Dallas Stars Continue Battling Adversity In Critical Win Against Flames

It was another game filled with uphill battles and tough challenges, but the Dallas Stars fought through. And on Wednesday night, they picked up another valuable two points against one of the NHL’s best teams. That’s an impressive strength for any team, especially one bound for the playoffs, to boast.

Wednesday night provided another big test for the Dallas Stars.

They visited Alberta to take on the Calgary Flames, a team that sat first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL overall. They had won six of their past eight contests, sat at 101 points in the standings, and had been a playoff lock for 10 days. They were surging right along towards the Stanley Cup Playoffs and owned one of the best home ice records in the league.

Meanwhile, the Stars had stolen away a determined and aggressive 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night to start a four-game road trip. The win helped in mending the damage that had been done during a disappointing 1-3-1 homestand that left the Stars’ future lingering in hopeful uncertainty. The question was: how would Dallas respond going up against another divisional leader on the road?

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It was a test that required endurance, grit, and focus. It required the Stars to play to their strengths, not panic, and take advantage of a critical game that could significantly boost their already-favorable playoff odds.

They succeeded in doing all of that and picked up an impressive 2-1 victory against one of the NHL’s best.

But it didn’t come without a severe dose of adversity. And if you’ve kept up with the Stars through the first 77 games of this 2018-19 journey, a solid gut punch of adversity probably doesn’t surprise you. After all, it’s nothing new for this hockey team.

The Dallas Stars have been batting adversity and have been forced to climb plenty of mountains throughout their regular season campaign so far. That trend continued around the midway point of Wednesday night’s game.

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While pushing himself across the crease to make a save, Ben Bishop twitched. It’s a similar twitch to the one that the goaltender has endured at various points throughout the season, with each instance being tied to an injury of sorts.

That trend continued with 6:38 remaining in the second period of Wednesday’s game. After hunching over for a few minutes in apparent pain and talking to trainers, Bishop left the game on his own strength with a 20-save shutout intact.

And that’s when the spotlight once again turned to Anton Khudobin. It wasn’t the first time this year that he was called on mid-game to replace Bishop; far from it, in fact.

But as Khudobin got in a quick stretch and prepared to protect a narrow 1-0 lead that had been built by a heroic Alexander Radulov power play goal and a masterful start by Bishop, there was a perfect opportunity to panic.

What was wrong with Bishop? It was quickly labeled as a lower-body injury.

Was it serious? He was deemed “questionable to return” just a few minutes after leaving the ice.

Would Khudobin be able to save the day again? He’d done so on a few occasions during the season, but a sub-.500 record even with some impressive stats left plenty of room for worry.

So as the Dallas Stars continued their push to protect the narrowest possible lead, uncertainty lingered. After all, this was an important game for the Stars’ playoff hopes and had the potential to set the tempo for the rest of the road trip, depending on Bishop’s status and the result of the game.

But Dallas didn’t panic. They stuck to their game plan, continued building on their recent success, and did what they had to do dig up a win.

When the Stars were presented with a power play midway through the third period, they took advantage. And after a net-front scramble occurred with just 20 seconds to go in the man advantage, Miro Heiskanen scored his 11th goal of the year to double the Dallas lead.

And when Roman Polak (one of the Stars’ best penalty killers) went to the box with less than six minutes to go, the other Dallas penalty killers stood tall. Ben Lovejoy blocked a shot and was all over the puck, Tyler Seguin won a big defensive zone face-off, and the Stars only allowed one shot on goal during the kill.

And when the Flames emptied their net and scored to cut the Stars’ lead in half with 1:32 remaining, the Stars didn’t crumble. They didn’t struggle like they did down the stretch in the 2017-18 season. Instead, they stuck to their plan and continued to push until the final buzzer.

"“I never feel an ‘uh oh’ when Bish comes out, and that’s because we have Anton Khudobin. We have two great goalies. We’re very, very fortunate.” – Jim Montgomery on his goalie duo"

In one of the biggest games of the year against one of the best clubs in the league, the Dallas Stars pulled through. The Dallas power play and penalty kill were perfect. Jason Spezza was on the ice for both Dallas goals after missing the last two contests as a healthy scratch. And when he was called upon, Anton Khudobin helped shut the door with 15 saves.

As a result, the Dallas Stars secured two substantial points against the best team in the Pacific division. The win helped Dallas to a 3-0-0 record and the season sweep against the Flames and put them at 6-1-0 against the top two teams in the Western Conference this season.

This continual battle against adversity is also preparing the Stars all the more for the postseason. After a frustrating homestand, the door was open for Dallas to fall into self-doubt and worry.

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Instead, they hit the road and picked up big wins against two strong clubs. They’ve now won six road games in a row and own a road record above .500 (18-17-3) for the first time this season. It also ties the franchise record for longest road winning streak.

They can win fast-paced, offensive battles (like they did in Winnipeg on Monday). On the other hand, they can also thrive in low-scoring, defensive bouts (like they did in Calgary).

But whatever the case, the Stars are finding a way to get it done, regardless of the challenge or obstacle in front of them.

“We’re playing a good brand of hockey right now,” said Stars coach Jim Montgomery following the win in Calgary. “They know where shots are coming from. For the most part, we’re taking care of the backside. Bish made some great saves there in the first 30 minutes and Dobby made some great saves in the third. They’re making the saves they’re called upon, and we’re not asking them to make secondary saves sprawling out.”

The Stars now sit at 40-31-6 with 86 points. Their magic number to make the playoffs dropped to five on Wednesday night, meaning a 2-2-1 record to close the year would guarantee them a spot in the postseason. Their playoff odds sit at 99.2 percent and it seems as though they have a spot in the bag. And while that’s an encouraging thought, their dominant and resilient play at this point in the year might be the most encouraging part of this story.

“There’s a real good intensity, but there’s a calmness as well [in the locker room],” Montgomery added during the postgame press conference.

Being able to mix intensity and calmness isn’t easy. But then again, neither are most of the uphill battles that the Dallas Stars have fought this season.

But regardless of the challenge put in front of them, they keep finding ways to forge ahead.

And with five games to go before the postseason kicks off, it seems as though that’s exactly what this team needs.