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Stars Lose to Shattenkirk's Glove Save in Overtime, Then Shootout in 3-2 Loss: Six Easy Tweets

The Dallas Stars didn't deserve a lead in the third, and it showed in Overtime, and ultimately in the shootout against the St. Louis Blues.

If you fast forward to :50 seconds into this Karate Kid clip, you'll notice a few things. One, say what you want about the Cobra Kai, but they teach flawless technique. That's a solid spinning roundhouse kick that William Zabka throws. Excellent economy of motion. No wasted movement. Two, the look of the wounded. When it lands, Daniel has time to show the audience all the emotions connected to being kicked in the face as his broken body slides down the fence molasses like; despair, misery, regret, et cetera.

It's precisely that guttural wail that best describes how the Dallas Stars felt last night after playing the St. Louis Blues. Make no mistake, the Stars were wounded.

1. If Only

Pretty close, all things considered. The Stars were still riding high off their win over Chicago, so perhaps the Christmas Holiday hangover was to blame. Because lord knows the St. Louis Blues don't have families, friends, and potential hangovers to blame for a lackluster outing.

2. Dial H For Hockey

It's hard to mistake Hitchcock hockey. But Hitchcock has the blueline to play a throwback style with modern sensibilities. A lot of people talk about how good Nashville's blueline is, but with the emergence of Colton Parayko, there's no question who has the best blueline in the Central. That top four of Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo, Parayko-Shattenkirk is actually kind of unfair.

3. "Ok, you have some skill..."

Part of the problem in the game was the inability of the Stars to once again deal with the Blues' forecheck. Ok fine, that's the refrain of every team's blueline. But unlike most teams, the Stars have real trouble exiting the zone in these instances. This is where size really does matter. Dallas doesn't have super quick defenders so they're less likely to win races, and because nobody is especially tall, they can't take shortcuts retrieving the puck with their sticks. Forwards don't have to panic to pressure the points as long as they can threaten for the counter rush, but that assumes they can retrieve their own rebounds, which they couldn't do.

4. Donuts! I Got Donuts!

That's a Tyler Seguin goal alright. The Stars were in this game because Antti Niemi was absolutely stellar. That's great news. What's not great news is that the best players couldn't even break a positive differential in shot attempts.

5. Shootout, as Directed by Terrence Malick

As great as Niemi was, he seems to struggle during the shootouts. Which is fine. A shootout is something he won't have to worry about in the playoffs. But I wouldn't be completely averse to watching Ruff switch the goalies in the shootout.

6. No Rest for the Wicked

Make no mistake. The Blues are for real. They have a much better blueline, goaltending is finally there for them (even if the goaltender isn't in net apparently), and their scoring touch is much better than given credit for (especially with the emergence of Fabbri), not even counting the injured Jaden Schwartz.

The Stars have been able to play the Blues tough in the past. But unless they can find ways to work on their zone exits (not being assigned Tim Peel would help too), at least this writer can't help but be skeptical that St. Louis isn't the team to beat in the Central.

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