DALLAS _ A 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights probably seemed familiar to Stars fans at American Airlines Center Saturday night.
Not because it was another disappointing defeat to one of the better teams in the Western Conference or even that a team that played the night before came in and beat the Stars on home ice.
Nope, this one had that deja vu feeling, in large part, because the Stars were beat by their old players.
Maxime Lagace took the win in net, making 36 saves. He served three years in the Stars organization as a goalie prospect and was let go in the summer when he didn't show the progress needed. Vegas picked him up for depth, and he has been thrust into action because of a concussion to goalie Marc Andre Fleury. He moved his record to 6-6-1.
Cody Eakin had two assists for Vegas. He played five seasons with the Stars and was taken by the Golden Knights in the expansion draft.
Reilly Smith had a goal in the win. He was drafted by the Stars and played two years before being traded to Boston as part of the Tyler Seguin deal. He was acquired by the Golden Knights in a trade at the expansion draft.
And James Neal tallied an assist for his third point in three games against the Stars this season. He was drafted by the Stars and spent four seasons in the organization, He was traded to Pittsburgh for Alex Goligoski in 2011 and was taken by Vegas from Nashville in the expansion draft.
It was a cavalcade of former Stars that helped the expansion Golden Knights move to 19-9-1 (39 points) while Dallas fell to 16-13-1 (33 points).
"This is a really disappointing game," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said of a contest that the Stars twice tied and then frittered away in the second period. "It was fight back, give it away, fight back, give it away. As poor as we were in our own end, that puts you in a tough spot. We overworked in the offensive zone and underworked in the zone that really counted."
Hitchcock juggled lines to try to spread out scoring, moving Alexander Radulov onto a line with Jason Spezza. That paid off as three of the four lines scored goals. However, both Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin said they were part of the problem defensively.
"It starts with me," Benn said.
While Seguin added that he failed to step up in a three-game run against Nashville, St. Louis and Vegas, three of the better teams in the West.
"It's humbling looking in the mirror," Seguin said. "If I look at myself the last few games going against the big dogs, I wasn't big enough. So I've got to be a lot better."
He's not the only one. The Stars as a team have hit a serious bump after a five-game winning streak and now have to find a way to regroup as it starts a four-game road trip in New York on Monday.
Asked what the issues are, Hitchcock shrugged.
"I don't know what it is right now ... I don't know," he said. "We've got to regroup."
Because while it's easy to appreciate the players who have left and are helping the Golden Knights to a historic expansion season, the Stars have some goals of their own this year.
"That was a game we have to win," Spezza said. "You have to stop your losing streaks as quickly as you can in this league. This league doesn't forgive teams that aren't playing well. You have to find your game and regroup as quick as possible."
.png?w=600)
