Dallas Stars: Frustration Builds In Loss As Predators Steal Game Three

For the second time in this playoff series, the Dallas Stars vehemently outworked and outplayed the Nashville Predators. This time around, however, they came out on the unlucky end as the Predators stole game three in Dallas. And with that, there’s a certain amount of frustration that must be managed.

As the Dallas Stars arrived back in Texas on Saturday night, they found themselves staring down a critical opportunity. And if we’re being honest, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are largely built on critical opportunities.

After almost three years of early summers, the Stars were back in the NHL postseason and were going up against a Nashville Predators team that had just won its second consecutive Central division title. The matchup looked as though it would be one of the more intriguing opening round series both when comparing the teams on paper and when looking at the five-game season series from the 2018-19 regular season.

And through the first two games in Nashville, it didn’t disappoint. Dallas built a put together a gritty comeback effort in game one to stun a sold out Predators crowd with a 3-2 win and take an early lead in the series. Three nights later, the Predators bounced back with a comeback effort of their own and clinched a narrow 2-1 overtime win to knot up the series.

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But one road win is what the Dallas Stars needed. They split the series, stole home ice advantage away from the top seed in the Central, and pushed the matchup back to their home turf. It left them with an opportunity to use their home crowd as a boost and potentially take a commanding 3-1 series lead before heading back to Nashville for game five.

And in the third act of the series on Monday night, the Dallas Stars were the better team. Apart from the first few minutes (which have been a shaky area for the team for much of the year), the Stars dominated the important aspects of the game and put together their best effort of the series so far.

They ended up losing 3-2.

“I think, after the first initial eight minutes, the last 52 minutes we played really good hockey,” said Stars coach Jim Montgomery following the game. “And that was a lot of fun to be a part of. Our crowd was awesome and the energy in the building, I thought our building was the loudest building I’ve been in all year. That was awesome to be a part of and our players played a hell of a game.”

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In front of a sold out home crowd of 18,532, the Stars took it to the Predators. Following a quick jump by Nashville that saw them get out to a 10-5 advantage in shots through the first 10 minutes, the Stars hit the gas. They looked faster, more focused, and more determined than they had at any point in the series.

Jamie Benn finished a heavy check on Calle Jarnkrok in front of the Dallas Stars bench that sent the stadium into an uproar. The Dallas offense put together a furious two-minute rush that was spearheaded by 19-year-old Miro Heiskanen. The Predators looked as though they had sunk into a defensive mode as the Stars surged ahead. And though the first period ended in a 0-0 tie, you could tell which team held the momentum simply by listening to the crowd.

But the second period provided a different look. Rocco Grimaldi scored on an early goal from a bad angle that deflected off of Ben Bishop and in. It was an uncharacteristic goal against Bishop, who had been lights out through the first two games (and most of the regular season).

Then came an extended 5-on-3 power play that offered Dallas a chance to not only tie the game, but potentially take the lead. And though the Stars found a way to get some chances on net, they couldn’t break Pekka Rinne and ended the man advantage on a scoreless note.

“We trust our process and knew the pucks were going to go in,” said Stars forward Tyler Seguin. “We’d like to score more than two a night and we’d like our power play to bear down and get us one there. That five-on-three for a full two minutes, we have to take ownership of that. Couple of good saves and I think one post, but we’d like to bury one there.”

A few minutes later, Filip Forsberg scored on a quick breakout following a strong offensive push for the Stars in the Nashville zone. The Stars quickly dropped into a 2-0 hole even after owning a decisive advantage in shots and left an AAC full of Stars fans questioning what might come next.

Then Mats Zuccarello came around. Following a beautiful outlet pass from John Klingberg, Zuccarello barreled into the zone on a one-on-one chance and scored far side to break a 75-minute scoring drought for the team. The period ended with the Dallas Stars once again on the attack and with a manageable one-goal deficit to cover.

They ended up making relatively quick work of that deficit in the third period. Using a gritty effort from their top trio of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov, the Stars managed to tie things up with a sneaky goal by no. 91 in front of the net. Moments later, Jamie Benn had a chance on the doorstep that was somehow fended off by Rinne using the glove.

Then came the crushing blow from Mikael Granlund. Using a long shot from the outside that might have simply been thrown on net just for the sake of getting the puck deep, Mikael Granlund ended up scoring his first goal of the series when the puck deflected off of Bishop’s blocker. Another rough goal against for a goaltender that had been nothing short of stellar through the first two contests.

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And just like that, the Dallas Stars dropped their first game on home ice in the 2019 playoffs.

