallas Stars clearly started the game off much more prepared and less fatigued than the Blues. At one point in the first four minutes, the Stars led the shot totals by a tally of 9-1. About midway through the first, Troy Brouwer scored on a rebound to take the 1-0 lead. It would not hold long, though. Less than three minutes later, Cody Eakin sniped home a backhand shot to tie the game 1-1. 

The second period saw both teams lose a man within the first 38 seconds. Vladimir Tarasenko scored during a 4-on-4 shift on an awkward bounce to take the 2-1 lead. The new lead lasted just 1:01 before a strong offensive push put the Stars back even on a Jason Spezza power play goal.

Radek Faksa was called for a holding penalty he never committed, and Kevin Shattenkirk scored in 4-on-4 to take the 3-2 lead midway through the period. Shattenkirk would score again near the end of the second on a shot that deflected off the knee of Stephen Johns to take the 4-2 lead for St. Louis with less than a minute to go.

The third started, and the Dallas Stars did everything they could to get back in the game. Around six minutes in, Jason Spezza scored his second of the night to make it a one-shot game. The Stars would continue to battle, and Jamie Benn would be crowned the hero with a power play goal. Benn scored the goal with 1:12 to go off of a deflection from Tyler Seguin. The game moved to overtime, where Alex Pietrangelo would score the game winner.

Thoughts and Observations

Not so fast, St. Louis. Stars still control West

Stars head coach Lindy Ruff commended his group for playing their hearts out tonight, even if they did fall short. A two-goal rally in the third period helped the Stars close the 4-2 gap and take the game to overtime, where they secured one point.

This one point puts them at 91 on the season, and the Blues have the exact same total. But Dallas has the tiebreaker with 39 ROW’s to the Blues’ 36. So a little bit of sunshine peeking through the clouds.

Stephen Johns looked human tonight

What a difference a night makes for rookies. Stephen Johns may have played an excellent debut game against the Blackhawks last night, but tonight was a different story. The Dallas Stars’ defenseman finished with an ugly -3 on-ice rating. One of these negative tallies came from a goal by St. Louis that deflected off of his leg. He did lead the game with eight hits though. But overall, not a pretty night for #28.

This is not the Antti Niemi the Stars are looking for

Antti Niemi had not played in a game before tonight’s since March 1st. In that game against the Nashville Predators, Niemi was chased from the net after giving away three goals on 17 shots.

Tonight was not much better. The Stars’ net minder buckled into a funk and finished the night 31-for-36. While he had some high-quality saves, there were some that he could have stopped. We’ll just have to see where things go from here, but Niemi definitely is in a funk and needs to figure a way out of it fast. The playoffs are right around the corner, after all.

More stars: Stars' Defensive FA's: Alex Goligoski

The homestand continues

The Dallas Stars will take the day off tomorrow after two tough nights against two quality opponents. But come Monday, they are right back on the grind as they prepare for the last three legs of their current five-game homestand. They will face off with the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, and conclude their home stay with the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Next: Stars Endure Toughest Battle Of 2016, Still Prove Legitimacy

Not the greatest result tonight, but another strong effort and fight from the Dallas Stars. Time to take a break and hopefully have some guys back from injury by the time LA comes to town.