Dallas Stars Cannot Become Discouraged By Undeserved Loss
The Dallas Stars did not deserve to lose on Saturday night as they almost completed a monumental comeback on the red-hot Minnesota Wild. But they cannot let this loss dictate how the upcoming part of their season goes.
Saturday night’s game between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild had a lot of similarities with the Stars’ season up to this point: a roller coaster of heart-crushing emotion.
In the first 12:45 of the first period, the Stars were in arguably their biggest rut in years. Nothing was going right. Antti Niemi gave up three goals on two shots (somehow), the Stars’ defense was in shambles, and the offense could not put together any decent rush.
Then things started going back up to ground level. Antoine Roussel, Jiri Hudler, and Tyler Seguin all scored goals for Dallas in a matter of 6:13 and quickly wheeled the Stars back within one goal of one of the league’s hottest teams.
At this point, almost all of the hope had been restored. The Stars were taking it to a team that was riding a 15-1-1 streak and having no trouble backing them into the corner.
Then it happened. John Klingberg scored on the power play with 8:47 left in the third period. It was finally tied up at 4-4. The Stars had done it. They had clawed their way back from an extremely deep hole that had been dug early on and regained their footing at level ground. Everything was going in their favor.
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That was until a quick 2:02 later when Jason Zucker banked one in off of his body to reclaim the lead for the Wild. The 5-4 advantage would hold for the remainder of the game and leave Dallas on the losing end. Back down to the bottom.
Out of all the sour losses that the Dallas Stars have dealt with this season, this one stings in a new way. In a game where the Stars played arguably the best team in the Western Conference and outdid them for a solid 45 minutes, they still managed to come away empty-handed with zero points.
What a heroic effort and comeback it was. Yet with no points attached to it, the push seems almost entirely futile.
That was the Stars’ 44th game of the season and downgraded them to a record of 18-18-8 on the season. It’s at the point in the year where they can no longer brush off an opportunity at points and simply look forward to the next game. Losing two points when you are sitting outside the playoff standings is not the recipe for a comeback.
It stings. It really does. The Stars outplayed one of the hottest teams in the league right now for a majority of the game, but a poor first 15 minutes mixed in with one simple mistake in the third period was all that was necessary to put Dallas in an inescapable hole.
As painful as it may be, there is no time to sulk. Maybe there was time last season when the Stars could suffer three losses in a row and still hold on to first overall in the West. But not this year.
The Dallas Stars are hanging in the balance right now, and one misstep could easily lead to an early offseason. If the Stars have any shot at making the playoffs this season in the middle of a tightly contested race, they are going to have to go on a run.
And now is the perfect time to do just that. Dallas must find a way to harness this disappointment and turn it into motivation for this upcoming week. The Stars play four games between now and Saturday.
They will head up north today for a three-game road trip, starting with the Buffalo Sabres and ending with the New York Rangers and Islanders. They will then head back to Big D for a home game against the surging Washington Capitals.
If there was ever a time to go on a run, now would be it. The Stars must not only improve their record against the Eastern Conference, but also their road record. This could be a win-win for them. If the Stars could pick up six or seven points from this upcoming week, they would more than likely be holding a playoff spot by the weekend.
But that is only if they can use this painful loss in their favor. Their response to this loss will tell a lot about the Stars future. So, as we’ve said so many times before, this week is critical for the Stars.
It is not going to be easy, but winning the Cup never is. Let’s see what the Stars have left in the tank to make a run with in this second half. Can they triumph over adversity? It all starts tomorrow at noon against the Sabres. Keep your heads up, Stars fans. It’s time for the ultimate push.
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