The Dallas Stars were able to force overtime with mere seconds remaining but came up short during the 3-on-3 session in a 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tyler Seguin scored twice, Mattias Janmark scored the game-tying goal, and Brett Ritchie finally found the back of the net in the loss.
1. While they lost, the Stars consider this a good point.
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Tampa Bay is one of the best teams in the league, a legitimate Stanley Cup favorite, and the Stars battled back from two goals down to force overtime.
“I’m really pleased with the way we played the game. We made a couple of mistakes and paid the price for it, but we played a very good hockey game and especially in the third period. This is gonna end up hopefully being a really valuable point,” Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. “But to come back and play the way we did in the third period, it was tough emotionally, because the goals that we gave up where when we were controlling the game in the offensive zone, then all of a sudden, quick break they’re gone, a couple of them were tough goals on Ben. But overall got to be really happy with the third period.”
The players had similar thoughts.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t get the win, but we haven’t had that many games where we are down one or two or three goals where we can mount a comeback and get to overtime,” Mattias Janmark said. “Against a good team, too, so it’s a bittersweet loss, but for sure it’s a good thing, but it’s something we can bring (up) if we end up in the same situation to come back.”
It was also just the third time this season the Stars have managed a point when they trailed entering the third period.
2. The comeback started in the locker room before the third period. The Stars weren’t going to give out exact details on what was said, but Brett Ritchie said the team talked about what needed to happen in the final 20 minutes.
“Yeah we said in the second period, after the second period, you know we’re not out of it,” Ritchie said. “We had a lot of Grade-A chances throughout the game and we knew that we were going to get our chances and keep throwing pucks at the net and getting it deep. We knew if we could get one early it would put more pressure on them.”
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3. The game-tying goal with 3.5 seconds came with a bit of confusion, but it was a product of hard work and going to the right areas when Seguin drove the net and Janmark was in the right spot at the right time to flip a shot over Lightning goalie Louis Domingue.
After the game, Janmark said he wanted to be close to the net, but not too close in case there was a long rebound. That’s what happened and the Swede’s foresight paid off.
4. Let’s clarify what happened on the game-tying goal and what the referees reviewed.
During the play, the clock in the arena stopped running for about five seconds, so there wasn’t any clarity if Janmark’s shot had actually gone in before regulation had ended.
“I didn’t know that the clock stopped, so I didn’t know why they were questioning it and I couldn’t understand why (Lightning captain Steven) Stamkos was going so crazy on the ice,” Hitchcock said. “But he was looking at the clock and he could see the clock stuck. But we had already had a stopwatch counting of our own, and we counted that we were safe there.”
After they determined the goal was scored in time, there was a second review for goalie interference. And after that review, it was determined a legal goal and Seguin hadn’t interfered with Domingue.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper didn’t like the call.
“You look at that and you say, ‘What’s the better call?’ The better call was the goalie had no chance to make a save,” Cooper said. “I guess I was in the minority on that one, but the result turned out the way we felt it should. We pulled it out.”
5. The Stars were the better team in overtime. They hit the post twice, including a chance by Tyler Pitlick from right in front of the crease, but they couldn’t pick up the win after Corey Conacher scored on a rush.
On the game-winning goal, Conacher beat Jamie Benn down the boards and as he fell to the ice his stick somehow made contact with the rebound and knocked the puck past Ben Bishop. It was a weird end to the game.
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6. Seguin played a completed 200-foot game and was one of the best players, if not the best, on the ice Thursday.
He scored twice, had the assist on the game-tying goal, had nine shots, and was dominant in the faceoff circle winning 13 of his 16 draws.
Seguin’s second goal put the exclamation point what he’s able to do in his all-around game now.
When the Stars were facing a 5-on-3 penalty he stole the puck and drew a penalty in the Stars defensive zone. He was then on the ice for the ensuing faceoff, made a couple key defensive plays, and was still on the ice when Dan Hamhuis left the box to create a 4-on-4 situation.
With the game at 4-on-4 Seguin went to the right spot and scored on a quick pass from John Klingberg, sliding to one knee while connecting on his 34th goal of the season.
7. Ritchie snapped a 21-game goal drought when he scored on a wrist shot to cut the deficit to 4-3 early in the third period.
“Yeah, it gets you off the schneid a little bit. I mean I was getting chances. You start to worry when you don’t get chances and stuff,” Ritchie said. “I knew one was going to go in and I knew I needed to try and help the team out with a little goal here and there so it’s good to get one. Every game’s going to be huge and any time you can contribute on the score sheet’s a bonus.”
Jason Dickinson and Remi Elie set up the goal with hard work behind the net, and the play came to close when Dickinson found Ritchie with a sharp pass into the slot.
That line only had 14 shifts, but they made the most of their minutes.
They played physical, won puck battles, and created chances.
Dickinson had his best game of the season. In addition to the assist, the first of his career, he had four hits and was particularly effective in winning battles down low in both the offensive and defensive zone.
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“He is (more physical) he’s stronger than you think,” Ritchie said of Dickinson. “He’s wiry, but he plays a pretty hard game and I think that’s not a new part to his game but he’s really embraced that I’ve noticed since he’s become a pro. I watched him in junior and he was like a real dangler but he’s adding that element to his game and that’s definitely something that’s going to help him when he’s up here.”