But it wasn’t because of a lack of effort or because a strong counterattack by the Predators. Dallas outshot Nashville 42-28 (including 31-14 in the final two periods) and outhit them 42-23. The Stars won 57.1 percent of the face-offs to the Predators’ 42.9 percent. It was the first time in the series that Dallas outdid Nashville in any of these three categories, and they definitely had an impact.

The Dallas Stars looked more faster, more physical, and more determined. They were hungry for a win and to regain the series lead. Jason Spezza and Valeri Nichushkin looked good in their respective 2019 playoff debuts. The Dallas offense generated a ton of chances, but could only get two past Rinne, who had his best performance of the series and arguably his best of the year against Dallas.

And yet, the Stars came up short and forfeited the series advantage to the Predators. That spawns a healthy dose of frustration, and rightly so. After all, the Dallas Stars deserved to win on Monday night.

So, who or what should be blamed? Should Bishop take the blame after allowing a handful of soft goals, including the eventual game-winner? While he didn’t have a great performance, his other performances throughout the season and in the first two games of the series are a primary factor in the Stars even competing in the postseason. The Dallas locker room is confident in that belief.

“Sometimes, that’s just how the pucks go,” Seguin added during the postgame. “Bishop is, if not the highest reason, the top two reasons of why we’re in this position right now. He’s been our backbone all year. He’s our best player and we have a lot of confidence in him. Couple of tough bounces, but that’s it.”

“I don’t know if we’re playing if it’s not for our goalies, and especially Ben,” added Montgomery. “Our players have to pick him up for how many times he’s picked us up, right? Would Bish like to have some of those back? Yeah. But, they constantly have traffic and you have to give Nashville credit. They’re getting to that net front and causing havoc.”

That’s important. The Stars aren’t throwing the blame around when times get tough. Instead, they are sharing an equal bearing of it and keeping their faith in their goalie sturdy.

“That first one is just a bad goal,” Ben Bishop said. “Not one you want to let up, but at the same time, you just have to get over it. It’s not the first bad goal I’ve given up in the playoffs and probably won’t be the last. You just have to get over it.”

So, how about the power play? After all, going 0/4 and not scoring on a long 5-on-3 is pretty much unacceptable in this situation, right? That’s true as well, although the Stars did generate 11 power play shots on a red-hot Pekka Rinne.

“He was really good,” Montgomery said of the Nashville goaltender. “That save on Jamie Benn would’ve put us up 3-2 and the roof probably comes off of the AAC. That being said, we need to find ways to score more goals. 5-on-3 for a minute and a half, you have to score. That’s what your best players are paid to do.”

And though the frustration can cause fans to point fingers and attempt to find something to blame, sometimes the story is as simple as saying that the opposing team stole the game. That can be a difficult fact to face (especially during the playoffs), but it’s often the most realistic one in cases like this.

"“We deserved better tonight. We played hard. We’re going to regroup and get ready for a game in a couple of days.” – Tyler Seguin"

The Predators just had things go their way on Monday night. They got some soft goals to go in, stayed strong on the penalty kill even when the Stars bore down on them, and didn’t shatter when Dallas fought back to tie it up. Oh, and Pekka Rinne was amazing.

Sometimes, that’s just the way that the Stanley Cup Playoffs go.

“We worked hard and we won a lot of battles,” Seguin said. “It was a different game than [in Nashville]. I don’t know what the final shots were tonight, but we had a lot of shots. They’ve got a great goalie over there. Playoffs are hard and that’s why we love it. It’s a hard game out there. You don’t get too high, don’t get too low, and move on here. We’ve got a long series to go.”

And so, the series rages on. The Dallas Stars nailed their game one performance, fell short of the effort level that was required to win game two, and suffered a heartbreaker in game three because a few bounces didn’t go their way. The rollercoaster has now gone up the hill, down the hill, and through a corkscrew. What could be next?

Well, a big game four on Wednesday night. The Stars will now play from behind for the first time in this best-of-seven show and look to even things up before heading back to Nashville. It’s a tough place to be, especially after game three went against them. But with the strong performance, another game in front of a raucous home crowd, and a continued belief that the series is far from over, Dallas isn’t giving up yet.

“We stay patient with it and we stay calm,” Seguin said. “We’re really a composed group here and we’ve learned that over time this year. We’ve faced lots of adversity and lots of ups and downs. It’s going to be a long series like I said.”

“We did a lot of good things tonight,” added Bishop. “I thought we played well and we had a chance to win. Obviously, you’d like to make that save and get the 2-1 win there, but it didn’t happen. That’s why it’s a seven-game series, and we’ll bounce back in game four.”

And so, the page turns to a big fourth act.