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Star Gazing: Stars Let Opener Slip Away

October 4, 2013, 10:57 AM ET [2 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Dallas Stars Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Amid all of the positive signs engendered by the Dallas Stars' 5-0-2 preseason, there was one nagging and lingering issue from last season that popped up several times: the Stars had some trouble slamming the door when they held a one-goal lead in the third period.

That problem came right back to the forefront on opening night of the 2013-14 regular season. Dallas saw a 2-1 lead vanish in the third period, as the Florida Panthers exploded for three unanswered goals to skate off with a 4-2 decision that ruined Lindy Ruff's regular season debut as the Stars' coach.

As was also often the case last season, the Stars found themselves over-relying on Kari Lehtonen to bail them out of too-frequent defensive breakdowns. Although the Finnish veteran allowed three goals (Florida's final tally was an empty netter), he was easily his team's best player throughout the contest. Lehtonen stopped 35 of 38 shots in a losing cause.

Meanwhile, in his Panthers debut and return to the NHL, two-time Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas came up with some outstanding saves of his own. Thomas turned aside 25 of 27 shots to earn the win.

Dallas won the special teams battle on the scoreboard last night by virtue of Brenden Dillon's go-ahead shorthanded goal in the third period. On the whole, however, neither the Stars nor Panthers looked very good on the man advantage. The Stars had trouble gaining the blueline much less getting good puck rotation and scoring chances during their 0-for-3 night on the power play. The Dallas penalty kill was solid enough, however, to kill off all four Florida power plays and notch a shorty in the process.

FIRST PERIOD

Dallas came out with a lot of energy and got the better of the early chances. The game's first power play went to the Stars, but it was a negative momentum changer. Dallas had no shots and precious little offensive zone time -- and nearly got scored on shorthanded. Lehtonen had to deny Marcel Goc on a breakaway and then make a second-chance stop on Jesse Winchester to keep the game scoreless.

Midway through the period, the season's first melee developed as a pair of fights broke loose. First, Antoine Roussel fought Panthers defenseman Mike Weaver. After the initial altercation, another one developed between Ryan Garbutt and Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. Both Garbutt and Kulikov were given game misconducts; a good tradeoff for the Stars as Garbutt is a role player for Dallas while Kulikov is a key player for Florida.

At the 17:41 mark of the period, Florida got on the board first. Often-injured but still speedy forward Scottie Upshall carried the mail up the right side and reclamation project center Scott Gomez finished the play off from point blank range on a sequence of poor coverage by the Stars.

Shots in the opening period were 12 for Florida and nine for the Stars.


SECOND PERIOD

The Stars had a couple of turnovers and coverage miscues in the early minutes, and Lehtonen was forced to come up big a few times to keep the deficit at one goal. Most notably,he denied Tomas Fleischmann (who took advantage of the shallower nets and corresponding added operating room to made a strong move coming around from behind the net) and then Kris Versteeg in rapid succession.

The Stars had an early period power play after Versteeg was sent off for tripping Shawn Horcoff. Once again, Dallas failed to generate chances or momentum.

Dallas settled in after their early misadventures and knotted the score at 1-1 at the 7:25 mark. Alex Chiasson scored his first goal of the season and his seventh in his eight career NHL regular seasons. After Thomas made the initial stop on a Ray Whitney shot, Chiasson claimed a loose puck and tucked it home on the wrap-around.

Chiasson visited the sin bin midway through the period for crosschecking Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau. Dallas killed the penalty in good shape.

On what was a bit of a quiet night for the Stars' new top line of Jamie Benn and Erik Cole flanking Tyler Seguin, the line generated its best shift of the game with about four minutes left in the middle stanza.

Shots on goal were 12 for Florida (24 through two periods) and 10 for the Stars (19 through the first 40 minutes).


THIRD PERIOD

Things started out well enough for the Stars early in the third period. Dallas matched the Panthers work ethic and earned a power play when Goc caught Horcoff with a high stick of the two-minute penalty variety.

Once again, the Stars power play went nowhere in a hurry and an interference penalty against Cole scuttled the remainder of the man advantage with 52 seconds left on the Goc penalty. As time expired on the Florida minor, the Panthers had a power play for 1:08.

In what should have been the game's defining moment, the Stars generated a 2-on-1 shorthanded counter attack. An initial shot attempt by Roussel missed the net but Vernon Fiddler claimed the disc in the ensuing scramble and centered to a pinching Dillon. With Thomas in no position to make a stop, the Dallas defenseman buried the puck into a yawning cage at 7:32.

To their credit, Kevin Dineen's Panthers did not sag after falling behind. Instead, it was the Stars who did not follow up well and eventually paid dearly for it.

First there was yet another coverage lapse by the Stars, and it took a ten-bell save by Lehtonen to keep his team ahead. On the next shift, Lehtonen made a pair of stops in a Florida flurry but no one on the Dallas side was able to corral and clear the puck. Finally, highly touted Panthers rookie Aleksander Barkov scored his first career NHL goal to tie the game at 2-2 with 9:28 remaining in regulation.

At roughly the 14:45 mark, Jamie Benn very nearly restored the lead for Dallas. His shot attempt beat Thomas but ticked off the goal post. Moments earlier, young Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson erased a seemingly open scoring chance for Dillon by getting in the way in time to block the shot.

Florida scored moments later, taking a 3-2 lead at the 15:05 mark. Tomas Fleischmann raced the puck up on the line rush and fed Goc in prime scoring range. Goc buried the chance and silenced the American Airlines Center crowd of 16,100 fans.

Goc added his second goal of the period with 1:29 left in the game, sealing the win for his team with an unassisted empty net tally.

Shots on goal in the third period were 15 for Florida (game total of 39) and eight for the Stars (game total of 27).


NEXT GAME: Tomorrow night, the Stars (0-1-0) host the Washington Capitals (1-1-0) at the American Airlines Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. central.


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