Dallas Stars Top 25 Games Of 2017-18 Season: 5-1
By Josh Clark
5. St. Louis Blues @ Dallas Stars, March 3, 2018
If you hate to see hockey sticks snapped violently in half over legs, then this game wasn’t the one for you. But if you don’t care, then it turned out to be one of the sweetest moments of the Dallas Stars’ 2017-18 campaign.
The date was March 3 and the Stars were in really good shape (funny how quickly things can change). Dallas sat with a record of 36-23-5 and owned sole control of the first wild card spot. They were just a handful of points out of third place in the Central Division and were trying to keep a two-game points streak alive.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Blues were struggling. The Blues had endured a 1-6-1 skid to close out the month of February and had watched themselves fall from third in the Central to outside the playoff picture altogether.
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The Stars were trying to keep their footing in a tight playoff race, and that all started with besting a Central Division rival in St. Louis, who were simply trying to keep their head above water. A win and two points for Dallas was just what they needed to create some breathing room between them and the Blues, who were trailing just three points behind.
And gosh darn it, if the game didn’t bring a good amount of fireworks along with it. After a tight first period that involved tight defense and limited chances, things blew open in the second period. The two teams took a combined 29 shots in the second period, with Tyler Pitlick and Ivan Barbashev tallying goals to keep the score deadlocked at second intermission.
As the intensity increased and the American Airlines Center got louder, the Blues drew first blood in the third period. Jaden Schwartz scored a goal on the short side that Ben Bishop very much would’ve liked to have back when looking at the replay. His tally came with less than eight minutes to go in the game, leaving the Stars once again scurrying to make a comeback.
And come back they did. With 2:56 to go in the final frame, Alexander Radulov tucked home a rebound off of the end boards to tie the game up.
35 seconds later, it seemed as though the Stars had once again pulled a miracle out of their hat. Devin Shore scored a dirty goal on the doorstep of the crease and it looked as though Dallas had a 3-2 lead.
But upon review, the officials decided that Shore had made a distinct kicking motion towards the puck and called off the goal.
As Dallas and St. Louis both grappled for the lead and became more desperate in their play, the game shifted to overtime. And from there, it was all Stars and all captain.
With a little less than two minutes to go, Tyler Seguin was circling through the offensive zone and sent the puck to the slot where Jamie Benn waited for an open wrist shot. And when you give Benn an open wrist shot from the slot, you have to pay.
The captain sniped home the game winner and snapped his stick in celebration (perhaps to celebrate the ending of his goal drought).
It was an incredible finish to an incredible game. Bishop held down the fort, stopping 35/37 and the captain sent the crowd into an uproar with the big goal. It was a day for the big names to step into the spotlight.
What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon.