Stars coach Rick Bowness is usually quick to point out how good Dallas’ team play is — that at 5 on 5, his team drives play and creates more chances than it gives up. Now, Bowness and the Stars need more from individuals.
During a 4-2 loss to Chicago on Thursday night, the Stars looked much like they have in the past month. They were controlling play at 5 on 5. They were stingy defensively. They bottled up the Blackhawks at even-strength. And, as has become customary, they were losing.
Anton Khudobin was porous, allowing four goals on eight shots through two periods. Blackhawks goalie Kevin Lankinen was the opposite, stonewalling the Stars by stopping the first 25 shots he faced.
Chicago capitalized on its five power-play chances, scoring two power-play goals, including Alex DeBrincat’s back-breaker with less than four minutes left in the second period that gave the Blackhawks a four-goal lead. The Stars, meanwhile, squandered all five of their power plays, including 35 seconds of a 5 on 3 advantage in the second.
The loss was the team’s 14th in the last 18 games (4-9-5), and diminished the effect Tuesday’s 6-1 drubbing of Chicago had on the Central Division standings. Tuesday’s win wasn’t wholly negated because, well, the Stars need two points whenever they can get them, but with a chance to resoundingly close on the Blackhawks in the playoff picture, the Stars failed.
Thursday night should not have gone this way for the Stars.
They held Chicago to one shot on goal at 5 on 5 in each of the first two periods. Miro Heiskanen rang a post on a first-period power play. Esa Lindell wasted a breakaway chance. Joel Kiviranta had a rebound denied by Lankinen.
The team game was there for the Stars. The individual game-changing plays? Those were lacking, and have been for large parts of the season.
When the Stars’ offense exploded over the weekend, their play was similar to Thursday, possessing the puck and creating chances. But Dallas received the individual plays that transform a team from middling in mediocrity to a postseason contender.
Roope Hintz was batting pucks out of midair into the back of the net, fighting through a lower-body injury just to be on the ice. Joe Pavelski was scoring off his stick and off his foot, at the net and in the circle, off the cycle and on the rush — while delivering clutch goals. Jason Robertson was dropping dimes all over the ice and tying franchise records. Jake Oettinger was posting his first NHL shutout.
Players made plays. The Stars need that instead of an offense relying solely on Pavelski and Hintz.
They need Jamie Benn to rediscover his scoring touch. The Stars captain has one goal in his last 14 games. He’s goalless in his last seven games. Benn has been producing assists, yes, and there’s no doubt the Stars value him inside the dressing room. But a $9.5 million cap hit has to deliver goals as well.
They need Denis Gurianov to snap out of his funk. The second-year Russian winger is now in a 15-game goal drought, devoid of his game-breaking speed that turns an innocuous zone exit into a dangerous jaunt on net. Gurianov hasn’t scored since Feb. 2, when the Stars were still 5-1-1.
They need Khudobin to be a semblance of the goalie he’s been the last two years in Dallas, including a regular season last year when he led the NHL in save percentage. Instead, the Stars have been left wondering this year where that goalie is, most recently in his last two outings.
The Stars have dug themselves a big hole to climb out of. Individuals have to lead the way.
