Dallas Stars Season Retrospective, Part 3

1/23/23 Sabres 6, Stars 1

2/8/23 Wild 4, Stars 0

The Arizona Coyotes weren’t the only team to stomp on the Dallas Stars during this trying season. Two big losses stand out in particular, where the Stars showed they were not playoff material. In late January, they got iced 6 to 1 by the Buffalo Sabres who finished third in the Atlantic Division. Then two weeks later, they lost 4-0 to division rival Minnesota Wild who also finished third in the Central Division.

Against Buffalo, the Sabres were powered by a dominating second period where they outscored Dallas 3-1 despite taking the period’s only penalty. Sam Reinhart and Chris Kreider each scored 2 goals in the game and embarrassed goaltender Craig Anderson, who ended the game with just 26 saves on 32 shots for a save percentage of 81.3%. Although the team in front of him scored just one goal, this game was one in a long line of games where Anderson just didn’t give his skaters a chance to win.

Ilya Sorokin had his own share of stinkers including the game against Minnesota. He only managed an 88.2% save percentage and gave up 4 goals to the Wild. He also set a negative tone early by taking a slashing penalty in the first period, although the team was able to make the kill. Matthew Tkachuk carried the load for the wild, netting two goals in just over six minutes while the Stars couldn’t put any past backup goaltender Dustin Tokarski.

1/14/23 Flames 3, Stars 1

In addition to getting their jockstrap handed to them by playoff teams, the Stars also stumbled against one of the worst teams in the league. The Calgary Flames, who managed just 59 points during the regular season, came to Dallas in January and put the pressure on from the start. The Flames outshot the Stars 21-9 in the first period, and though Ilya Sorokin put up a good fight,  Christian Dvorak scored to give them a 1-0 lead.

Jack Eichel started a string of 4 straight penalties for Dallas which quelled any chance they had to win. Off the power play from Eichel’s hold, former Stars defenseman Alec Martinez scored to put the flames up 2-0 in the second period. Although Dallas pulled within 1 in the third period off a Kyle Okposo goal, Dvorak struck again with an empty netter at 18:06 to seal the game for a disappointing Dallas loss.

1/11/23 Islanders 3, Stars 2 (OT)

11/20/22 Islanders 3, Stars 1

For the last 2 losses, the Stars outplayed an inferior team but weren’t able to capitalize on their opportunities and lost out on the chance to add 3 additional points. The New York Islanders finished with just 81 points and a minus 18 goal differential, but they managed to beat the Stars twice. First in November, Dallas outshot New York 35-22 but fell behind 2-1 early in the third period. An empty net goal by Dustin Brown ended a late push by the Stars to tie the game.

January’s game was very similar, with the Stars again outshooting the Isles 31-18 but losing. The Stars led midway through the first off an unlikely Devin Shore goal, but Ryan Johansen tied it up in the second. After a scoreless third period, the teams went to overtime where Johansen scored once again on the period’s first shot on goal to give New York another surprising win. In a common refrain amongst these losses, Dallas didn’t get the goaltending it needed against teams they should have shut down as Ilya Sorokin managed to block only 16 of 18 shots.