Dallas Stars Must Turn To Desperation In Game 4 Against Blues
The Dallas Stars are back home for another turn in their second-round series against the St. Louis Blues. But this time around, they are playing from behind. And if they want to even the series up, it will require both focus and desperation.
Wednesday night offers the Dallas Stars a chance at redemption. And if there were a time for the Stars to turn the series around and gain momentum, it’s now.
After dropping a hard-fought 4-3 loss to the Blues on Monday, the Stars are in a 2-1 hole in the series. And though it’s been a back-and-forth effort so far (the teams have traded wins up to this point), crunch time is quickly approaching for Dallas.
The interesting thing about the Stanley Cup Playoffs is that each game carries a different significance. Game 1 offers a chance to give a strong first impression and build early momentum. Game 2 gives the losing team a chance to bounce back and the winning team a chance to build a substantial lead.
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Game 4 is different because it can come up in two different fashions. One way is if a team is leading 3-0 and looking to finish the sweep. The other one is a 2-1 split with one team trying to take a multi-game advantage while the other one is trying to tie things up.
The latter is where the Dallas Stars currently find themselves stuck. And that can be digested a few different ways.
On the one hand, the Stars haven’t played badly in this series. Game 1 was a good effort that simply turned up a bad result in a 3-2 loss. Game 2 provided an opportunity to rally with a comeback performance, and Dallas took full advantage. They built an early lead in the first period and protected it well on their way to a 4-2 win in St. Louis.
Then came Game 3. And while Dallas put in a strong effort and fight that included three different comebacks, they couldn’t find a way to take over as they fell 4-3 to start off their home ice stint of round two.
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But there were lessons to take from that game. The Dallas Stars put in a gritty performance, scored a power play goal, and kept balancing out the scales when the Blues would try and take control. They received important secondary scoring, played a relatively strong game in the defensive end, and kept the pressure up as the game went along. But they still came up short, and that’s just how the playoffs go sometimes.
“They won more battles,” Stars center Tyler Seguin told Mike Heika of DallasStars.com after Game 3. “They were a more desperate team, and we are going to respond. We were here about a week-and-a-half ago and it’s the same kind of story, so we are pretty excited to respond and take tomorrow to regroup and come back with a better effort.”
And that’s where Wednesday night comes into play. The Stars need a better effort. This is a St. Louis Blues team that has gone punch-for-punch with Dallas through the first three games of this series.
If they drop Game 4, they’re down 3-1 and will be forced to win out if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. But if they win, it’s a best-of-three and gives them the momentum as they head back out on the road.
At Wednesday’s morning skate, Stars coach Jim Montgomery made some changes to the lineup. This is the first time in a while that the Stars have made voluntarily changes (ones not forced by injury) to their lineup and outlook, so it’s clear that he’s looking for more. That can be a common thread for teams behind in a playoff series.
Here’s how the Stars lined up at morning skate.
Jason Dickinson – Tyler Seguin – Mats Zuccarello
Jamie Benn – Roope Hintz – Alexander Radulov
Andrew Cogliano – Radek Faksa – Blake Comeau
Tyler Pitlick – Justin Dowling – Jason Spezza
There are just a few primary changes from the lineup that Dallas used in Games 1-3.
The first and most obvious is the quick change that Montgomery made on the left wings on his top six. Dickinson was promoted to the top line with Seguin and Radulov, while Benn was moved down to line two with Hintz and Zuccarello.
For the back half of their first-round series against Nashville, the top trio of Benn, Seguin, and Radulov reigned supreme in the offensive zone. But so far against St. Louis, the trio has yet to combine for a goal. Meanwhile, the second line of Dickinson, Hintz, and Zuccarello has done a majority of the heavy lifting in the offensive zone. The flipping of left wings should provide the Dallas Stars with a fresh, yet familiar outlook and give them an opportunity to generate more creativity and chances on offense. We’ll see how it goes.
In the defensive end, Joel Hanley will make his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut on Wednesday night. Hanley drew into the lineup in place of Taylor Fedun, who started the first three games against St. Louis in place of Jamie Oleksiak, who is out with a lower-body injury. Fedun posted no points and a -3 rating and skated less than 10 minutes per game. His usage was minimized, which probably led to the substitution for Game 4.
In 16 games with Dallas this season, Hanley provided stability and structure to a blue line that had been severely depleted due to injury. His presence also proved helpful in Cedar Park with the Texas Stars during his first year with the organization.
While every playoff game comes with big implications, this one carries a little more weight for the Dallas Stars. If they get swept on home ice and head back to St. Louis in a 3-1 hole, the adversity will peak. But if they can pull off a big win on home ice and even things up, it’s back to being anyone’s series. If they can ramp up the desperation without panicking, they just might have a shot at making things interesting.
Next. Righting The Ship: What Stars Must Do To Defeat Blues. dark
Puck drop is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on NBCSN from the American Airlines Center.