The stage was set for the Dallas Stars. After going down 3-0 in the series to the Vegas Golden Knights, they had won two straight, including a decisive Game 5 victory on the road. They were coming back home with all of the momentum, with their captain, Jamie Benn, returning to the lineup. The American Airlines Center was quite possibly as loud as it’s ever been.
And then… well, you know.
It was a depressing, unceremonious end to the season (well, save for the post-game ceremony for the other team). After going down 3-0, Stars fans knew the season was all but over. Had they gone down swinging, it would have been okay, all things considered. Instead, they went out with a whimper, losing in a fashion that you might have expected them to lose Game 4 in after that horrible, horrible Game 3.
When Dallas went down 1-0, it was okay – they gave up the first goal in both of their past two wins. When they went down 2-0, it was fine – they had the firepower to answer back. When they went down 3-0, it was concerning, but not insurmountable – survive the bad first period, then answer back.
But when they went down 4-0… well, that’s when the writing was on the wall. That’s when Stars fans, and probably the team themselves, knew that their season was over. When you wished you could just see one goal, one final push to at least give yourself something worth cheering for. And even that didn’t happen.
Now, I know a lot of people have already been firing their #hottakes, but let’s make one thing abundantly clear: this loss was not due to a lack of effort. As our managing editor Taylor Baird tweeted last night (twice), you can’t just look at the results and reach such a flimsy conclusion. This was an elimination game with a fleeting chance at a Stanley Cup Final appearance on the line – to act as if the Stars weren’t giving their full effort is just plain ridiculous. A cop-out.
The problem was, the Stars weren’t the only one giving their full effort – after letting Game 4 slip through their fingers and getting outplayed at home in Game 5, Vegas was determined to not let this series go to Game 7. They played with that “killer instinct” we talked about in the Minnesota Wild and Seattle Kraken series. Both teams gave it their all, at least until the fourth goal.
No, the simple truth is that the Stars were just outplayed. Badly. And this time, without an early-game ejection of their Captain to somewhat excuse it. The Stars gave it their all, and it wasn’t even remotely close enough.
In many ways, the loss was a microcosm of all of the Stars’ struggles this series, and, to an extent, the postseason in general. Ryan Suter was a bit lazy chasing for a puck and then taking a penalty right afterwards. Jake Oettinger let in a lot of goals when he needed to steal some. Miro Heiskanen struggled greatly. Mason Marchment, who was a healthy scratch candidate heading into the game, failed to make it 3-1.
And then there was Jamie Benn, the captain coming off a suspension, whose team had an internal rally cry of winning so he could return to the series, being a complete no-show when he finally got back on the ice. That led to many, many jokes/observations about how Dallas had only won against Vegas when he wasn’t in the lineup.
Now, to be clear, that’s not to say any one of those factors was the sole cause for the Stars loss. Yes, Benn was invisible, but the Stars as a whole struggled immensely. According to GameScore, Marchment actually graded better than any Dallas skater. Heiskanen was asked to do everything and one of the only reasons the Stars made it this far to begin with. Sure, Oettinger let in a lot of goals, but most were due to a complete collapse of the defense leading up to them. Hell, Suter’s penalty didn’t even lead to a goal for Vegas.
But like I mentioned last time: when facing elimination, the margin for error is razor thin. You can’t afford even the slightest hiccup, less it end up being the difference. So when you have a lot of mistakes, they all add up and… well, you get last night. A crushing loss for the Stars players, the coaches, the management, the ownership, the fans, even ESPN and the NHL at large (no Game 7).
It just sucks. And you know what sucks most? That it put a damper on what was an incredible season from Dallas. I mean, think about it: Jason Robertson crushed the 100 point barrier and was a bonafide Hart Trophy candidate. Miro Heiskanen more than doubled his point total. Jamie Benn and, to an extent, Tyler Seguin looked completely renewed. Wyatt “He’s Only Nineteen” Johnston had an incredible rookie performance.
And that’s just the regular season. Come playoff time, the Stars were the last team to be eliminated from the postseason – only two teams remain. They went 10-9 in the playoffs, had 10 home games to maximize revenue, and were two wins away from a Stanley Cup Final appearance. 29 other teams would have killed to get blown out 6-0 in Game 6 of the Conference Final, given everything that came prior. Hell, most franchise would kill for the Stars’ success these past 10 seasons in general.
And you know what? As painful as the loss was in the moment (still is), the fans understood that too. When the clock was winding down, with Vegas on the power play and just standing around with the puck, us fans still at the AAC (maybe not half, but a sizable amount) rose to our feet and cheered. The rally towels were being spun, chants of “Let’s Go Stars!” rang out loud and clear. When the players couldn’t feel any worse about themselves, the fans that remained made it known to them that we were damn well proud of them and their season.
And then there’s the future to look forward to. This wasn’t some “last hurrah” for the Stars (although time is running out for Joe Pavelski, Ryan Suter, and maybe even Jamie Benn) – it was but the first deep run of the “2017 Draft Class” era of Stars hockey. Thomas Harley will be a lineup regular next season. Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque might be too. Lian Bischel is on the horizon. Heck, maybe even Nils Lundkvist comes in next season with a chip on his shoulder and crushes it.
But even with all of that optimism, this loss stings. This series as a whole stings. It sucks, it’s awful, it’s depressing. And you know what? It’s okay to be doom and gloom right now. It’s okay to feel like everything came crashing down, and that this might have been “the chance” for a Stanley Cup until who knows when, if ever.
That’s just sports. It’s the ups and it’s the downs. The jubilation of winning a playoff series and the crushing defeat of your season ending. The awful “armchair GM” takes and the nonsensical “appeal to to authority” fallacies. The hope entering a new season followed by the despair the moment anything goes poorly.
So be sad, mad, hopeful, dead inside, whatever you (don’t) feel inside. Because it’s those emotions that tie us so closely to this hockey team we love to hate and hate to love.
See y’all this offseason.