Dallas Stars Top 25 Games Of 2017-18 Season: 10-6
By Josh Clark
10. Nashville Predators @ Dallas Stars, December 23, 2017
The final home game before Christmas break always seems to have some enjoyable ties to it for the Dallas Stars.
In 2015-16, the Stars walloped the Chicago Blackhawks behind the impressive play of Patrick Sharp (oh, the irony). In 2016-17, Dallas secured a rare overtime victory against the Los Angeles Kings two days before the big day.
And just before Christmas 2017, the Stars made sure to enter the holiday season with a bang.
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Dallas welcomed the Nashville Predators to town on December 23 in hopes of closing out their homestand on a high note. After turning in a decent road trip record (2-1-1) in the week prior, the Stars had started off a three-game homestand with a 1-0-1 mark. They fell in overtime to the Washington Capitals in the first game but countered the loss with a dominant 4-0 win over the Blackhawks two days later.
With one game to go before a three-day break, picking up a win and gaining ground in an incredibly tight Central Division race looked to be essential. But it wasn’t shaping up to be an easy game by any means.
The Predators sat in a three-way tie for first place in the division going into the game, with Dallas holding on to fourth place. The Stars were riding an impressive push through December, but had yet to defeat (or even come close to defeating) the Predators in the two meetings between the teams through the first two months. Dallas lost 4-1 and 5-2 in the first two contests.
Though the confidence level was high after winning their previous game, the Stars knew that they had a deep and dangerous opponent standing between them and the break. It would likely prove to be their toughest endeavor of the entire season to date with the stakes being high.
And for much of the game, that was exactly the case. Dallas dug themselves into an early hole in the first 7:03 after Alexei Emelin and Calle Jarnkrok (shorthanded) scored goals to give the Predators a dominant 2-0 lead. And just like that, it looked as though the Predators were setting up to once again ring the Stars up.
But this time around, Dallas didn’t fold under the pressure. They delivered three goals in a row from Tyler Seguin, Antoine Roussel, and Martin Hanzal before the second period ended and carried a 3-2 lead to the locker room. The Stars were outplaying the Preds, owned the lead, and had a full building of Dallas fans supporting them.
Early on in the third period, however, it happened. Ryan Johansen scored on an early power play in the third period to tie up the game. Nashville would also outshoot Dallas 11-4 in the final frame, leaving Ben Bishop a big storm to weather. He succeeded in doing so, but the race wasn’t over.
In overtime, the Stars were outshot 5-1 and couldn’t seem to generate a solid chance. But Bishop held down the fort and sent the game to a shootout.
And, well, we won’t remind you of what happened. All we’re going to say is that Bishop was still in net and the Stars had Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin shooting on Nashville’s backup goalie. Figure it out for yourself.
Alright, we’ll spoil it anyways. The Stars pulled off a gritty 4-3 win over Nashville, gaining a crucial two points and finishing off an impressive 4-1-2 stretch. They entered the break with spirits high and hope revitalized.
How is that for holiday cheer?