Sloppy play and a costly penalty led to another loss. Discover what ignited the Stars' late surge and what it means for their season.
The Dallas Stars, unfortunately, entered 2026 the way they left 2025, which was with a loss, but this time against the Chicago Blackhawks. This marks their fourth loss in a row, second in regulation. Which is not ideal given the tight Central Division race, but it is just now the halfway mark through the season.
The Stars were on a second night of a back-to-back, which is something they have not struggled with this season. However, things were a little different with Casey DeSmith taking the first game and Jake Oettinger taking last night's game against Chicago. The skaters stayed the same despite having a healthy Adam Erne and Kyle Capobianco.
Chicago Blackhawks right wing Ilya Mikheyev (95) celebrates his goal against the Dallas Stars during the second period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn ImagesFrom the start of the game, it was pretty obvious that Dallas was on a back-to-back. The play was sloppy and it did not appear as there was a lot of effort. Until the Blackhawks struck first and in typical fashion, that appeared to light a fire under Mikko Rantanen, who does what he does best and took over a play to score a goal, evening things up in the first period.
The second period was all Chicago, with the Dallas penalty kill allowing the second power-play goal of the game, just 13 seconds into the period. A turnover gave the Blackhawks their third goal of the game, which resulted in a very uncharacteristic penalty from Miro Heiskanen, who smashed his stick into the glass, causing it to shatter, earning him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That essentially sums up how the game was feeling for a handful of players who were standing out as the only ones giving full effort. Dallas held off Chicago for the rest of the period and went into the final frame down by two goals.
A two-goal deficit is nothing new to the Stars, but that wouldn't last long when a puck shot by Ilya Mikheyev dribbles through Oettinger and across the line to make it 4-1, which would be the ultimate dagger. The Stars pulled the goalie with four minutes left and pretty quickly Jason Robertson scored their second goal. It finally felt like the Stars were playing their game and certainly the best hockey of the night. With 18 seconds left, Matt Duchene put them within one goal, but unfortunately, they ran out of time, falling to Chicago for the second time this season.
Three takeaways from the game:
- The Stars aren't getting support from their depth forwards. If the big names of Robertson, Rantanen, Roope Hintz or Wyatt Johnston aren't scoring, the goals are few and far between. They are going to need more help from players like Duchene and Jamie Benn in games when their goal scorers are unable to get it done.
- The defense needs to step up. It is no secret Thomas Harley has not been himself most of the season and it is starting to wear on the system. There might be some benefit to shaking up the pairings. Heiskanen and Esa Lindell are two shut down defensemen, who have played really well together, but the Stars might need to share the wealth to help fill some holes on other pairings.
- Along with the defense, the penalty kill has really taken a big hit in this last stretch of games. Allowing four power-play goals in the last four games, two against the Detroit Red Wings and two last night against the Blackhawks.
The Stars head back home to take on the Ottawa Senators. Hopefully they can shake off the new year funk and get back in the win column.
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