Dallas Stars Decimate Blackhawks 6-2, Secure Playoff Spot

The Dallas Stars rolled into United Center, crushed the Blackhawks, and clinched a playoff spot. Not bad for a night’s worth of hockey.

Game Recap

The standouts in this game were Kari Lehtonen and the Stars’ fourth line. The Stars forced the Blackhawks to chase them, and despite Scott Darling seeming solid early on, Dallas opened scoring past the ten minute mark.

Colton Sceviour managed to sneakily bounce the puck off Darling’s stick from behind the net, and only 25 seconds later, Vernon Fiddler scored an equally smooth goal to put the Stars up by two. But they certainly weren’t done.

Patrick Eaves put up a beautiful, patient wrist shot power play goal, taking advantage of all the empty spaces left by Chicago’s sloppiness around the net. Further proving the value of the Stars’ depth, Fiddler scored another goal, this time a shorthanded one, on a rush that the Blackhawks just couldn’t keep up with.

Andrew Shaw broke Kari Lehtonen’s shutout streak after serving time in the penalty box, making it 4-1. However, Radek Faksa answered with a memorable snipe of his own. The Stars gave up one more chance to Richard Panik, but again answered it with an empty netter from Cody Eakin to clinch a playoff spot with a 6-2 win.

Thoughts and Observations

Kari-ing the Stars into playoffs

It’s incredible to think back to last season around this time and remember how shaky Lehtonen was. Now, he has found the focus and confidence that his play lacked before. The Stars’ tandem goalie system is undoubtedly to thank for this. Both Lehtonen and Niemi have had great seasons, taking advantage of being able to lean on each other to take off the pressure of carrying the team alone.

One special area of marked improvement for Lehtonen has been handling rebounds. Last season, it was almost a death sentence if a rebound was given up; multiple shots in quick succession got in Lehtonen’s head very easily. Against the Hawks, Lehtonen demonstrated his keen new ability to deal quickly and efficiently with rebound shots, keeping his cool and keeping the other team out of his head.

Go deep

In the first period, the Dallas Stars scored four times in only 7:09. Three of those goals came from the Stars’ fourth line: one from Sceviour and two from Fiddler. Later on, Faksa put himself in the right place at the right time to reassert the Stars’ dominance and steal the Blackhawks’ potential momentum.

Now more than ever, with Seguin out, the Stars are learning to rely on contributions from all four lines. It’s something they’ve been good at all season, but in games like this it really shines through. Utilizing depth is one trick up Dallas’ sleeve that will come in very handy during playoffs.

Bringing playoff hockey back to Dallas

With tonight’s mammoth win, the Stars cement their trip to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. The conditions surrounding this season’s clinching scenario highlight just how much this team has grown from what they were last season.

At the end of last season, the Stars had dug a pit for themselves and were fighting tooth and nail to get back into the race. However, Tyler Seguin’s knee injury meant that Jamie Benn pulled ahead as the team’s main offensive threat, which earned him a distinctive honor.

However, this season, Tyler Seguin’s last-season injury hasn’t set the Stars back and put the spotlight (and the pressure) on one player to perform like it did before. This time around, the Stars are clicking on all cylinders and, though not perfect, are much closer to being the full package than they have recently been. So this post-season should be a great one!

Next: Dallas Stars Lose Tyler Seguin, Yet Still Win Big

The Dallas Stars will continue their roadtrip in Arizona with some of the pressure of clinching a spot relieved. Coming off the high from tonight’s huge victory should provide the Stars with the extra steam they need as they head west.