The Dallas Stars began a new series against a new opponent on Thursday night, and it showed in the results. Though it wasn’t their best effort, they still had a chance to seize the game. And while that didn’t happen, Game 1 provided plenty of lessons and a sturdy jumping-off point for the rest of the series.
Dallas Stars head coach Jim Montgomery said it best on Thursday night.
“I thought our process was good and I thought our execution was good,” Montgomery said following Game 1 of the second round. “I think our effort can be better.”
That perfectly sums up the Stars’ opening effort in round two at Enterprise Center.
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The Dallas Stars paid a visit to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night to officially kick off their round two series. The Game 1 showdown came less than 72 hours after the Stars had knocked off the Nashville Predators in overtime of Game 6 to officially close out their first-round series with a 4-2 victory.
Thursday night provided them with a chance to keep their hot streak alive and start the second round on a hot note. The Stars had won three consecutive postseason contests and entered round two with some impressive odds. In addition, they were going up against a St. Louis team that they had posted a 3-1-0 record against during the 2018-19 regular season.
But that didn’t show on Thursday night. Dallas got off to a slow start, eventually fell behind 3-1, and couldn’t rally in the final period as they fell 3-2 to drop the opening game of the series.
It’s not like they didn’t fight, though. The Stars came out buzzing early in the first period. The trio of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov created multiple scoring chances for Dallas early on, their defense kept the Blues out of high-danger areas, and the team played with speed and aggression.
But it was the Blues who struck first when Robby Fabbri scored on a wrist shot that found its way through Ben Bishop‘s five-hole. It was a goal that really shouldn’t have gone in (especially when considering Bishop’s recent surge), but offered St. Louis plenty of momentum and got their crowd into it.
Fabbri opens the scoring for the @StLouisBlues! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/z0URk9LE72
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 26, 2019
By the end of the first period, the Stars were down 1-0 but owned the 8-7 advantage in shots. To add on to that, they were 3-1 in the opening round when giving up the first goal. So, there were still plenty of reasons to stay hopeful.
The second period helped in wiping out a lot of those reasons. That’s because Dallas was outshot 7-4 in a slow, defensive frame. They clogged up the Stars’ passing lanes, took away their opportunities at the net, and relied on Jordan Binnington to make a few key saves. To their credit, they were the better team defensively.
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Dallas did find a way to break through, though. Around the halfway mark of the second, Mats Zuccarello used patience when bringing the puck into the zone before finding John Klingberg charging to the net. Klingberg then sent the puck across the zone to Jason Spezza, who fired home a one-timer. It was a bang-bang play that caught a typically solid St. Louis defense off-guard.
Vladimir Tarasenko was quick to strike back a few minutes later. Just eight seconds after drawing a hooking penalty against Roman Polak, Tarasenko scored on a wrist shot from the left circle to reestablish the lead. It halted the Stars’ postseason penalty kill streak at 16 and put the Stars back on their heels. The Blues entered the second intermission with a 2-1 lead and plenty of momentum, leaving Dallas to play catchup.
And they tried to. After Tarasenko tallied another goal by blowing past Miro Heiskanen and avoiding a poke check attempt by Bishop to roof the puck, the Dallas Stars set into comeback mode. They began shooting the puck more, found passing lanes, and used their offense as an asset. The Stars kept clawing, drew a handful of penalties, and eventually cut the lead to one when Jamie Benn scored a dirty rebound goal on the power play.
Dallas ended up setting the tempo and putting together a strong final push in the last 20 minutes, outshooting the Blues 17-6 and creating various chances in an attempt to tie things up. But they ended up falling just short following some late-game heroics by rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington and dropped Game 1 in a 3-2 showing.
And now, the Dallas Stars have to refocus. Thursday night didn’t go as planned, but there were plenty of positives to take from it.
"“It’s going to be a chess match for the whole series. We had our pushes and they had theirs. Like I said, it’s going to go back and forth all series and it’s only going to get harder from here.” – Jamie Benn on the series ahead"
With every new series comes a brand new opponent. That new opponent brings a new style and new challenges. And sometimes, those challenges can take time to figure out.
You saw that on Thursday night. The Stars spent round one suffocating a Nashville team using their strong defensive play and counterattacking at perfect moments to keep the momentum in their favor throughout the series. There were some close wins and a blowout or two, but Dallas never seemed to be in panic mode or in a dangerous spot throughout the six games.
Bleedin' Blue
Thursday night forced them to adapt. The Blues are built a lot like the Stars in terms of relying heavily on goaltending and playing a sound defensive game. As a result, they frustrated the Dallas offense last night, holding them to just one even-strength goal on 29 shots. Roope Hintz and Jason Dickinson had grade-A opportunities in front of the net as the second line continued buzzing, but Binnington was there to shut them down. They were held to just four shots in the second period and were forced to play from behind for most of the game.
“I think it’s two really solid defensive teams that create off of getting pucks deep and that game kind of looked like what we felt it would look like,” said Stars forward Jason Spezza. I’ve got a feeling the series is going to be like that, too. It’s going to be tight-checking and it’s going to be momentum swings back and forth. We did a lot of positive things and I think we have another level to go to and can be better than we were tonight. There was some stuff to build off of for sure.”
Ben Bishop let up two soft goals in the crease and finished with a save percentage below .900 for just the second time in this postseason. It was an uncharacteristic performance for a guy that has been the Stars’ backbone in both the regular season and playoffs. But with every rough performance this year, he’s followed it up with a strong bounce back effort. That should follow suit in Game 2.
For what it’s worth, the Dallas Stars used Game 1 as a “feel out” game. They were up against a new opponent that is also riding the hottest streak in the NHL since January 1, 2019. The Stars went 1/2 on both the power play and the penalty kill, did well on the physical side of things, but got beat a few times by the Blues’ speed and counterattack.
That’s where they have to learn and learn quick. The team has talked about never getting too high or too low in the postseason journey, and that has to hold true here as well. Game 1 was a necessary game to get a new perspective on a new opponent. St. Louis made them pay when they slipped at certain points and proved why they are in the second round.
"“They’re a good team. A lot different than Nashville. They locked it down pretty good once they got their third goal, so credit to them.” – Benn on the Blues’ play"
But there are a lot of positives to take from it. It was a learning process and is a simple sidestep in what should be a long series.
“There’s a lot of our game that I liked and there’s areas we have to get better at,” said Montgomery. “The physicality and intensity of the game probably wasn’t what we were doing against Nashville, and that’s areas we need to get better at. You guys seem to have a different opinion than I do of the game. I don’t think I’m giving you guys the answers you want.”
The message in the postgame wasn’t one of panic, and that’s a good thing. The Stars showed some grit and muscle last night and still had a lot of things clicking. The real test will be getting it all to click at the same time on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis.