As the Stars entered Thursday night’s 3-2 loss to the Panthers, they were due for a vision check.
Had their eyes deceived them one night prior? When Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak by blanking Florida? Was it a mirage in a February desert conjured by the magic of Anton Khudobin’s brilliance? Or, was it as real as the E on top of the vision chart?
Thursday provided an inconclusive answer, some parts suggesting that the rough patch was over, but the third-period collapse drawing definite doubts in Dallas.The Stars appeared to be past their losing streak on Thursday night, with a two-goal, third-period lead and a strangle on the flow of the game. They were the better team in Florida, at least until a span of 3:11 in the third period changed the outcome.
Florida scored three times during that stretch, erasing a 2-0 Stars lead and handing Dallas its seventh loss in the last eight games. Instead of picking up a surefire two points behind a strong performance, the Stars came away empty-handed against the first-place Panthers.
“There’s got to be some ownership taken here,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “You look at who let us down again tonight: The veterans. They did. The defense, it has to be better than that. Can’t get beat off the boards. Can’t be turning pucks over like we did. They’re going to have to take some ownership here.”
Frank Vatrano scored the game-winning goal with 3:10 left in the game, lifting a seemingly comatose Panthers team past the Stars. Aleksander Barkov began the comeback with 6:21 remaining, and Anton Stralman tied the game with 5:29 left.
“As we sat back as the game went on, they kind of found their legs a little bit,” Joe Pavelski said. “Definitely got some momentum, and we didn’t answer it well at all. It was one of those things, tough loss.”
Radek Faksa: “It hurt. You’re working like we did for 54 minutes, then this cannot happen to good teams. We have to learn from that, it can’t happen again.”
The trio of Panthers goals spoiled what would have been the Stars’ best win of the season.
The Dallas power play scored, courtesy of Pavelski. Jamie Benn snapped a six-game goalless streak with a tip on John Klingberg’s point shot. Jake Oettinger seemed poised for his first career NHL shutout, stopping the first 29 shots he faced.
The Stars had finally put a cap on the Panthers’ offense. The big names were producing. In the second period, even when the Stars didn’t score, they were generating chances and forcing Sergei Bobrovsky to keep Florida in the game.
“We had plenty of opportunities to make that game 3-0,” Bowness said. “Plenty, and they don’t put the puck in the net. All that does is keep the other team in it.”
It was going to be a win against a top team without three top forwards and the top two goaltenders. But the final seven minutes ruined those plans.
Stralman’s goal came after Joel Kiviranta turned over a puck in the neutral zone. Vatrano’s goal came after Patric Hornqvist won a puck on the boards from Blake Comeau and Miro Heiskanen.
“In our zone, if you’re just going to let them walk off the boards like we did tonight, then you’re just letting them back into the game,” Bowness said. “That’s what we did.”
Instead, it’s just another loss for the Stars, whose 4-0-0 start seems like ages ago.
“The position we’re in, we realize points are important,” Pavelski said. “We’re chasing teams. They’re a team that we’re looking ahead at. We’ve got them in a good spot, we’re playing good hockey. For us to come out like that and feed into their momentum a little bit, it’s a tough loss. It’s frustrating, for sure.”
