Texas Stars Fall in Game Five, Trail 3-2 To Milwaukee

A familiar scene played out to Stars fans of all kinds in Cedar Park, Texas tonight. With their season on the line in a game that will probably make all the difference in the world, those wearing the green and gold (in this case the Texas Stars) had to close out the final five seconds and just couldn't do it.

The Dallas Stars failed to do so twice against the Anaheim Ducks down the stretch and as a result the Ducks are, as of this writing, playing an OT game as the #4 seed; Something the Stars could have easily claimed had they won those two games they had control of so late in March.

The Texas Stars re-enacted that emotional scarring and allowed the Milwaukee Admirals the game tying goal with 4.4 seconds remaining in regulation, and of course, lost in overtime. How many times does a team that ties the game in regulation not win the game in overtime? Not often, it seems.

The Stars fall to 2-3 in the post-season this year and the Admirals have only to win one of the final two games at home coming up this week to close out Texas and advance in the Western Conference. It would be a stark contrast to the long playoff run the Stars experienced last year.

Texas has been unable to generate the offense necessary to win. In their three losses they've scored a total of five goals and have not cracked more than three goals in their two victories. These teams entered the series known as stingy and they've both lived up to it, but Milwaukee has the edge in poise right now and the benefit of a Jamie Benn type addition (a boon in 2010) is just not there right now. Texas' only goal came from Ray Sawada tonight.

From all accounts Richard Bachman was terrific in goal tonight and probably deserved a better fate. In an twist of fate and history, former Dallas Star Steve Begin was on the ice for the game tying goal late in the third and initiated it from the point.

Game six will be in Milwaukee on Monday night after a couple of days rest and travel.

Interesting fact about Milwaukee: If anyone finds any be sure to let the people who live there know what it is.

Check out Hundred Degree Hockey for a better recap than we could hope to provide.