Fansided

Dallas Stars Take Good First Step In Road Back To Playoff Contention

By Josh Clark |
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 14: Remi Elie
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 14: Remi Elie

There was a familiar vibrance in the play of the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night in Toronto. Though they put on a terrific and thrilling show, they still fell just short in the end. With that being said, there is still work to be done.

When the Dallas Stars entered Wednesday night’s game in Toronto, it was clear that they would have been happy with taking one point from the contest.

The Maple Leafs are currently one of the best teams in the NHL and are on a serious tear at home. Meanwhile, the Stars were running on short rest after playing in Montreal the night before. On top of that, Dallas was struggling with finding offensive pressure or overall consistency and had dropped four of their previous five contests.

So yeah, one point would have been considered a great success for a Stars team that was limping along in the homestretch.

But here we are on Thursday morning, and it’s still baffling that Dallas walked away with only one point. Not only that, but that the Stars managed to throw away the second point.

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It was almost unbelievable watching last night’s game unravel. Within the first five minutes of the first period, the Stars dug themselves into a 2-0 hole and all hope seemed lost. Dallas looked messy, confused, and completely out of gas (not to mention unlucky).

But then, it happened. There’s no exact certainty as to how it happened, but it happened alright. What happened was that the Dallas Stars finally looked like their normal selves again. This “normal” look was how the Stars had looked from mid-December up through mid-February.

Jamie Benn and Radek Faksa tallied goals in 1:32 of each other and knotted the game at 2-2. The offense put up two first period goals, both of which were tallied at even strength. At first intermission, that one point was not only looking nice, but also somewhat realistic.

Then, things got even better. Tyler Seguin and Remi Elie each tacked on a goal in the second period, the Stars outshot the Maple Leafs 16-4, and Dallas all of a sudden had a lead. Not only that, but they had more than two goals for the first time in five games.

The offense was firing with plenty of depth scoring involved and the defense was on top of the ball. The Maple Leafs looked completely helpless while the Stars continued charging. Hopes of pulling one point out of the game quickly turned into what looked like an assured two points.

As the third period started, however, things took a turn. James van Riemsdyk scored two goals within six minutes to complete the hat trick and tie the game. But Brett Ritchie (woohoo for more depth scoring) was quick to fire back and regain the lead for the Stars at 5-4. A failed attempt at clearing the puck/scoring an empty net goal in the dying seconds allowed the Leafs to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the five minute span, the Stars failed to convert on their first power play of the game and eventually fell in the shootout.

Wow. A game that seemed to be a lost cause for the Stars before it even started turned into a thrilling bounce back performance and still found a way to end in a confusing manner. Should the Dallas Stars be happy with the one point?

To answer that question, yes. The Stars were tired and sluggish going up against a rested and resilient Maple Leafs team and are lucky to walk away with one point. Plus, any point is incredibly valuable at this point in the season and Dallas regained their grasp on the first wild card spot.

But that doesn’t mean they should be satisfied. After all, Dallas really should have come out on top in this game. The Stars had a 4-2 lead entering the third period and a 5-4 lead with less than two minutes to go in the game. Those aren’t situations where you can falter, regardless of whether you “run out of gas” or not.

The Stars could really have used this game as an eraser for Tuesday night’s brain fart in Montreal. One point is good in a situation like this, but it’s not as good when you know you could have (and should have) gotten the second one.

It was a terrific first step in getting back to “playoff form”, though. And that’s what the Dallas Stars needed all along.

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Over the past 14 games leading up to last night, the Stars were in an offensive rut. Their offense had gone dry, barely scoring two goals a night on most occasions. Even strength play was becoming a serious concern and only three or four players were contributing offensively. The Stars were slipping quietly down the standings as a result and needed some sort of resurgence.

They may have found it last night (and let’s hope they did, for the sake of their playoff hopes).

Dallas found a way to right most of their wrongs while playing on short rest against a high-caliber opponent. They scored five goals against one of the stingier defenses in the league, had an overwhelming offensive presence for a majority of the game, and scored all of their goals at even strength. Three of their four lines got in on the scoring, with seven of their 12 forwards picking up points.

Considering offense has been a thorn in their side for the past month, this particular spark is encouraging. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get the defensive help or superb goaltending that they needed. They simply couldn’t close it out. While that is disappointing, a point is a point.

The Dallas Stars took a much-needed first step in the road back to being a serious playoff contender. It may be shocking that they found a way to let last night’s game slip through their grasp, but it was a good first step. The Stars found their legs on offense again and proved that they can still be a dangerous team when given the opportunity, regardless of the situation.

But there is still work to be done. Not only do the Stars need to find out how to close out games like that, but they must also find a way to harness this energy and keep it circulating for the rest of the season.

There are 11 games to go in the Stars’ 2017-18 regular season campaign. Three of those make up the final stretch of a lengthy road trip. Last night’s game gave them a slight boost in the Western Conference standings, but it wasn’t nearly enough. They have to keep climbing from here.

A point is valuable, even when having two would have been much more helpful. Now the pressure is on to keep the fire alive.

Next: Stars Must Take On Pressure And Grow From It

The Dallas Stars showed that they can still be a dangerous team on all sides of the puck. Once they can bring it all together, the playoff push will become a lot more hopeful.

They will get their next chance at bringing it all together on Friday night in Ottawa. Dallas needs to be happy, but not satisfied.

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