Dallas Stars Game 5: The Good and the Bad

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Dallas Stars lose to the Colorado Avalanche 3-2.

Shots: Dallas 41, Colorado 26

PP: Dallas 1/4, Colorado 0/2

Hits: Dallas 12, Colorado 16

Faceoffs: Dallas 33, Colorado 32

Blocked Shots: Dallas 13, Colorado 18

The Good:

Special teams- The Stars didn’t take many penalties, and they killed both times they were sent to the sin bin. As good as you can do in that situation. They managed 4 clears on each PK and were solid in their positioning. They took away the one-timer from the slot effectively without giving too much room on the point or allowed a cross-ice pass. The power play was much better this game. Both units moved the puck well, kept their spacing and took lots of shots. They mustered 13 shots on goal, 3 wide shots and 10 blocked shots on the power play. That’s a lot of shooting with the man advantage. Finally! They were only able to capitalize once, but any improvement on the power play is a good sign. Also good to see only one short-handed chance given up, and it wasn’t a breakaway.

Dallas goal #2

Absolutely loved this shot of the PK. This is the kind of formation I would love to see every time. 

Ellis- Can’t really fault him for two of the three goals. A puck bouncing off of two sticks a skate is difficult for any goalie to stop. Gonchar’s giveaway to Duchene mere feet in front of Ellis is nearly impossible to stop. He was strong other than that. He made up for some pretty big defensive errors, especially late in the third. His glove save on Downie while sprawled out was pretty nice, even if it was more of a “look what I found” save.

Ellis' big sprawling save late in the third. 

The Bad:

Critical shots against/defensive lapses- The Stars took 41 shots and only allowed 26 shots on the night, but managed to loose because the Avs capitalized on their fewer chances and had higher-percentage shots. Take a look back at each Colorado goal. Gonchar misplayed a pass in the slot and gave Duchene a great look in front of Ellis for the first goal. The second goal was a fortunate bounce. Still, a missed opportunity along the boards to clear, a slow reaction to a pass through the middle of the zone and lots of open ice for a shot from the point led to the goal. Sure it bounced off of two sticks and a skate, but it never should have been a shot to begin with. Duchene single-handedly dominated the Stars on the third goal. He collected the puck as two Stars slid past him near the offensive blue line. He put his head down and blazed into the Dallas zone to rip a shot over Ellis’ left shoulder and into the net.

Colorado goal #1

Colorado goal #3

Unable to seal the deal- Daley breakaway. Eakin breakaway. Seguin alone in tight on the power play, twice. Several one-timers in the slot. Chiasson’s shot near the top of the crease at the buzzer. The Stars had a bunch of chances to catch up or take the lead in the game, but they simply couldn’t capitalize. They played well enough to win. At least well enough to squeeze a point out of the game. Their inability to close the deal cost them and they got nothing out of a rather strong 60 minutes.

A series of 3 HUGE saves by Varlamov

Daley breakaway chance was kicked out by Varlamov

Seguin's first big chance. 

Seguin's second big chance in tight. 

Faceoffs- They won the faceoff battle on the night, but there’s a need to dig deeper. If Jamie Benn’s night on the dot (won 7 of 9) is taken out as well as Peverley’s two faceoff wins on two opportunities, the Stars would have looked horrible in this category. Seguin won 6 of 17, Eakin won 7 of 18, Horcoff won 4 of 6 and Fiddler won 3 of 6. Macdermid, Cole and Chiasson each won 1 of their 2 faceoffs and Whitney won his only faceoff taken.

Lines seen tonight:

Benn-Seguin-Peverley

Whitney-Eakin-Chiasson

Roussel-Horcoff-Cole

Macdermid-Fiddler-Garbutt

Gonchar-Goligoski

Dillon-Robidas

Daley-Jordie Benn

PP-Benn-Seguin-Chiasson-Whitney-Gonchar

PP- Horcoff-Eakin-Peverley-Cole-Goligoski

PK- Eakin-Chiasson-Daley-Jordie Benn (Dillon in box)

PK- Horcoff-Roussel-Daley-Jordie Benn (Dillon in box)

PK- Fiddler-Garbutt-Goligoski-Robidas (Dillon in box)

PK- Fiddler-Garbutt-Dillon-Robidas (Daley in box)

PK- Horcoff-Roussel-Goligoski-Jordie Benn (Daley in box)

Notable Notes:

Dallas goal #1

Colorado goal #2