8. Ben Bishop struggled, especially in a nightmarish second period.
Soon after Tyler Seguin had given Dallas a 2-1 lead, Bishop was beaten clean on a shot by rookie Anthony Cirelli. It was a hard shot, but it was low to the stick side, and Bishop should have had a read on the play from the time Cirelli crossed into the offensive zone.
The next goal was even worse. Bishop failed to control a seemingly harmless shot on the ice and was beaten five-hole by Alex Killorn as Tampa Bay took a 3-2 lead.
Dallas then made a mistake of letting Steven Stamkos get loose for a breakaway. It wasn’t his fault that Stamkos had a one-on-one chance, but Bishop should have stopped the shot that beat him between the legs to make it 4-2.
9. It continued a pattern of up-and-down starts for Bishop.
In his past six starts Bishop has done the following:
Feb. 11 vs. Vancouver: 16 saves on 20 shots, pulled in second period of 6-0 loss
Feb. 16 vs. St. Louis: 28 saves on 29 shots, first star of 2-1 victory
Feb. 18 vs. San Jose: 1 save on five shots, pulled in first period of 5-2 loss
Feb. 21 vs. Anaheim: 15 saves on 17 shots, 2-0 loss
Feb. 27 vs. Calgary: 38 saves on 38 shots, first star in 2-0 win
March 1 vs. Tampa Bay: 20 saves on 25 shots, overtime loss.
Maybe Bishop’s old team has hexed him. In two games against Tampa Bay, he’s allowed 11 goals on 52 shots.
10. Hitchcock said he never thought about pulling Bishop.
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“No, listen, this is playoffs for everybody. Ben’s been terrific, you’ve got to go with it, you know they’ve been the story of the team and we’ve just got to stick with them,” Hitchcock said. “Some days it’s gonna be really good and he’s gonna save us like he did against Calgary, and sometimes we’ve got to help him out and it’s the same thing as (Kari Lehtonen). They’ve helped us more than we’ve had to help them, and tonight was a night we needed to help Ben and we got to overtime. So that’s a good feeling for us.”
11. After going 1-for-15 in the prior five games the Stars power play started clicking on Thursday as it got back to the basics.
There were bodies in front of the net, the Stars worked to track down loose pucks, and that’s what led to the Seguin’s power-play goal in the first period.
The second power play of the game didn’t score but had a similar impact. Dallas spent the majority of the two-man advantage in the zone and Domingue was consistently battling to through traffic to see the puck.
“Obviously it’s been talked about a lot,” Seguin said. “Happy to get it going a little bit more tonight and we’ve got some more work to do.”
12. Brayden Point scored on the Tampa Bay’s first shot just 62 seconds into the game.
The goal was created when Greg Pateryn lost a battled with J.T. Miller below the goal line. When the puck came above the goal line Bishop left his post to play a pass and was caught in no man’s land as Point stuffed the puck around his right pad.
13. Aside from that shift, it was a pretty good first period for the Stars. Dallas had a 13-6 edge in shots, 26-11 advantage in shot attempts, and by an unofficial count led 8-3 in quality scoring chances.
14. With Cirelli’s goal, since Dec. 1 the Stars have allowed a league-most 10 goals to players who had not yet scored this season.
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15. When Marc Methot returned to the lineup Hitchcock said he would evaluate the defenseman after the five-game mark and then might start elevating him in the lineup.
I asked Hitch for a bit of clarity on Thursday on what elevating him in the lineup meant, and whether that meant juggling pairs or just giving Methot and Stephen Johns more ice time.
As it turns out, it doesn’t look like the pairs are changing, and the Stars will find ways to give Methot more ice time on his current pairing.
“We’ve done that already, you look at us on the road, when (Anze) Kopitar’s line had a real bead on us we flipped, we played Methot and Johns against them, and they did a great job,” Hitchcock said. “When (Ryan) Getzlaf was going against them and started to amp up the physical play, we put that pair against them. We are using them more and more against weighty players.”
“The same thing could happen again tonight,” Hitchcock added. “If we feel like there is a physical control against Hamhuis and Pateryn we’ll flip. We’ve done three of the last four games and it’s worked for us.”
16. This brings up a thought in my mind: if the Stars now have to protect Pateryn and Hamhuis from certain situations, wouldn’t it just make sense to play Julius Honka?
17. Martin Hanzal’s nagging injury is a back injury and he’s now been downgraded to “week-to-week,” Hitchcock said on Thursday. Hitchcock also said he doesn’t know if Hanzal will require surgery after the season.
That adds a bit of context to the story I did on Hanzal back on Feb. 20 before he re-injured his back against the Anaheim Ducks. At that time Hanzal said it was a frustrating season and his injury was affecting his daily life.
“I have some special exercises I have to do every day,” Hanzal said at the time. “If I don’t do it I won’t be able to move.”
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18. It was interesting to see St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong in attendance. The Blues visit the Stars on Saturday.
19. The official three stars were 1. Cory Conacher, 2. Tyler Seguin, and 3. Mattias Janmark. It’s a tough spot picking three stars in an overtime game, but I likely would have gone with 1. Seguin, 2. Cirelli, and 3. JT Miller.
20. In overtime Domingue started cramping after Pitlick hit the post. The Lightning netminder took about three to four minutes to recover with the trainer stalling a frantic 3-on-3 session.
Personally, I think he should have been forced to come out of the game. If you are going to take that much time to stall the game your team should be forced to bring in the other goalie.