The Dallas Stars worked their way into Nashville on Wednesday night and came up a big game one win over the Predators. But now that they have one road win and are ahead in the series, the real test lies in keeping themselves out in front.
Winning a game on the road proved to be a difficult task for the Dallas Stars for most of the 2018-19 regular season. In fact, it seemed nearly impossible until the last few weeks of the year. That’s when the Stars’ road game finally came to life.
After posting a 1-3-1 record during a road trip in mid-February, Dallas finished their regular season campaign on the road on a furious pace. The Stars ended the year 8-2-1 when away from home and turned their road woes around entirely, finishing the year 19-18-4.
It was a critical time in the year that helped in not only flipping their road problems, but also in securing their spot in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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But what was the mentality used in piecing the road surge together? Well, it was more of a “taking it one game at a time” mentality than anything. That’s a good mentality to have because looking or thinking too far into the future can cause problems in the present that eventually translate to the future.
And that’s exactly what they will have to avoid going into game two against the Nashville Predators.
The Stars started their playoff journey on a high note on Wednesday night. They knocked off the Predators 3-2 and secured a big comeback victory to take an early series lead. And in many ways, it was the perfect first performance.
Nashville came out swinging in the game and took it to a Dallas Stars team that was still trying to find its footing. The Predators scored midway through the period and pushed their way to a 1-0 lead at intermission while Dallas struggled to keep up. Ben Bishop had to be really good early in the contest in order to keep the Stars afloat, and he was in many ways.
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The second period was where things began turning in the Stars’ favor. Miro Heiskanen scored a power play goal, Dallas began pushing back, and the chances started to fall for the road team.
In the third period, Bishop shut the door while Alexander Radulov and Mats Zuccarello scored to increase the Dallas lead to 3-1. And though P.K. Subban struck back with a wicked wrist shot, the Nashville comeback fell short as the Stars picked up a big 3-2 win.
It was a significant victory. Bridgestone Arena is known as one of the toughest buildings in the NHL, especially during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For the Stars to keep their hot streak on the road alive against a playoff-weathered club in a raucous arena is no small matter.
But that’s in the past now. And while you may want to continue celebrating a win in the series opener, that’s a mindset that the Dallas Stars cannot afford to possess.
And they know that.
“There’s a lot of teams that go up one and end up losing the series,” said Stars forward Mats Zuccarello. “We gotta be humble and keep working. They’re still the favorites over there, so we just have to go out, try to do our job, help each other out, and be a good team. We have to go from there.”
Although winning game one is a sincere accomplishment, it’s only one game. And now, the focus must be on game two. That’s for a few different reasons.
For one, it’s another heavy test on the road. The crowd will be just as daunting and aggressive on Saturday night as it was on Wednesday night. Bridgestone is still an incredible challenging arena to play (and win) in, so the Stars will need to preserve their mindset from game one.
This is also a chance for Nashville to swing back for their home crowd before heading on the road. The Predators know what they did wrong in game one and should be more focused and prepared in game two. If they can split the series in game two, they can force their way back to even ground and head into Dallas carrying the momentum.
Pucks and Pitchforks
“Going on the road for the first two games, the mindset is you gotta try to steal one,” said Stars forward Tyler Seguin on Friday. “That’s the goal and obviously when you get the first one, you want to get two. Why not? We’re obviously expecting a much better Nashville team tomorrow night.”
And finally, this is an opportunity for the Dallas Stars to put a commanding grip on the series. If they can win two games on the road and head home for two more contests with a multi-game lead, they could set themselves up for a manageable push to the finish line.
But it’s important that they take the “one game at a time” approach. Don’t think about going home and don’t think about the win in game one. Instead, the focus must lie on a big game tonight. The Stars are 25 percent of the way to their goal, but one win against could even it all up. Don’t forget that there’s still 3-6 games left in the series.
“This is a very tough time of year mentally,” said Stars defenseman Ben Lovejoy. “The emotions are incredible. You win one game, you feel like you’re winning the Stanley Cup. You lose one game, you feel like you’re going to get swept and the series is over. We’ve spoken a great deal about that. We need to be even keel. We have not won anything. We’re still the seven seed and we’re playing the two seed.”
This is a big game for the Dallas Stars. Can they keep their foot on the gas and make a strong second impression in the Music City? Will game one’s successes weigh on their mindset and focus in game two? Or will they come out swinging and be ready to counter what should be a stronger and fiercer Nashville attack?
Puck drop is at 5 p.m. from Bridgestone Arena. Just take it one game at a time.