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Stars Fall in 4-2 Loss to the Ducks

Posted on by Anthony Collini

Too little, too late.

The Dallas Stars had a valiant pushback against the energetic and hungry Anaheim Ducks after a listless start to the game Monday night, but it was not enough to overcome the 1st period deficit, and they end the American Airline Center winning streak at seven games.

First Period

The Ducks came out hungry in the first period and dictated the game from the start. They out worked, out hustled, and out competed the Stars in every zone.

Less than a minute into the game, Ryan Strome wins an offensive faceoff back to Owen Zellweger who immediately fires it on net from about 60 feet out to score blocker side against Casey DeSmith.

Only five minutes later, Brett Leason fights through Brendan Smith who tries to stand him up at the blue line. Leason is then given ample time to shoot from below the faceoff dot due to a lackadaisical effort from Matt Dumba. DeSmith again lets in a goal he would probably like back by coming off his angle, leaving the far side of the net open.

The only sustained zone pressure by the Stars came halfway through the period thanks to the newly anointed top line (Mason Marchment – Matt Duchene – Tyler Seguin) and was one of 3 shifts in the period with any semblance of possession time in the offensive zone. The remainder of the period was characterized by a lack of forechecking pressure, ineffective zone exits, weak neutral zone coverage, and limited presence in front of the net. It wasn’t until the final minutes of the period that the Stars appeared to find their rhythm and gain some momentum.

Shots: DAL-11 ANA-9
Score: DAL-0 ANA-2

Second Period

The Stars came out skating much better to start the 2nd getting excellent chances almost immediately.During the carryover 4-on-4 play, Roope Hintz broke free from the blue line in and tried to sneak a shot through the five-hole, but Lukáš Dostál was quick to shut it down.Then, on the abbreviated power play opportunity, the Stars came close to converting when a Matt Duchene shot produced a rebound that found Tyler Seguin’s stick, but his attempt slid though across the crease.

Early in the 2nd, Mavrik Bourque was rewarded for his excellent play in the first period with a promotion to the Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston line. The ensuing line combinations looked like this for most of the rest of the game:

Bourque – Benn – Stankoven
Dadonov – Hintz – Johnston
Robertson – Steel – Bäck

An unfortunate play happened when Thomas Harley skated hard to catch up with Brock McGinn on a near breakaway, causing McGinn to crash awkwardly and forcefully into the boards. McGinn was noticeably shaken up and did not return to the game. Harley was assessed a tripping penalty to on the play.

During the ensuing penalty kill, Ilya Lyubushkin demonstrated why he’s a more effective option than Jani Hakanpää, using his speed to generate an odd man rush and ringing a shot off the goalpost.

The Ducks capitalized on their power play, executing a nice triangle passing sequence that set up Cutter Gauthier for a one-timer in the slot.

Yet another close call came for the Stars about halfway through the period when Seguin broke free for a breakaway from center ice. He too found iron going bar, down, and out. Though the stars were noticeably better in the second, generating multiple grade A scoring chances, they were unable to break through due to a combination of timely saves and stubborn goal posts.

Shots: DAL-20 ANA-17
Score: DAL-0 ANA-3

Third Period

Again, an early chance for the Stars shows they’re not deterred by the bad puck luck in the second and are trying to carry the momentum into the 3rd.

Eventually their persistence and Bourque’s excellent play pays off setting up Esa Lindell’s one-timer that rattles in off the pipe, narrowly missing Dostál’s right skate.

Midway through the period, the newly formed fourth line created a few quick succession scoring chances by directing pucks on net and establishing a presence in front of Dostál, looking for tips or rebounds. However, the puck bounced just out of reach for Bäck, preventing him from getting a clean shot away.

Frank Vatrano is able to pick off a risky play by Sam Steel and turns it into a breakaway that DeSmith is able to stop. Less than a minute later Matt Duchene picks up the puck just inside the blue line and is able to drive to the net while fighting of Pavel Mintyukov, makes a FILTHY move just in front of Dostál and is able to elevate the puck, in-tight, on the backhand to cut the deficit to one.

However, the Ducks wouldn’t go away quietly and were able to quickly punch back. The puck went behind the Stars’ net where DeSmith struggled to locate it. Once he does, he anticipates the puck going towards the middle of the ice, but Jackson LaCombe quickly grabs it and goes forehand, backhand to beat DeSmith short side while out-positioning Robertson.

Though the Stars were able to generate a lot of chances throughout the third, including a fantastic tip by Hintz with 30 seconds left, the Duck’s 4th goal was the final nail in the coffin, and the effort was just too little too late.

Shots: DAL-36 ANA-27
Score: DAL-2 ANA-4

My Thoughts

The Good

  • Mavrik Bourque had, by far, his best game of the season. Hopefully it’s a sign that he’s starting to get comfortable and will soon start to show why he won the AHL MVP last season.
  • The defensemen continue to jump up and join the offense and Lindell has quietly snuck up to tie Harley for the team lead in defensemen points.
  • The top line continues its torrid pace getting another line goal.
  • Roope Hintz was noticeably faster and generated more once the lines were changed up. Hopefully splitting up Robertson and Hintz can unlock something to give those guys a spark.
  • The Stars were able to generate a lot of scoring chances and out played the Ducks (as they should) for 40 minutes, but the combination of Dostál and the pipes in behind him proved too much.

The Bad

  • Special teams struggled going 1/2 on the PK and 0/2 on the PP. The PP had chances, but at some point, the PP has to get those pivotal goals.
  • DeSmith had a rough outing tonight. I don’t think it was a bad call to start him tonight. He has to play and Oettinger has to rest, but hopefully he can make those first 2 saves in the future.
  • The Stars continue to struggle in first periods.
  • But the most troubling thing to me thus far in the season (other than our best players not being our best players) has been the team’s inability to respond in-game. They have yet to win a game in which the other team scores first. Part of what made them so successful last season was that they were never truly out of a game. It looked like they felt that way, and the fans (most of us) felt that way, but that “find a way to win” factor this season just seems to be missing. Even with the better effort after the first, I just didn’t have that same confidence they would come back.

And as always, my favorite graphical representation of game flow/momentum from MoneyPuck:

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