Photo Credit : Jerome Miron / USA TODAY Sports
In what officially marks the halfway point of the season for the Stars, Dallas fell 6-3 to the Nashville Predators at American Airlines Center tonight.
Dallas’ starting goaltender, Jake Oettinger, returned to the net for the first time since leaving eight minutes into the first period of the December 15 matchup against the Ottawa Senators with a groin injury. The 29-year-old faced 36 shots in his first game in a month, and despite the score, had a promising showing in his return.
Both teams appeared to be measuring each other up throughout the first period, with Nashville taking six shots on Oettinger and Dallas taking seven on Predators goalie Kevin Lankinen. Aside from Stars left winger Mason Marchment finding familiar real estate in the penalty box for tripping Nashville’s Alexandre Carrier, the effort and intensity of both teams was fairly even, and the period ended with neither team finding the back of the net.
The pace of the game changed halfway through the second period though, when Nashville claimed the first lead of the night. With 10:38 remaining in the period, Carrier took a shot from the Dallas blue line that was tipped by Predators center Yakov Trenin, right in front of Oettinger. The tip popped the puck back into the zone, bobbling it between skates before it bounced free in front of Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. Lauzon grabbed the puck as it wobbled around, steadied it, and shot it between the right arm and leg of the Stars netminder.
With 7:57 remaining in the period, the Stars headed to their first power play of the game when Nashville’s Cole Smith was called for tripping Dallas’ Joe Pavelski, but it would be a short-lived man advantage. Just 45 seconds into the power play, Stars captain Jamie Benn was called for high-sticking Lauzon in front of the Nashville net, and drew blood with the move, rendering the penalty a double minor.
With 12 seconds left on the 4-on-4 power play, Nashville’s Tommy Novak extended the Predators lead to 2-0. Former Dallas Star Denis Gurianov skated the puck into the Stars zone and as he reached the faceoff circle to Oettinger’s left, dropped the puck to Novak who had entered the zone behind him. Novak fired the puck from the top of the faceoff circle over the right shoulder of Oettinger and into the net.
The Predators remained on the power play for just under three minutes with Benn still in the box, but the Stars killed off the remnants of Benn’s infraction.
Dallas opened up scoring in the third period, and cut the Predators lead in half just a minute and ten seconds into the final frame. Stars center Tyler Seguin took control of the puck deep in the Predators zone, skating it around the back of the net before passing it to center Matt Duchene at the blue line. Duchene passed the puck through the middle of the zone to defenseman Jani Hakanpää in the faceoff circle to Lankinen’s left. Hakanpää launched the puck over the right shoulder of Lankinen and into the top corner of the net.
Nashville responded just two and a half minutes later though, and the pace of the third period was set.
With 16:20 remaining in the game, Predators center Ryan O’ Reilly re-extended Nashville’s lead to two. Nashville’s Filip Forsberg won a puck battle with Dallas defenseman Thomas Harley behind the Stars net and skated it along the boards to Oettinger’s right. Forsberg attempted to pass the puck into the middle of the Stars zone, but sent the puck bounced off of Harley’s stick, sending it careening directly in front of Oettinger, who was fighting off Predators center Gustav Nyquist in the crease. Oettinger couldn’t control the puck and O’Reilly was instantly there to grab it and shove it between Oettinger’s skate and the right post.
The Stars got their first full power play with 15:50 left in the period when Nashville’s Smith was sent to the box for tripping Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston, but the Predators killed the Stars advantage.
Dallas cut the lead down to within a goal yet again four minutes later when the Stars took advantage of a delayed penalty call against the Predators. With 12:09 on the clock, Oettinger skated to the bench to send another attacker into the Predators zone while waiting for Nashville to touch the puck and incur the penalty. The Stars pressed the Predators in the zone for 20 seconds, playing a 6-on-5 power play, when Stars defenseman Nils Lundqvist took a shot from the blue line that bounced off the shin pad of Predators defenseman Luke Schenn and onto open ice in front of Johnston. As soon as the puck made contact with Johnston’s stick, he slid the puck forward and through the legs of Lankinen, and bringing the score to 3-2.
Just under two minutes later, Seguin headed to the penalty box for hooking Nashville’s Luke Evangelista, and 19 seconds into the power play, the Predators regained their two-goal lead.
O’Reilly passed the puck from the corner behind Oettinger’s left to the middle of the zone to Predators defenseman Roman Josi. Josi faked a shot as he faced down Oettinger in a nearly wide-open lane to the goal. As Dallas’ Hakanpää, Craig Smith and Radek Faksa collapsed into the lane, Josi passed to Forsberg, who was left undefended beside an open net while Oettinger scrambled to recover from the front of the crease. Forsberg sent the puck past the right skate of Oettinger and put the Predators up 4-2.
Two minutes later, Forsberg was called for boarding Hakanpää, and the Stars headed to the power play again.
With 27 seconds left in the power play, Duchene brought the Stars within a goal yet again. Pavelski controlled the puck in the faceoff circle to Lankinen’s right and sent it across the zone to Jason Robertson at the top of the opposite faceoff circle. Robertson turned as he skated into the middle of the zone and passed the puck to Duchene at the bottom of the faceoff circle to Lankinen’s left. Duchene elevated the puck and threaded the sharp angle shot behind the left shoulder of Lankinen.
A minute later, the Stars headed back to the penalty kill when defenseman Joel Hanley was called for tripping Novak, but the Stars killed the penalty.
With 2:39 left on the clock, Oettinger headed to the bench to send an extra attacker into the Predators zone in an attempt to tie the game.
But six seconds later, Nyquist landed an empty net goal, putting the Predators up 5-3 and essentially sealing up Nashville’s victory.
The Stars pulled Oettinger again, hoping for another miraculous final minute against Nashville, but with 30 seconds left in the game, Juuso Parssinen took a shot from the neutral zone and landed the puck in the empty net yet again, and closing out the game 6-3.
Dallas will have to shake off the night’s loss and prepare for battle quickly as the team heads to Chicago to face the Blackhawks at the United Center in Chicago tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
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