Stars Play Well, but Lose to Kings

Final

Dallas Stars 3 – Los Angeles Kings 5

A game that originally looked like a classic goalie duel turned, instead, into a goalfest that was won by the LA Kings, 5-3.

Dallas (7-3-0, 14 pts) was able to finally halt Jonathan Quick’s shutout streak, but found themselves with goalie troubles of their own as Kari Lehtonen let four shots slip by him before the Kings put in an empty netter at the end of the game. This was the first home loss for the Stars, the first loss of Lehtonen’s season and the first game in which he allowed more than two goals in a game.

Things started out well in the beginning as Dallas took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Trevor Daley scored a power-play goal and Dallas was able to kill of a 5-on-3 at the end of the period. It looked like momentum was in their favor but things fell apart in the second period.

The Stars took three penalties in the first and that undisciplined play continued in the second as they took three more. The Kings were able to take advantage of the Stars troubles and scored three goals in the second, including one on the PP.

Dallas was able to roar back in the third period, scoring two goals in the first seven minutes to tie the game up at 3-3, but the game ended with the Kings once again taking over. Rookie defenseman Slava Voynov scored his second goal of the game (and his career) with seven minutes left. Kari was screened perfectly on the shot and didn’t have a chance at stopping the puck. The Kings would go on to add an empty-netter to finish off Dallas.

The Stars were undisciplined in this game, taking seven penalties and continuously putting the Kings on the power-play. Dallas was able to kill nearly all of them, but it eventually came back to bite Dallas. You can only give a good team so many chances before they make you pay and the Kings scored off the PP in the second period, a goal that would prove to be the difference at the end of the game.

The loss still has Dallas in first place in the Pacific Division, but by the slimmest of margins. Their 14 points is now one better than the Kings (6-2-1, 13 pts).

Notes and Observations:

The Stars penalty troubles have really been present since the first game of the season. In the 10 games they’ve played this season, they taken four penalties or more in eight of those games. Only once this season have they had more power-plays than penalty-kills in a game.

As good as he has been, Sheldon Souray is killing the team with his penalties. He’s taken at least one penalty in six of the last seven games and actually leads the team in PIM. He’s a big part of the team’s penalty kill unit so he needs to find a way to stay out trouble.

Eric Nystrom continued his solid start to his Stars career with a goal and good physical play. I think his play has earned him the right to be an every day starter.

Game Stats and Scoring Summary