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Dallas Stars Put Forth Strong Effort, But Fall To Blues In Overtime
The Dallas Stars earned the win, but somehow came up short against the St. Louis Blues tonight. They lost 3-2 in overtime. Game recap and some final thoughts can be found below.
The Dallas Stars 2015-16 offense was back on the scene Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues, but somehow the Stars couldn’t pick up the win. They dropped 3-2 in the overtime frame to fall to 2-1-1 on their current homestand.
Game recap
The Dallas Stars came out with a lot of energy and momentum in the first period. Jiri Hudler caught a stick up high and picked up a 4:00 power play for the Stars. Patrick Eaves scored 2:16 into the man advantage to give Dallas the 1-0 lead. Jaden Schwartz would get the goal back on a rebound chance a few minutes later to knot the game at 1-1 going into first intermission.
The second period consisted of a good number of chances for each team, but no goals were scored until late. With 1:24 left, Jason Spezza scored on the rebound to take the 2-1 lead. Patrik Berglund was quick to respond though, scoring a goal with 30 seconds left to tie it at 2-2.
The third period was a relatively quiet one. The Stars and Blues both found themselves with some quality opportunities, but neither team capitalized and the game headed to overtime.
In OT, David Perron found the back of the net on a wraparound and notched the game-winning goal for the Blues. St. Louis ended the night with the 3-2 win.
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Thoughts and Observations
Talk about outplaying and losing
Tonight’s game could definitely fall under the “toughest losses to bear” category for the Stars this season.
It seemed as though they did everything right. They put 38 shots on net, had 73 total shots thrown towards the net, and only gave up 22 shots to St. Louis. Their defense played aggressive, their offense was overwhelming, and the net minding of Antti Niemi was once again focused in.
But somehow it slipped through their grasp. Somehow they didn’t come away with the second point.
“We had our chances to win the game and we were probably guilty of letting them hang around in the game too long,” Stars center Jason Spezza said after the game.
The Stars played the type of game that they’ve been wanting to play all season and somehow that wasn’t even enough against a team that was on the second night of a back-to-back. This one definitely stings a bit more than a regular loss for Dallas.
Overtime is the new enemy
The Dallas Stars dropped to 1-7 in the overtime period this season with the loss to the Blues. That’s more losses in overtime than any other team in the NHL. Back when 3-on-3 overtime became a thing at the beginning of the 2015-16 season, many expected Dallas to dominate considering their lineup.
So what happened? Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and John Klingberg can’t get it done? Why not?
“Our record is hurting us right now in three-on-three,” Spezza said. “We’ve spent a lot of time watching it and we haven’t had one for a bit, but we definitely need to get better results from three-on-three because they are important points.”
No puck luck tonight
The Stars were definitely not in the favor of the hockey gods tonight. If you believe in puck luck (as many so avidly do), you could probably tell that Dallas didn’t have much of it at all.
Jordie Benn hit the crossbar in the first. Johnny Oduya hit the crossbar midway through the third. The Blues first goal was off of a rebound after the puck took an awkward bounce in front of the net.
The puck seemed to fall just out of the reach of different Stars’ players throughout the night. Overall, it was just an off night for the Stars. One of those nights you just want to forget about.
Niemi’s hot streak officially cooled off
Antti Niemi entered tonight’s game with a record of 7-2-1 on home ice this season. While he only picked up an overtime loss, his statistics were nothing to smile about.
He gave up three goals on 22 shots and finished with a save percentage of .864. Prior to this game, his last three save percentages were .944, .966, and .969.
Out of the three goals, none were truly Niemi’s fault. The first resulted from a defensive breakdown during a Blues’ rush, the second involved Niemi being encroached upon by a Blues’ player, and the game-winner was on a wraparound after a turnover by the Stars in the defensive zone.
The last thing the Stars can afford is for this game to rattle Niemi. He’s been their rock so far throughout this homestand, and if they want to finish it off with a bang on Friday against Los Angeles, they will need him present and in full force.
The final stat line
The Stars finished the night outshooting St. Louis 38-22 and owning the face-off dot by a narrow margin of 51.5 percent. The Stars also went 1/3 on the power play and 1/1 on the penalty kill. They blocked 20 shots to the Blues’ 18 and St. Louis outhit Dallas 16-14.
Looking ahead
This was one of those sour losses that will leave a bad taste in the Stars’ mouth. They did everything they needed to in order to snag the two points, but ended up falling short and only walking away with one.
Their next game will be on this upcoming Friday night when they close out their five-game homestand with a matchup against the Los Angeles Kings. Check back to Blackout Dallas for complete coverage of the game as it draws near.
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