The Dallas Stars hosted the St. Louis Blues at the American Airlines Center before the cold winter weather rolled into the DFW Metroplex tonight. The Stars were looking to snap their new losing streak, which they earned in Columbus last night. That was a game that should have been won, but I guess they want to make young goaltenders look like Vezina Trophy candidates in January. However, the losing streak ended tonight as the Stars won 3-2 against the Blues.
There are a lot of things the Stars need to work on when the rest of the team is over in Italy, despite the win. For starters, we should not be getting outhit as we have in the last two games. How do you think the Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Stars from the Western Conference Finals the past two years? You can't rely on having a scoring team to win the Stanley Cup. Here are the four takeaways from tonight's game against the St. Louis Blues at the AAC.
NHL GameScore Impact Card for Dallas Stars on 2026-01-23: pic.twitter.com/DeOLzqe87Z
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) January 24, 2026
Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues: 4. Dallas's golden retriever scores early on the power play
If you had to give an analogy to who's the golden retriever on the Dallas Stars right now, it would be Wyatt Johnston. He brings so much spunk to the power play this season, camping out right in front of the net. He's going to shatter the Stars' record for the most power play goals in a season by the end of this year. Mike Modano is going to lose out on another franchise record he holds, but I'm sure he's happy to see the Stars capitalize on the power play once again.
Another Power Play Goal for Johnny Ice Hockey pic.twitter.com/BH3gzYgCUr
— DLLS Stars (@DLLS_Stars) January 24, 2026
Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues: 3. Capitalizing on the power play
The Stars did a good job of getting on the board tonight by capitalizing on some of their power play attempts. Johnston and Duchene rose to the occasion by scoring on two of the five power-play attempts the Stars had tonight. That's something the Stars need to improve on going into the Olympic break. It is a good thing, even though the Stars weren't able to come away with the win, seeing them regain their power-play supremacy felt like a win.
Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues: 2. Matt Duchene needed that goal in the worst way
Matt Duchene has had a rough season after his concussion. He's still trying to get his vision back to normal while helping the Stars keep fighting for the Stanley Cup. His power play goal in the second period helped tie the game up and kept the Stars fighting for the victory tonight, despite losing. I hope that goal helps out Duchene as he continues to grind this season and find his scoring touch again. Who knows if that goal will lead to bigger things, but he needed it in the worst way.
Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues: 1. Another game being outhit by a mile
I don't know what it is with this team not checking players into the boards, but it has to stop. This is the second game in a row the Stars have lost after being outhit by more than 20. I'm seriously getting concerned about the lack of physicality from this team. The Stars are not going to survive the Western Conference Playoffs against Minnesota or Colorado if they keep playing like this. I hope Lian Bichsel is hungry when he returns to the lineup. The Stars are back at it in St. Louis for a change of scenery on Tuesday night.
