Dallas Stars Win Important Game, Still Need More From Team

Last night was a step in the right direction for the Dallas Stars. They picked up an important 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames and created breathing room in the Western Conference playoff race. But how they won was a problem, and that needs to be addressed.

Is it better to be lucky or good? The Dallas Stars wrestled with that question last night as they beat the Calgary Flames 2-0 at home.

The win gave the Stars, a team that had lost four of their last six games, a helpful boost in the Western Conference playoff race. But it wasn’t the kind of win that Dallas had been used to picking up this season.

Whenever Dallas won a game during their first 62 contests, they seemed to always do it in a relatively dominant fashion. Whether the Stars owned the possession game, controlled the flow of the game, or simply outdid their opponent on offense or defense, they always won in an impressive fashion.

Last night, however, they didn’t pick up the two points with that kind of performance. Instead, they picked up a lead with an early goal from Devin Shore and followed it up with a Tyler Seguin power play goal. After that, they sat back and let Ben Bishop (who was nothing short of brilliant) prove his legitimacy as an elite starting goaltender by stopping 38 of 38.

Dallas Stars /

Dallas Stars

The end result? A 2-0 victory and two critical points for the Dallas Stars. But while that is comforting, their performance was still a bit disconcerting.

The thing with last night’s game is that the Stars still found a way to sit back in one of the biggest games of the year. After a terrific move by Devin Shore and a goal from Tyler Seguin that deflected off Calgary goaltender John Gillies, Dallas looked as though they shifted into neutral and coasted to the finish.

They played a strong first period, killing off a long 5-on-3 and even outshooting Calgary 10-8. But after the Seguin goal early in the second, the Stars’ effort shifted dramatically. The Stars were outshot 30-16 in the final two periods and Bishop had to come up big in a number of circumstances, especially towards the end of the second period.

But it’s more than just the shot totals that told the story of the game. The Flames were quicker on the puck, created more scoring chances, and outworked the Stars in a variety of areas. Though Dallas had some bright spots in their efforts, they simply didn’t match that of Calgary’s.

“We’re just being outworked. It’s not technical, we’re just being outworked,” Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock told Stars Inside Edge following the game. “We’re being outworked at the puck. When we do it, like the first two, we’re good and we scored.”

But that third period? Let’s not talk about it, right?

This win tacked on yet another unimpressive performance in what is becoming a long string of questionable efforts. That’s not what this team needs with the playoff push being as tight as it is.

And you have to give major props to Ben Bishop. After losing his last two starts (including getting pulled in San Jose after giving up four goals on his first five shots faced), Big Ben bounced back in a big way. He turned aside all 38 shots from Calgary, even when they would make a furious push. He looked calm, confident, and prepared to take on anything. All in all, he looked like a playoff-caliber goaltender. After all, postseason success always starts with a hot goaltender.