The Dallas Stars did not come into Game Six of the Western Conference Quarterfinals content simply to have made the playoffs for the first time in six seasons and to have thrown a scare into the top-ranked Anaheim Ducks. Dallas came to win and force a seventh game.
Instead, Dallas dropped a 5-4 overtime decision that will sting the club for awhile before their thoughts turn to next season.
The Stars got the strong start they needed, scoring three times in the first period and building leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2. Dallas nursed the 4-2 lead until the final 2:10 of regulation. Then, with 24 seconds left in the third period, the Ducks tied the game at 4-4.
Dallas never recovered. At 2:47 of overtime, Nick Bonino tallied his second goal of the game and third of the series to send Anaheim on the second round of the playoffs and eliminate the Stars. Bonino's first goal, which made the score 4-3 late in the third period, was a short-side goal on Kari Lehtonen (25 saves on 30 shots). The series winner was a forehand shot from the slot.
Frederik Andersen, who was strong in net in the three games played in Anaheim and struggled at times in the three games in Dallas, was pulled midway through regulation after stopping just eight of 12 shots. Veteran Jonas Hiller took his place.
Hiller turned back all 12 shots the Stars managed to put on goal over the remainder of the game. That does not include Valeri Nichushkin's breakaway in the final half minute of the second period in which the Stars' rookie fired the puck off the crossbar (which gets recorded as a missed shot and not a shot on goal).
Entering the game, the Stars emphasized the need for a quick start in front of a raucous crowd at the American Airlines Center. They got it.
At the 5:16 mark, defenseman Trevor Daley exited the penalty box to collect the puck from teammate Shawn Horcoff and score on a breakaway. Dallas made it 2-0 at 10:27 on a Cody Eakin power play tally. Tyler Seguin passed to Eakin, who one-timed a shot through the five hole.
The Ducks trimmed the deficit to 3-1 at 17:57 of the opening period on a power play goal by Devante Smith-Pelly. Teemu Selà¤nne recorded his first point of the series as he set up a wide open Smith-Pelly from behind the net. The goal scorer was left unmarked in point blank range near the post.
Dallas regained the two-goal lead in the final minute of the first period. Ryan Garbutt potted a Cody Eakin rebound with 58 seconds left in the stanza to make it a 3-1 game.
A crooked-number period and multi-goal lead should have been a springboard for Dallas to win the game. In the second period, the teams traded off one goal apiece for the Stars to take a 4-2 lead to the second intermission.
Lehtonen would have liked to have the next Anaheim goal back. Brenden Dillon lost the puck to Selà¤nne behind the net, who fed the puck out to Ben Lovejoy at the top of the right circle. The ensuing shot beat the Dallas goaltender to the short side.
Daley returned the favor at 10:33 of the second period, tallying his second goal of the game.Daley skated the puck up the right side and beat Andersen with a short-side wrister over the blocker. That did it for Andersen, who gave way to Hiller.
The Ducks outshot the Stars by a 15-5 margin in the third period. The Stars spent way too much time in their own end of the ice, trying to cling to their lead. Once Bonino scored his first goal to cut the deficit to 4-3 with 2:10 still left on the clock, the tying goal felt almost inevitable. Sure enough, Smith-Pelley notched his second of the game.
Bonino's winning goal came on the lone shot in overtime for either club.
The Stars took a big step forward this season, getting over the hump to reach the playoffs. There is a nucleus of young talent to build around. The future is bright, even if the season ended with a gut-wrenching loss.