Dallas Stars Dominate Winnipeg Jets, Enter Break On Strong Note

It was a game that the Dallas Stars desperately needed, and they got it. The Stars were firing on all cylinders on Saturday night and rode their impressive execution to a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. It was a win that broke a losing skid and gave the Stars a high note to enter the break on.

The Dallas Stars entered Saturday night in desperation mode. And when a team is in desperation mode, stuck in a losing skid, and is going up against the best team in their division, there’s a certain sense of adversity that must be overcome.

Sometimes, that can be a very difficult hump to get over, especially for struggling teams. For the Stars, they were riding a four-game losing skid, hadn’t won a game in 11 days, had dropped three straight contests on home ice, and had fallen out of the top three in the Central division standings. Their offense looked cursed and their defense and goaltending were faltering against struggling opponents.

Everything seemed to be going against Dallas as they approached their final matchup before a 10-day break. And as they welcomed a Winnipeg Jets team that had won four games in a row to the AAC, the road into their break seemed all the more daunting.

But when it was all said and done, the Dallas Stars had a 4-2 win secured and entered the break in a playoff spot. They picked up another two points against the Central division, reestablished their footing in the playoff picture, and finally found a win in their season-long homestand.

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Perhaps the most impressive thing, though, is how easy the Stars made it look. After spending the past week struggling against teams like the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings, Dallas brought the house against one of the best teams in the NHL. They focused on the details and the shortcomings in their play and used that fuel to take control of the game.

It started early on when the Stars used a heavy forecheck to force the Jets into making errors. After killing a penalty and then forcing a turnover and putting together a strong offensive possession, Dallas earned a power play and turned it into a goal using a deflection from Brett Ritchie.

The Stars continued rolling through the first period, beating Winnipeg in the physical department and generating offensive chances that kept the Jets on their heels. Early in the second period, Blake Comeau forced another turnover using a heavy check and scored on the doorstep to make it 2-0.

A few minutes later, Radek Faksa scored on a rush just 13 seconds after Dallas killed off their second penalty of the game. The 3-0 lead carried the Stars into the second intermission and put them in a position to close out the game on a dominant note.

But 21 seconds was all the Jets needed in the early portion of the third period to make it a one-shot game. Brendan Lemieux and Kyle Connor scored to make it a 3-2 game and left Dallas questioning their ability to close out the game. But, instead of crumbling under pressure as they have done at times during the season, they continued pushing with their game plan and earned a Tyler Seguin power play goal as a result. That brought the game to its final 4-2 tally.