Dallas Stars Being Embarrassed By Lightning Could Be Good For Team

The Dallas Stars were quite simply blown out of the water and humiliated by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. It was a bitter reminder of where the team is, but could be good for them going forward.

Disappointment. That’s the word that Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn used to describe Thursday night’s game. It’s also one of many words that properly describe the result. Disappointing, embarrassing, demoralizing, humiliating. Take your pick.

On Thursday night, the Stars entered Amalie Arena in hopes of finding something positive. They had dropped two straight on the road and picked up one of a potential four points during the road trip. Tampa Bay was their final stop before going home and it came with a matchup against the best team in the league.

Some expected Dallas to rally hard, put up a fight, and somehow sneak out with a win against the then 14-2-2 Bolts. It was Ben Bishop’s first game against his former team, the Stars have a solid success rate against Tampa in the recent past, and there was a cause for urgency. Surely this “new and improved” Dallas Stars team would rise to occasion and take the challenge head-on.

That didn’t happen. In fact, they didn’t even get close to reaching that goal. Instead, the Stars were beaten down and humbled in a 6-1 finish. Bishop was humiliated in front of his former home crowd while the team in front of him scrambled to provide any sort of help.

Dallas Stars

The loss bumped Dallas down to 9-9-1 on the season, putting them at a .500 record through 19 games. This isn’t where the team was supposed to be. In fact, the Stars were never supposed to even get close to .500.

That is because this was supposed to be “the year” for the Stars. This was the year where everything was supposed to finally be alright. The massive offseason improvements were supposed to overshadow and eliminate the bad memories of the 2016-17 season.

And here they are ay 9-9-1, getting blown away by the opposition on seemingly every other night. 5-1, 6-1, 4-1, 5-2 are just some of the final scores that the Stars have ended up on the wrong side of this year. When they win, it seems to be the same result: by blowout. There’s rarely a close game with this Dallas Stars team.

But back to last night’s loss. It helped paint a clear picture of just what the Dallas Stars are: a confused, struggling, and altogether inconsistent hockey team. They seem to need a lot of things that they just cannot conjure up.

That is disappointing considering how they looked going into the new season. Dallas spent the offseason building up their roster with some of the best talent on the market. They supposedly shored up their weak spots and added on to their already strong spots. As they entered the 2017-18 season, they looked like a team ready to compete for the Cup. They looked like a potential number one seed.

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They were supposed to be no. 1, but they aren’t even close right now. Instead, the actual no. 1 team beat and exposed them, thus putting them in the spotlight for the hockey world to see.

And that should work in their favor if they play their cards right. It takes a lot out of a team to be publicly shamed in the way they were last night. The game presented the clear gap that is currently between where the Stars should be and where they actually are. There’s a lot that has to be done.

Now, the Dallas Stars got a firsthand look at that. There’s no more, “We just need to look in the mirror and see who we are.” They know who they are. Last night proved who they are.

Thursday night’s game was a perfect example of a measuring stick. The Stars can take this beating and apply it to their future endeavors. They can see what areas they struggled in, what areas the Lightning excelled in, and what areas the two combated well in and combine the three.

The Dallas Stars are one of the laughing stocks of the NHL right now and are sinking down the standings. Something has to be done and it has to be done quick. There is no more time for soul searching and contemplation. It’s time to act.

Next: Why Stars' Goalies Cannot Seem To Steal Games

If Thursday night’s game wasn’t a wake-up call for Dallas, I’m afraid there’s not much else that will have the power to wake them up. Using last night’s game is crucial for the Stars’ success and their ability to turn things around. Demoralization can be an effective tool in breeding redemption.

But will they use it? Or will they continue to wallow in their search for a dominant identity? This one is all up to them.