Dallas Stars: Final Thoughts On A Hard-Fought 3-2 Loss To Montreal
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars couldn’t wrap up the 2018 calendar year on a two-point note, though they tried hard on Monday night. The Stars couldn’t hold a late lead over the Montreal Canadiens and eventually fell 3-2 in overtime. Here are some final thoughts on the contest.
Sometimes, you can seemingly do everything right and still come up short of your goal. That’s what the Dallas Stars did on Monday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Stars put up 47 shots on net and seemed to dominate the final 40 minutes of the contest after a slow start, but ultimately couldn’t hold onto a 2-1 lead. The Canadiens forced overtime and made quick work of Dallas in the extra frame, sending the Stars home to celebrate the New Year with one less point than they would have liked.
Game recap
The Dallas Stars didn’t start the game on a great note by any means. The Canadiens heavily out-skated them for most of the first period, combining speed and possession time to keep the Stars on their heels. Phillip Danault ended up scoring on a wrist shot from the slot for the lone goal of the first period. Montreal carried a 1-0 lead and 16-11 shot advantage into the first intermission.
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But, as they always seem to do, the Stars came out swinging in the second period. Dallas hopped onto the attack quickly, generating a handful of scoring chances. Radek Faksa scored on a nice feed from Valeri Nichushkin just 3:02 into the period to tie the game 1-1. And with less than four minutes to play in the frame, Jamie Benn scored a power play goal on a rebound from Tyler Seguin. The Stars held the 2-1 lead and a 35-26 shot advantage going into the third period.
The third period brought a Montreal equalizer as Danault scored his second of the game to tie it up midway through. And though the Stars reached the 47-shot mark, they couldn’t break through as the two squads headed to overtime.
The extra frame was over almost as soon as it started, though, as Jeff Petry scored on a feed from Paul Byron to claim the 3-2 win for Montreal.
Thoughts and Observations
Another not-so-great first period
There’s something about the first period of a hockey game that continues to baffle the Dallas Stars. Through 40 games this season, the Stars have scored 19 goals in the opening frame. That’s less than half a goal per first period. In the opening frames, it’s become a common theme for Dallas to look slow and sluggish and for the other team to capitalize.
Tonight, the Stars put up 11 shots, which is respectable. But, they gave up 16 shots and a goal against, which ultimately left them in yet another hole going into first intermission.
“I’m still frustrated with our starts,” head coach Jim Montgomery said when assessing the game. “I didn’t like our start in the first period, but second and third period was good.”
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But there’s just something about the second
But what the Stars are lacking in the first period, they almost always find a way to make up for in the second.
Dallas stormed out of the gate in the middle frame, combining their speed and puck possession to set the tempo and turn the tide in their favor. Montreal was taken aback as the Stars cashed in with two goals to flip the script and take a one-goal lead into second intermission. They outshot the Canadiens 23-10 and gave themselves plenty of momentum going into the locker room.
“I thought we had some pretty good looks,” Jamie Benn said. “It would’ve been nice to obviously score a few more.”
Dallas now has 48 second period goals on the year and a +17 goal differential in the frame.
“I think we played a pretty good game,” Radek Faksa added. “If we play like that every game, we will give our team a chance to win every night.”
Niemi was sharp
For all of the grief that Antti Niemi provided in his two-season stint with the Dallas Stars, he sure knows how to stymie them when wearing a Canadiens uniform.
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Last year, Niemi stopped 36 of 38 shots faced in a game against Dallas in mid-March. His play helped Montreal win the game and contributed another L in the Stars’ longest losing skid of the season.
Tonight, he was back on a hot streak. Although he was 5-4-1 with an .870 save percentage coming into tonight’s game, Niemi looked unreal, stopping 45 of the Stars’ 47 shots. The only ones that ended up beating him were a crafty far-post shot by Faksa and a power play goal by Benn off of a rebound.
“Niemi played good,” Seguin said. “We just have to keep playing like that.”
He had some amazing stops early on, turning aside various breakaways by Roope Hintz, Mattias Janmark, Radek Faksa, and Jason Spezza.
“We played great for some parts of that game,” Benn said. “We just couldn’t find a way to beat Nemo tonight.”
He put on a brilliant show and was easily the first star of the game. The fact that he will earn $1.5 million from the Stars this season as a result of his contract buyout from 2017 just adds more salt to the wound.
A tale of two power plays
The Dallas Stars only had two power play chances on Monday night against Montreal. But, considering they have had the fewest power play opportunities of any NHL team (102) through the first half of the 2018-19 season, that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
And yet, the way they conducted the two chances were incredibly surprising. On the first power play, the Stars looked incredibly unmotivated. The Canadiens cleared the puck a handful of times, Dallas couldn’t generate a strong possession, and the man advantage practically went unnoticed.
On the second opportunity, however, the team sprang to life. The Stars kept the puck in the zone, moved it around, created good looks, and ultimately capitalized when Jamie Benn scored with the assists going to Tyler Seguin and John Klingberg.
All in all, the Stars ended the night with a 50 percent success rate and seven shots on the man advantage. That’s one way of bouncing back.
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Benn and Seguin team up for big goal
The last few days have been some of the most unusual in Dallas Stars history. After Jim Lites issued a verbal (and expletive-filled) flogging regarding the play of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin on Friday before practice, it sent the Stars media, fan base, and entire organization into a confusing fog.
Which side was right? Which side truly needed to be better? Why were there sides to take in the first place? Isn’t this a “full-team” sport after all?
After Benn and Seguin responded to the public comments on Saturday morning, the Stars secured a strong 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings later that night. And while neither Benn nor Seguin scored a goal in the game, they helped the team win.
