Last night was rough for the Dallas Stars — despite arguably outplaying the Chicago Blackhawks, they ended up with a 4-2 loss on their hands. That was largely due to an inability to convert on scoring chances, which has been a common occurrence this season:
“Well, we are trying. If it doesn’t go in it doesn’t go in,” [head coach Rick] Bowness said of the battle to score goals. “They had two even-strength shots on net after 40 minutes and they were up 4-0. We had some grade-A’s that didn’t go in. We had a breakaway that didn’t score, and they scored on theirs. The power play was awful. The penalty kill wasn’t good enough.”
Chicago currently sits 4th in the Central with 12 more points than Dallas. The Stars have six games in hand, but even if they won all six, they would still only be tied with Chicago. So perhaps it’s time to focus on not the playoff race but rather just winning games:
“We have four more games with them, but regardless of all that, the only thing that matter is clearing our heads up and get ready for the Saturday afternoon battle,” Bowness said. “It will be tough games in Columbus. Right now, the (playoff) positioning can’t be the focus. The focus has to be on getting ready to play Columbus and doing everything we can to win that game.”
You can read more from Mike Heika here.
Stars Stories
Here’s everything else Rick Bowness had to say about the game:
🎥 Rick Bowness: “The good things we are doing are getting lost because we are not scoring on the chances that we had, and the special teams clearly was the difference tonight. The five-on-five play is not the issue.” @ATT | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/quLQrGxIIi
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) March 12, 2021
Saad Yousuf gives his two cents on the Stars’ loss:
Solid play but lack of finish, Stars’ loss to Blackhawks is microcosm of season https://t.co/WZW3jYikgn
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) March 12, 2021
And here’s Matt DeFranks’ take:
The Stars need more from Jamie Benn, Denis Gurianov and Anton Khudobin. The offense can’t just be reliant on Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz. https://t.co/CI9GwDffdp
— Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) March 12, 2021
Around the League
Once again, it was a busy night in the Central Division:
- The Carolina Hurricanes pummeled the Nashville Predators 5-1. Enough said. [Canes Country]
- Meanwhile the Florida Panthers also scored five, edging out the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in overtime. [Litter Box Cats]
- The Tampa Bay Lightning, unfortunately, only scored four, which means they actually lost to the Detroit Red Wings 6-4. [Winging it in Motown]/
Trades are fun, so let’s take a look at some possible fits:
The playoff race continues to take shape.
Now, let’s shake things up.
Here are 6 potential trades that would make things *very* interesting. | @PierreVLeBrunhttps://t.co/h354L6dkVW
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) March 12, 2021
Jordan Binnington is with the St. Louis Blues for the long haul, signing a 6x$6M contract extension:
BREAKING NEWS! Jordan Binnington has signed a six-year, $36 million contract extension. https://t.co/DbTisvjCnz #stlblues pic.twitter.com/EiEB2gxl4y
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 12, 2021
If all goes as planned, hopefully the NHL will be somewhat normal this next season:
The NHL has been nimble throughout a year unlike any we’ll probably see again in our lifetimes, but remains focused on getting back to the future.@reporterchris with more on the league’s hope of restoring the comfort of what it once knew.https://t.co/eD2QDkkOWs
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 12, 2021
Finally, the Stars aren’t that bad (yet), but it never hurts to look:
Already keeping an eye on the 2022 draft? @scottcwheeler has his 22 best ’22 prospects here ⤵️https://t.co/ahatwefPZs
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) March 11, 2021