One night after sustaining a 1-0 loss in New Jersey that was not as even of a game as the score suggested, the Dallas Stars' suffered their fifth straight loss in a 3-2 regulation loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Dallas finished their road trip through the New York metropolitan area with three losses.
The Stars are winless thus far in the month of January after going 5-0-2 in their final seven games of December.
Last night at MSG, the Stars took a pair of one-goal leads on an early first period goal by Cody Eakin and an early second period tally by Ryan Garbutt (who also assisted on the Eakin goal). Unfortunately for Dallas, the club was unable to protect or expand upon either lead in a game where they got outshot 34-26 by the Rangers.
The game remained knotted at 2-2 until the final two minutes of regulation. With 1:58 left in regulation, Rick Nash potted a Chris Kreider rebound to give the Rangers the only lead they'd have or need in the game. Earlier in the game, Kari Lehtonen (31 saves) had stoned Nash on a breakaway.
The Stars received only one power play opportunity in the game, failing to score on an early third-period man advantage. The Rangers connected on one of three chances, with Derick Brassard tying the game at 2-2 as the game neared the midway point.
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist turned back 24 of 26 shots for the win.
Overall, this match was an improved all-around effort by the Stars. Dallas controlled the play for lengthier stretches than they did against the Devils. The trio of Eakin, Garbutt and Antoine Roussel was the Stars' most effective. The Tyler Seguin line did not have a particularly good road trip.
The Stars return home today. Tomorrow night, they will take on the New York Islanders at the American Airlines Center.
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