A well played game from the Dallas Stars ended in a 4-3 shootout victory for the two-time Cup champion Florida Panthers thanks in no small part to Brad Marchand and some overtime heroics from Sergei Bobrovsky.
Marchand scored the opening goal for Florida as well as the shootout winner in his emotional return to the lineup. He missed time over the week to fill in as coach for a longtime friend who lost his daughter to cancer.
Florida took a 2-0 lead in the second period before Dallas clawed back on special teams with two power play goals from Wyatt Johnston and Justin Hryckowian. The stars of struggled to score recently and much of their road game depends on good goaltending, good defending and good special teams.
Through most of the third period, the shot totals remained low for both teams, but Sam Bennett was able to capitalize on an in-tight chance for the go-ahead goal with under 10 minutes to play in the third period. Then, just as the Stars were reaching the point of pulling Casey DeSmith out of the net, a hard-working shift led to a brilliant tip-in by Mikko Rantanen to tie the game at 3 and send it to overtime.
In overtime, Dallas rattled off a handful of fantastic chances near the end of the five minute session, with only Bobrovsky's stellar performance standing between them and their first overtime win of the season. Dallas has a shootout victory over Colorado but has yet to win in the 3-on-3 format.
All three Stars skaters were stopped by Bobrovsky in the shootout while Marchand scored the lone goal on DeSmith.
Dallas has now gone past regulation four times and lost three of them, all while looking far less lethal than last season in the overtime period. The Stars seem almost too cautious while still giving up good chances due to blown coverages in the defensive zone.
While it is nice to get a point from losses, the Stars were comfortably in the top three of the division last year thanks to their frequent ability to pick up that second point in overtime, while looking lethal most of the time doing it.
It is one of several things the Stars have yet to pin down in the new regime under Glen Gulutzan, and one that should improve as time goes on if Dallas wants to make waves again in the standings.
Dallas now has two days off before a three-game homestand starting Tuesday night.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
Stars Bank Another Point While Shorthanded
Stars Win Defensive Battle Against Capitals
Star Defenseman Inks Massive Extension
- Follow Taylor on Twitter: @THN_taylor
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
