Dallas Stars Prove That They Can Still Surprise With Win Over Sharks
By Josh Clark
The regular season may be on its way out, but the Dallas Stars are still trying to make a better image for themselves. They did that last night when they knocked off the San Jose Sharks.
Last night, a dog rappelled down from the rafters of the American Airlines Center during the first intermission of the Dallas Stars game. The service dog was presented to a US Army Special Forces Green Beret in conjunction with the Stars’ Military Appreciation Night.
So man’s best friend randomly appeared from the ceiling last night and it somehow was not the most shocking thing to happen at the AAC. That’s because the Dallas Stars found a way to beat San Jose Sharks and counteract yet another painful loss.
The Sharks, who are currently the best team in the Pacific Division, humiliated the Stars just nine days ago in San Jose at the SAP Center in a 5-1 skunking that left Dallas searching for more answers. But last night, something gave the Stars enough energy to overpower SJ.
It wasn’t a massive outburst by any means, considering Dallas won the game by a 1-0 margin on a Curtis McKenzie deflection goal. But it was enough, which is something that the Stars have struggled with getting to this year.
Dallas Stars
With the win, the Dallas Stars bumped their record up to 29-33-10 in a 2016-17 regular season that seems to have been a nightmare from the get go. The Stars fell far from the expectations that were set for them in the preseason and now look to be out of luck as the end of the regular season draws near.
The Stars played game 72 last night and now only have a mere 10 games left in the season. Even with the win and the two points, Dallas currently sits 13 points out of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. In other words, they would need to win out the remainder of the season and the St. Louis Blues would need to finish at a record of 3-8-0 or worse.
So did this win achieve anything monumental for the Dallas Stars? No. But it did help them prove something. It helped them prove that they are still capable of doing great things.
That’s a really good San Jose team that they beat last night. That’s a team that fell two wins short of the Stanley Cup last year and have a strong chance at taking another swing at the trophy this year. And it’s not like the Sharks aren’t playing for anything anymore. It’s still a tight race in the Pacific Division for first place, so every point is valuable to San Jose.
But Dallas made it look easy last night. Though it wasn’t a significant victory, it still showed a lot about this Dallas Stars team. It showed that they still have moxie and can be a good team when they want to be. They were solid on defending, Kari Lehtonen went on lockdown in the crease for the 36th shutout of his career, and the offense did a good job at pressuring Sharks’ goalie Aaron Dell.
Sure the win didn’t do much for the Dallas Stars at this late in the season. But there are these things called moral victories, and they still feel just as good. The Stars and their fans have accepted their fate this season and are already eagerly awaiting puck drop for 2017-18. But it’s encouraging to see them come up with these types of wins.
Next: Stars Can Still Stick Season Landing
The playoff hopes may be dead, but the Stars are still alive as a team and as a whole. At this point in the season, all you can really do is be thankful for that and continue to back them for the last ten games. They’ll need all the help they can get in closing out the season, so why not help them out? You might even get to see some of these impressive wins along the way.