The Dallas Stars did some things well last night but were unable to slam the door on the undefeated Chicago Blackhawks after building an early 2-0 lead. As a result of some missed scoring chances when there was a chance to put the game away, followed by late penalty trouble and inability to kill the penalties, the Stars skated off with a 3-2 overtime loss and settled for one point instead of two.
In terms of effort, the Stars played a decent game because they had total confidence in their goaltender. Kari Lehtonen was once again fantastic in goal for Dallas, stopping 38 of 41 shots. The Stars didn't generate a huge volume of shots on Corey Crawford -- 23 in all -- but there were some quality opportunities among them.
Above all, the Stars cannot afford to take seven penalties in many games and hope to win. That's especially true against a team with high-end scorers like Chicago has. The Blackhawks tallied three man-advantage goals; making their own good luck on one of them and sniping the other two. Dallas only had a pair of their own power plays; the latter of which was cut short by a Brenden Morrow penalty in overtime.
Loui Eriksson scored what should have been a huge goal for the Stars; shorthanded and with just 1.4 ticks left on the first period block. It was a tremendous individual effort by Eriksson, as he took a pass from Derek Roy, turnstiled defenseman Brent Seabrook and sped in to beat Crawfold through the pads for a 1-0 lead heading to the locker room.
The Stars had a golden opportunity to extend the lead early in the second period, when crash-and-bang forward Ryan Garbutt had a path to the net and was hauled down by Seabrook. Unfortunately for the Stars, the resulting penalty shot opportunity resulted in Crawford denying Garbutt's backhanded shot with a pad save.
However, the Stars were opportunistic in scrounging up a second goal midway through regulation. Dallas pounced on a Michal Rozsival turnover, and Ray Whitney took a feed from Cody Eakin to chip a backhander over Crawford. Things were now well set up for Dallas.
Thereafter, the Stars repeatedly stubbed their toe with ill-timed visits to the sin bin than eventually resulted in Chicago goals.
At 15:57 of the middle stanza, Patrick Sharp threw a puck out in front that hit off defenseman's Trevor Daley's stick and past Lehtonen for the first Blackhawks goal. Lucky bounce for Chicago? Absolutely. But they also put themselves in position to get some of puck luck to go their way.
The Stars had their chances to restore a multi-goal lead. Most notably, Alex Goligoski blasted a shot through that was ticketed for the net in the waning seconds of the second period. At the last fraction of a second, Chicago's Duncan Keith swept it to safety. As a result, Lehtonen and company had to try to nurse a one-goal lead the rest of the way.
The bid to hang on to the 2-1 lead came to an end at 14:07 of the third period. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews fired a guided missile of a shot past Lehtonen to tie the game.
Dallas, which only had one power play for most of regulation, got its second chance with 1:18 left in regulation. There was 42 seconds of 4-on-3 carryover time as overtime started. Instead, Stars captain Morrow was whistled off for interference 22 seconds later. On the ensuing Chicago 4-on-3 power play, Marian Hossa fired a tracer from point blank range that no goaltender, including the red hot Lehtonen, was going to be able to stop.
The Stars are off today before facing a huge test tomorrow night. Former Stars coach Ken Hitchcock will bring his now-fearsome St. Louis Blues team to town on Saturday night.
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Even at his advanced age, Jaromir Jagr brings a variety of benefits to his hockey team. As he showed on opening night, there are still times that he can take over games offensively. He is also a locker room leader who sets an example with his conditioning regimen and approachability to young players.
However, having Jagr on the team also carries some risks. The biggest one is that he's prone to nagging injuries, especially of the lower-body variety. Last year in Philadelphia, he struggled off an on from late November onward with a series of groin pulls and related lower-body issues. He tried to play through them whenever possible, but there was a dropoff in his play.
Last night, Jagr left the game late in regulation and did not return for overtime while he was being evaluated by the medical staff for undisclosed reasons. Although Glen Gulutzan downplayed it as nothing significant, it takes a lot for Jagr to leave the ice when there's a game-winning power play opportunity and overtime hockey to be played. He lives for just those situations.
Jagr will be re-evaluated today and more will be known about the nature of the problem.
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Jamie Benn's newly signed five-year contract is a good deal for both the Stars and the player. Beyond the fact that the Stars need their top line center in the lineup if they are to have any chance at sustained success, the team also made a good deal in terms of cap hit. The $5.25 million cap hit on the new deal is very reasonable for a young player of Benn's rising stature and is actually a bit lower than some of the deals the Benn camp no doubt used as comps.
It's also a good deal for Benn. He can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the contract. That means he'll have all sorts of leverage after the fourth year to either negotiate a huge-ticket extension or else be able to sign where he pleases as a UFA in the summer of 2017. Meanwhile, the new contract represents a massive raise for a once-unheralded player who is just coming off a modest entry-level deal.
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