Tonight, however, they found the scoresheet. Benn scored a power play goal on the doorstep after cleaning up a rebound created by a Seguin shot, giving both players a point and giving the Stars the lead at the time.
“Just trying to help my team out,” Benn said with a straight face when asked about what this goal meant in regards to the past few days.
It’s not necessarily an “in-your-face” moment or anything, but you can be assured that the duo felt good contributing to the goal that gave the Stars a lead.
Depth forwards were definitely not f—ing horse s–t
Outside of the top line superstars, the Dallas Stars received another impressive showing from their bottom nine forwards.
With Tyler Pitlick missing the game due to his wife going into labor on Monday afternoon, Valeri Nichushkin slotted in next to Comeau and Faksa on the third line. That line rattled off 11 shots (including eight from Faksa), scored the first goal of the game, and had a combined +3 rating. They energized the offense, played strong neutral-zone defense, and bought themselves plenty of opportunities.
“[Blake] Comeau and [Radek] Faksa were incredible, and Val [Nichushkin] was really good tonight replacing [Tyler] Pitlick,” Montgomery said of his depth scoring. “On that line, that’s been our best line three games in a row.”
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I thought the second line of Mattias Janmark, Roope Hintz, and Alexander Radulov also provided a lot of speed and plenty of offensive scoring chances. Hintz and Janmark both had breakaways and the trio combined for 11 total shots on net as well.
Really liked the [Roope] Hintz line with [Mattias] Janmark and [Alexander] Radulov,” Montgomery added. “Those were our two best lines and that’s two games in a row that it’s been like that.”
The bottom nine have looked decisively stronger over the past week or two and continue to improve with each passing game. Will that keep up? We’ll see.
Monty messing with the lineup
Connor Carrick was inserted into the lineup tonight after missing the past 29 games with an ankle injury. And throughout the game, it became somewhat obvious that he hadn’t seen NHL action in a long time.
“Rusty, he looked rusty,” Montgomery said of Carrick’s first game back. “It looked like the play was fast for him, so we rolled five [defensemen].”
Carrick finished the night with a -1 rating, two penalty minutes, and 6:42 of ice time. Besides a hit and a giveaway, there isn’t much else to say.
Denis Gurianov was in a similar situation, though he hasn’t missed any recent time due to injury. Gurianov was on the top line with Benn and Seguin to start the game, but found himself benched by the middle of the second period.
“I didn’t think he was winning battles,” Montgomery said of Gurianov. “I thought he was watching the game, he wasn’t having an impact on the game.”
After six shifts in the first period and two in the second, Gurianov didn’t touch the ice for the rest of the night, finishing with 6:53 of ice time.
Another exciting chapter in the Stars’ NYE saga
The Stars were 13-5-2 on New Year’s Eve games coming into tonight, and each one has its own story. Brett Hull ringing in the “Hullenium” in 1999, a 5-1 smacking of the Nashville Predators in 2015, shutting out the Sharks 6-0 last year; the list goes on.
Tonight was yet another exciting chapter added to the story. There were lots of scoring chances, a handful of scrums, plenty of offensive outbursts from the Dallas Stars, and a battle that kept fans on the edge of their seats.
It seems cruel that the Stars lost the extra point on a quick overtime goal against, but it doesn’t take away from the excitement that the game boasted.
“They made a quick transition, and we got beat to the weak-side post,” said Montgomery. “I don’t think Miro [Heiskanen] knew it was a two-on-one, I think he thought it more was a two-on-two and that’s why he pressured [Paul] Byron.”
It’s always a fun time on NYE.
New year, new Stars?
Tuesday morning brings a new year with it. And as 2019 kicks off, the spotlight will continue to get marginally hotter on the Dallas Stars. That might be a good thing.
With all of the drama and controversy that has unfolded over the past week, the Stars still seem to be building in the right direction. They are 3-1-1 in their last five contests, sit in sole control of the second wild card spot with a nice cushion, and are only two points out of third place in the Central division. Maybe the Lites’ outburst was uncalled for, but it sure seems to have hit the right note in the locker room so far.
“We had our two best practices consecutively,” Montgomery said about the past few days. “And we’ve played well these last two games here. We’ve just got to keep doing it every day; that’s been the biggest challenge with our group. Good every day, whether we go 20 minutes or it’s a game and we have to go for 60 minutes. Being a 60-minute team is our biggest challenge.”
The Stars have played very well in their past three games to close out the year and look to be trending in the right direction. They showed more progress tonight with an offensive onslaught that was simply outdone by a red-hot goaltender.
“A lot of things to like,” said Montgomery. “I think we’re starting to break the puck out consistently well, our neutral-zone counters are getting better, and our d-zone and rush defense has been consistent, which has allowed us to at least stay above water. I like the way of where our team is going.”
With a home-heavy schedule coming up in January and more opportunities to continue ascending in a tight standings race, the potential seems to be there for the Stars’ taking.
“I thought we displayed that last game and again tonight,” Benn said. “I think we’re a tight team in here, and not somebody or anything can break that.”
“We had a lot of chances,” Tyler Seguin added. “I think if we keep playing like that, good things are going to keep happening.”
There was a lot to like about how the Dallas Stars finished up their 2018-19 campaign. What once seemed like another lost season just a few weeks ago has once again turned into a promising endeavor with plenty of potential.
Next. Why This Year Could Be A Special One For The Stars. dark
The Stars now sit 20-16-4 on the season with 44 points. They will take the day off tomorrow before picking back up play on Jan. 2 at home against the New Jersey Devils. From there, it’s another fun race to the finish.
Until then, enjoy your New Year’s celebrations, Stars fans.