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Dallas Drops 5th Straight In Regulation In a 4-1 Loss to St. Louis Blues

Posted on by Ann Atkinson

The Dallas Stars had a lot at stake heading into tonight’s match-up against their division rivals, the St. Louis Blues. It’s a game on the road against a team that beat the pants off of them on Tuesday night in Dallas, a crushing 4-1 loss that saw the Stars go up one early in the second only to allow four unanswered goals right after.

A loss tonight would also be their longest streak without a single point since the first season of the Lindy Ruff era, all the way back in 2013-14. It was also Tyler Seguin’s first season with the Stars.

The Blues began tonight with 37 points, sitting pretty in the 3rd spot in the Central Division.

Roster news: Miro Heiskanen is a scratch for the non-covid illness that has been ravaging the Stars.

First Period

The first period was the opposite of exciting. Jamie Benn took an early and somewhat baffling (as in, this should not have been a penalty) penalty for interference. It should be noted here that Mitch Dunning, who should have been refereeing in St. Louis tonight, instead had to stay home due to covid protocols and Dan O’Rourke called the game by himself.

On the ensuing power play, the Blues managed one shot on goal. The Stars did not manage a shot on goal, but Michael Raffl assisted in another short-handed breakaway that Charlie Lindgren eventually had to stop with his glove.

At 7:30 in the first period, the Stars had 2 shots on goal and the Blues had 1 and again, it was the opposite of exciting.

Ben Bishop, who retired from hockey on Tuesday after a long time spent on injured reserve due to knee injury, was recognized during a TV time out. He’s a hometown boy, was raised in the area, and was first drafted by St. Louis in 2005.

Brandon Saad had an excellent scoring chance but Braden Holtby made the save.

Shots: Stars 6, Blues 9
Goals: Stars 0, Blues 0

Second Period

Early in the second period, Saad took a shot from the dot that bounced off the backboard. Logan Brown picked up the bounce and slid it behind Holtby for the Blues first goal of the game.

The Stars got their first power-play chance of the game on a cross-checking penalty to Niko Mikkola, but the best chances on that man advantage went to the Blues.

Roope Hintz made a sliding kick save as the Blues were passing across the slot to keep the puck out of Holtby’s doorstep.

After a lot of odd-man rushes heading toward Holtby, the Stars received a second power-play opportunity when Marco Scandella took a tripping penalty against Denis Gurianov.

The only shot on goal during that man-advantage came from Jason Robertson, who displayed the (wildly unnecessary) patience of a saint with the puck on his tape. Needless to say, Charlie Lindgren had no trouble catching that one.

With ten seconds left to go in the second, a complete breakdown in front of Holtby led to Vladamir Tarasenko’s first goal of the night.

Shots: Stars 15, Blues 21
Goals: Stars 0, Blues 2

Third Period

The Stars had another power-play early in the third, this time off a holding penalty drawn by Jason Robertson. While on the penalty kill, Pavel Buchnevich had a breakaway and was hooked by Alexander Radulov. Buchnevich was awarded a short-handed penalty shot, which he did not score on.

A little under eight minutes into the third, John Klingberg took a shot from the point that was blocked by Lindgren. Jason Robertson picked up the rebound and got the Stars on the board for the first time.

Luke Glendening went to the box for hooking with just over five minutes left in the game, and Tarasenko scored again on the ensuing power play.

Holtby was pulled for the extra attacker and Ivan Barbashev scored on the empty net.

The third of four games between the two clubs and all of them have ended with a score of 4-1. Also:

Shots: Stars 27, Blues 24
Goals: Stars 1, Blues 4

The Stars will be home tomorrow for a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Puck drop against another division rival will be at 7 pm CST.

Talking Points