The Dallas Stars’ weird early-season schedule made it seem as if they went for at least two weeks without a home game. But on Saturday night, they finally made it home to face the Metropolitan Division’s early leaders, the Philadelphia Flyers.
Could they make it out of American Airlines Center with a regulation win? Well…we’ll get to that.
First Period
You love to see it when the Stars go up early. And if you put your bets on Wyatt Johnston as tonight’s #ShootingStar, well, collect The Usual Amount at The Usual Spot. Johnny Rocket did this – with his human wrist, yet – at exactly four minutes into the period. Jamie Benn provided the only assist.
Tyler Seguin likes donuts as much as the next man, so at 7:52 he apparently decided to be the next man. Ryan Suter and Miro Heiskanen provided double-defensive assists on this backhand. Is David Castillo correct about the Seguinlightenment? It’s hard to dispute Evidence.
Yet lest we forget that the Flyers are also a Professional Hockey Team – and, this season, a pretty darn good one – Joel Farabee got Philly on the board with a tip-in at the halfway point. Bobby Brink and Noah Cates came in with the assists.
The first power play of the game went to the Victory Green Gang after Cam York got caught tripping Mason Marchment. Unfortunately, this also led to the first special-teams breakdown of the game. Travis Konecny got in with a short-handed wrister, with Cates earning another assist.
One might suggest that this sort of thing can happen if your team takes a lot of shots, and the Flyers took more than double the number the Stars tallied. Still, the period ended on a 2-2 tie.
Shots on goal (First Period):
Stars – 7
Flyers – 15
Second Period
Can you say “ACE OF SPADES!!!”? Really, really loud? Roope Hintz wasted no time whatsoever – 30 seconds, to be exact – in getting the lead back for the home team. The Avengers Line came through once again, with Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski setting it up.
Seeing Hintz rounding into form after his preseason injury has to be encouraging for observant Stars fans. I mean, look at this wrist shot. LOOK AT IT.
It’s not good to feel nervous when the Stars are on the power play. But the Konecny Incident in the first frame had to have been weighing on the home crowd as Egor Zamula took a delay-of-game penalty for putting the puck over the glass at 13:00. The power play still wasn’t productive, but at least it avoided another breakdown.
The Dallas penalty kill would get its first chance to contribute late in the period. Marchment took a slashing call with 2:22 left, and the Stars fought to end the period with the advantage they gained as it began. But the team held up, and the second ended seconds later with the Stars up 3-2.
The good guys kept getting outshot, but they seemed to do well at making their shots count – and Scott Wedgewood continued to bear up in net.
Shots on goal (Second Period):
Stars – 8 (15 total)
Flyers – 14 (29 total)
Third Period
It wasn’t long before the Stars’ final frame began to look like a long grind to hold that one-goal lead. At least the team was suppressing more chances – they held down the Flyers’ shots to a mere three in the first 10 minutes, which helped them lead in SOG for the first time in the game.
With 9:24 to go, we once again saw the Captain Benn who can somehow deliver whatever the Stars need, whenever they need it. He put the Stars up by two, again, with this wrister.
Unfortunately, the Stars’ star-crossed power play went back on the job not 30 seconds later. By 8:02, Konecny had scored short-handed, yet again.
To make matters worse, Sean Walker scored 43 seconds later to tie the game yet again.
Were the Stars lucky to make it out of regulation with a tie? Maybe they were just lucky not to get another power play. The third period ended with a 4-4 tie.
Shots on goal (Third Period):
Stars – 8 (23 total)
Flyers – 10 (39 total)
Overtime
Were you, too, resigned to watching yet another shootout? Thank heaven for Joe Pavelski, yet again. When was the last time we saw this team win in a three-on-three match? (Think hard. I’ll wait.)
Shots on goal (Overtime):
Stars – 2 (25 total)
Flyers – 1 (40 total)
TL;DR
- The Stars won.
- They also got shelled.
- They came dangerously close to hanging Wedgewall out to dry.
- The power play not only didn’t score, it allowed three (3) short-handed goals. That’s not entirely down to the awesome power of a fully operational Travis Konecny, although that part didn’t hurt.
- That being said, the Stars won. In three-on-three OT. It’s a miracle, sort of. Just take it.
The Stars are back on the road next week. Their next game will be on Tuesday, October 24 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. We’ll be back.