The Dallas Stars dug themselves a deep pit early last night and the Chicago Blackhawks buried them deeper in the third period of what turned into a 4-1 semi-rout. Dallas played from behind for 59:50 of the game's 60 minutes, which tells you all you need to know about how the night went.
Most of the problems that plagued the Stars from mid-November until late February have returned with a vengeance in the last two games: slow starts, poor puck management, difficulty finishing potential momentum-swinging scoring chances and lack of ability to create power play opportunities.
Coming off back-to-back shutouts, Kari Lehtonen turned in a pedestrian performance last night. To be fair, two of the goals he allowed were screened, one was deflected off the stick of a teammate and the final one came off a turnover. But Lehtonen had been so clutch of late -- stopping both routine and tough chances alike -- that it was almost a shock to the system to see him yield the two quick goals the Blackhawks scored right off the bat.
For the second straight game, the Stars did not have a single power play. While there have been a handful of potential calls let go, the bigger issue has been that the Dallas players have not kept their feet moving enough or worked the puck into scoring areas frequently enough to get calls on their behalf.
Last night, the Stars had numerous misadventures with turnovers, especially ones between the bluelines. Way too much time was spent in the defensive end of the ice. Dallas recovered its equilibrium to some degree after the two quick Chicago goals and then played a decent -- but offensively fruitless -- second period before the walls fall in again in the third period. The Stars defense corps as a whole played one of its worst games of the entire season.
Stephane Robidas got outmuscled several times by Blackhawks forwards, had several bad turnovers although he was only officially charged with one giveaway and could not get his shots through from the point (all four attempts got blocked by Chicago). He finished as a plus-one for the game, but the team really needed a little more from him and from Alex Goligoski (three charged giveaways, five shot attempts blocked/missed).
It was also a rough night for Trevor Daley and an especially awful one for Adam Pardy, who has been just about unusable for Glen Gulutzan this season. Rookie Philip Larsen played in the game, despite still feeling the effects of a knee injury sustained early in Wednesday's game in Winnipeg.
The Stars' forwards didn't exactly cover themselves in glory last night, either. The forecheck was sporadic. The skill players couldn't generate much attacking speed, and the crash-the-net players such as Michael Ryder and Brenden Morrow struggled to establish body position down low in the zone. The Hawks won the majority of the battles on the boards and had superior puck support.
Dallas is not in action again until Tuesday night, when they take on the Phoenix Coyotes in a vitally important Pacific Division showdown at the American Airlines Center. Until then, all the team can do is scoreboard watch and try to work out the kinks at practice. The Stars' back-to-back losses have opened the door for the Coyotes, Sharks and Kings.
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Bright spots from last night were few and far between, but there were a few:
* The Stars went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and are now 40 for their last 42 in that department. Now they need need to start generating -- and finishing -- power plays.
* Jamie Benn showed good finish on the Stars' lone goal of the game. Unfortunately it came too late to mean anything apart from breaking up Corey Crawford's shutout bid.
* The game officially drew 19,099 fans, which is a standing room only figure at the American Airlines Center (18,584 capacity for hockey). According to Mark Stepneski's ESPN blog, the game set a new record for the highest (announced) attendance ever for a Stars home game. It's a safe bet to say there will be a lot more people in the building for the game against the Coyotes than showed up on Columbus Day, when it looked like the stands were about 75 percent empty.
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