The Dallas Stars let an eminently winnable hockey game slip away last night at the American Airlines Center, skating off with a 7-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild. The Stars held leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 at various early junctures of the game. The game was tied 4-4 in the middle stages of the final staza before Minnesota pulled away for the win.
Dallas played a solid first period, grabbing an early goal by Alex Goligoski and a late power play goal by Jaromir Jagr (who has scored in each of the last four games and has nine goals in the last 12 matches) to forge a 2-1 lead at the first intermission. The lone Minnesota goal was one in which Kari Lehtonen made three point-blank saves in succession before Zach Parise batted the third rebound off the crossbar and into the net.
It was the second period in which things started to fall apart for the Stars. That has been the case all too often this season. Dallas has given up an NHL-worst 44 goals in the second period this season, while scoring just 29. Last night, the Stars were outscored 3-1 in the middle frame.
The Stars' problems over the final 40 minutes of the game were a combination of bad turnovers, loose defensive coverage and uncharacteristically scrambly goaltending play by Lehtonen. With Minnesota controlling the time of possession in the offensive end of the ice, the Stars goalie began to commit himself to the ice early. On two different goals, he slid way out of position and had no chance to recover when the puck came out in front of the net.
Mikko Koivu tied the game at 2-2 on a play that initially looked harmless. He got the puck from Parise up high in the zone and was 1-on-2 against Goligoski and Trevor Daley. Koivu eluded Goligoski and then fired a wrist shot that re-directed off Daley's stick and beat Lehtonen through the legs. Opportunistic goal for Minnesota but poor defense by Dallas.
Daley got the goal right back for the Stars barely a minute later. He used his speed to join the rush, and receive a perfect feed from Loui Eriksson to snap a quick shot past Niklas Bäckström. Earlier in the game, Eriksson made an equally picturesque pass to Jagr to set up the second Dallas goal. Eriksson has four assists in the last three games.
Lehtonen was a major culprit in Parise's second goal of the game. The goalie slid about four feet out of his crease and had zero chance to recover when Parise received the puck from Koivu near the net. Daley tried to guard the crease but was unable to stop Parise from backhanding the puck just over the goal line.
An ill-advised dive for a loose puck by Lehtonen along with continued loose defensive coverage by the Stars led to Matt Cullen's go-ahead goal that made it a 4-3 game at the 14:33 mark of the middle period. Once again, Lehtonen left himself in no position to make a save on the play.
In the third period, Dallas tied the score at 4-4 on a rather soft goal. No Wild player picked up Philip Larsen joining as a trailer, as he received the puck in the right slot from Reilly Smith. Larsen's shot was low and stoppable but goaltender Bäckström misjudged it. The puck glanced off the heel of the goalie's catching glove and went directly into the net.
Dallas shot itself in the foot with a backbreaking shorthanded goal against at the 12:38 mark. Goligoski turned over the puck on an attempted lead pass in the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 counterattack for Cal Clutterbuck and Brodziak. Lehtonen made the initial stop on Clutterbuck but could not prevent a juicy rebound, which Broadziak pounded home to make it a 5-4 game.
With 1:28 remaining in regulation and the Stars still trailing by one goal, Dallas self-destructed again. Goligoski passed the puck to a flat-footed Jamie Benn at the defensive blueline, which was promptly taken away. Minnesota made a beeline for the net with a flurry of chances from in close. Lehtonen made two stops from in close but got no defensive help from his teammates. Goligoski skated right past his own net, other Stars peeled away and Jagr pawed weakly at the puck in front. Finally, Dany Heatley knocked the puck over the goal line, with Clutterbuck and Brodziak drawing the assists.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard tacked on a long-distance empty net goal with 16 seconds left in the game. That made it a 7-4 final. Minnesota snapped a 16-game road losing streak in Dallas, which dated back to March 21, 2003.
Dallas, which got outshot 41-26 for the game, will go back to the drawing board for the next three days at practice. The Stars and Wild will rematch at the American Airlines Center on Friday night.
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