Tuesday night was a good night to be a supporter of the Dallas Stars franchise. Their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, advanced to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs after finishing off Ontario.
While the Dallas Stars sit and watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Texas Stars are making up for it in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Texas took on the Ontario Reign in game four of their first round series on Tuesday night in Ontario, CA. The Stars, who owned a 2-1 lead, not only found a way to grind out a 1-0 victory, but also picked up their third win of the series. This win helps them become the first team in the AHL playoffs to move on to the second round.
That’s no small matter. If you think that it doesn’t matter considering it’s not the Stanley Cup Playoffs, just remember that a good number of these players in Cedar Park will be playing in the NHL. Some we may even see sooner than others.
As Sean Shapiro pointed out in a tweet last night following the victory, the Stars were actually outscored 12-11 in the series. That’s due to a rough game two outing where Texas dropped 5-1. Each of the other three games (including two that went to overtime) turned into a one-goal contest, with the Stars being on the winning side of each one.
Texas Stars were actually outscored 12-11 in the series and outshot 186-129 in the series. But McKenna stopped the final 91 shots of the series as Texas advances in four games of best-of-5. Texas plays San Jose or Tucson in next round.
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) April 25, 2018
They were also outshot 186-129 over the four-game span, including an uneven 47-26 balance in game four alone. And yet, the Stars still managed to pick up a critical 1-0 win on the road.
This series victory came from a few different things. One of those was simply the ability to outlast the Reign. Texas didn’t necessarily outplay Ontario in each game, but they capitalized on the chances they created and were able to secure the big goal when it counted, just like in the second overtime of game three.
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Travis Morin and Brian Flynn led the charge on offense, with four and three points respectively. But only four players on the roster did not register at least one point in the first round. That speaks towards impressive sharing of the puck and using the entire lineup.
But the Texas Stars may very well have already been eliminated had it not been for one player: Mike McKenna. Signed by the Dallas Stars in the 2017 offseason, the 35-year-old goaltender served in a backup role in Texas while Landon Bow took the reins in the crease.
McKenna did, however, serve in a role with the Dallas Stars. With Ben Bishop injured in the tail end of the season, McKenna was called up and replaced Kari Lehtonen in a game against San Jose. It was his first appearance at the NHL level since February 2015, and he made it count. McKenna made some stellar saves on his way to securing an incredible comeback victory for Dallas. He was given the start against Anaheim three nights later, but couldn’t secure a second win.
In the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, he reached new heights. McKenna played in all four games, turning in a record 3-1-0 along with a .957 save percentage and 1.68 goals against average. He also replaced Landon Bow in the middle of game three after Bow gave up four goals in the first 29:19. From that point to the end of the series in game four, McKenna stopped 91 shots in a row to help close out the series. That’s nothing short of incredible.
And now, the Texas Stars are moving to round two. They will wait for their opposition as the Tucson Roadrunners and San Jose Barracuda (who are tied 1-1) duke it out to see who will advance.
For now, however, the Texas Stars look to be in good shape. They are working well as a complete unit and if their goaltending can stay hot, who knows how far this team could go.
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After all, it would be nice for Dallas Stars fans another Calder Cup championship to celebrate while they await another crack at the Stanley Cup.