In a stressful back and forth game, the Dallas Stars scored first but couldn’t keep their heads above water when it came to the Flames’ goalkeeper.
Game Recap
The Stars more or less owned the first period with good play- notably, good defensive play. Curtis McKenzie opened scoring in a quick rush to score back-to-back for the first time in his career.
The key word of the second period was breakaway, as the Stars began to give them up hand over fist to the Flames. Thanks to solid goaltending from Kari Lehtonen, these were not an issue until a 2-on-0 rush resulting in a goal from Johnny Gaudreau. The Flames also had a goal challenged and overruled.
The Stars didn’t do well recovering, and gave up a power play goal to the Flames in the third. Although they tried to retaliate, that goal was dismissed first as following the whistle, then as goalie interference. In the end, the Stars simply couldn’t even it up to the ref’s standards, and fell 2-1.
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Thoughts and Observations
A game of two goalies
The goaltenders really owned this game. The first half, which was dominated by a more confident, quick Stars, was Kari Lehtonen’s time to shine. During the second period, he stopped a string of breakaways from Johnny Gaudreau, and in the end, the one that went in was less of his fault and more of the defense’s.
The second half of the game, we noticed Chad Johnson really steal the show with even nerves and cool, collected saves. The challenge of the Stars’ goal didn’t rattle him, and he went on to catch a puck in mid air as it deflected off the top of the net.
The injury bug keeps biting
Early in the game, the defense pairing of Hamhuis and Honka was really getting it done. However, Honka didn’t play the last seven or so minutes of the second, and when he didn’t return in the third, it was disclosed that he had suffered an upper body injury and would not return to the game. The Stars played out the rest of the game with five defensemen.
Just as something seems to start clicking, another one bites the dust! But really, the Stars are facing more than their rightful, fair share of injuries. As Jiri Hudler and Johnny Oduya recently were able to start skating with the team again, hopefully players will begin to heal up and rejoin their teammates. But for now, we’re not sure what to expect with Honka.
The bottom line
The Stars seemed confident and collected in the first half, but their defense shattered and allowed too many rushes. Lehtonen could only do so much for so long by himself. The offense launched desperate attempts to answer late in the game, as they always do, but it was too little too late.
Hopefully, the Stars will figure out what is standing between them and playing a solid, consistently good game before they are visited by the Predators on Thursday. We’ll see you all then- same time, same place.
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