For the first 15 minutes of last night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, I was pretty positive about the Stars’ response to the debacle that was Tuesday. The boys in Victory Green were getting some decent looks at Connor Hellebuyck, there were some hits, and some all around feistiness that I hadn’t really seen in the last few games weeks.
Then Nino Niederreiter scored what looked to me in the stands like an incredible redirection goal – and the wind just came out of everyone in the arena’s sails, including the men on the ice. They battled a bit longer, but it just came off the rails eventually. Two sloppy puck handles at the beginning of the third period, on the power play no less, and my head was officially in my hands with an audible “oh no.”
It’s interesting, because outside of the last minute of the Vancouver game, and the last period of last night’s game against Winnipeg, I actually felt like I saw some progress from some of the other bad results we’ve seen lately. (And even some wins!) Matt Duchene agrees:
“We’ve struggled with them all year. They’re the best defensive team in the League. Their record is where it’s at because of that,” Dallas forward Matt Duchene said. “I thought we did a lot of good things. Our work ethic was good, some traffic shots, but they were one and done a little too much. Breakdowns that ended up in our net. It’s not like they were dominating us all night. I don’t think it was a 4-0 type game by any means. It felt like a 2-1 either side. I think the last two games [here] are steps in the right direction of where we want to get to, as funny as that sounds.”
I’m not sure what this team is going to be when the playoffs roll around, but they’re definitely going to have to find another gear.
“Tyler Seguin said it to our group, we went 10-2 down the stretch last year and proceeded to lose two home games to Vegas in the first round, so that tells you how important [the end of the regular season] is,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “We’ve got to keep building here. There are some periods here that are, for me, winning-type hockey come playoff time in a week. We’ve got to take those and build on them. The things that don’t help you win in the playoffs, like some of the plays we’ve made in the third, we’ve got to eliminate.”
Check out the rest from our very own Taylor Baird’s recap here.
Dallas Stars Stuff
Not that I want to see guys spend a ton of time in the box for fighting, but I don’t NOT want to see this feistiness.
This alone made my night…. #DallasStars #TexasHockey #DALvsWPG @ssteel23 pic.twitter.com/ygzyiDksBs
— Hockey1Stars 💚 (@Hockey1Stars) April 11, 2025
And some from the coach’s presser.
"It's not bad to have some adversity as a team, particularly when you are not going home at the end of the night when we lose. As long as we learn and take the good stuff."@DallasStars head coach Pete deBoer after tonight's game against Winnipeg🔊 pic.twitter.com/3jV1XrYUfR
— Victory+ (@victoryplustv) April 11, 2025
Elsewhere in the Central
Outside of that “must win game” for the Stars at the top, the rest of the division was busy last night.
- The most important thing to come out of last night was the Canucks doing the Stars a solid and dropping the Avalanche in Colorado last night – securing home ice for the Stars in round one. [RECAP]
- The Blackhawks got one over the Bruins last night in Boston, winning 5-2. [RECAP]
- And the other interdivisional matchup had the Preds drop Utah HC in a shootout in Salt Lake City [RECAP]
Around the NHL
Cool moment for Flower.
Marc-Andre Fleury's kids skated onto the ice and joined their dad for likely the final home game start of his NHL career 🥹 pic.twitter.com/euqzOCqkGi
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 10, 2025
This is still so very weird to see.
Brad Marchand is a Florida Panther! 😼 pic.twitter.com/BBvqsDC69M
— NHL (@NHL) April 11, 2025
Greetings from Scenic Cedar Park and Beautiful Boise!
The playoff-bound Texas Stars are headed on their last road trip of the season.
back to work before our last road trip of the regular season 🚧 pic.twitter.com/Z47En1cBs0
— x – Texas Stars (@TexasStars) April 8, 2025
The Steelheads lost their matchup to Kansas City, so I’m going to focus on the praise for the Captain instead!
Who else but The Captain 🫡 IT'S BOBBLEHEAD NIGHT THIS SATURDAY 💥 pic.twitter.com/6awF9hnpfk
— Idaho Steelheads (@Steelheads) April 10, 2025
Finally
Well. Better now than in a couple weeks!
dallas stars fans in the last week pic.twitter.com/rhmfZT6kz4
— x – madi 🤠 (@barzillier) April 11, 2025