On the evening of May 11, 2016, the Dallas Stars were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a Game 7 blow out by the St. Louis Blues. They join the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, and Washington Capitals.
They are survived by Trevor Daley of the Pittsburgh Penguins; Brenden Dillon of the San Jose Sharks; and Steve Ott of the Blues. It is now officially time to break out the throwback sweaters.
Regular Season Records Mean Nothing
The Stars had a fantastic season leading the Western Conference with a record of 50-23-9 for 109 points. They secured the top seed in the Central Division and faced the second Wild Card in the first round. They defeated the Wild in six games, including a 4-0 shutout in Game 1.
Despite Tyler Seguin being sidelined (except for a brief appearance in Game 2 of the first round) due of injury, captain Jamie Benn, Patrick Sharp, and Jason Spezza led the team offensively. Benn had a point per game and finished with four goals and six assists for 10 points in the six games against the Wild. This included two three-point games in Games 1 and 6. Three-time Stanley Cup champion Sharp had four points in the series with three goals and one assist. The biggest surprise was Spezza. He had four goals and five assists for nine points. He had a four-point game in Game 4 with one goal and three assists.
all about patience and timing. #DALvsMIN pic.twitter.com/HHEhekj7Lm
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) April 23, 2016
Power Outage
The Stars’ power play was also a large factor in their triumph over the Wild. In the first three games of the series, the Stars only scored once in 13 opportunities. That is a 7.69% success rate. Yikes! However, over the last three games of the series, they vastly improved by scoring three power play goals out of six opportunities. So in the last half, they had a 50% success rate. Overall, the Stars converted 25% of the time on the power play against the Wild.
However, the bright light of the Stars’ power play was short-lived. Despite entering their series against the Blues at 25%, the success of the extra attacker faltered. They were only able to convert twice over 20 power play opportunities in the seven games. The Blues penalty was highly effective, and the Stars could never benefit from the so-called man-advantage. The weak power play of the Stars had a large role in the demise of the team.
This was a high-scoring series, on both sides. The anomaly was Game 2 in which only three goals were scored, two for the Stars and one for the Wild. Over the series, the Wild tallied 17 goals in six games. The Wild scored five goals in Games 3 and 5. Both were losses for the Stars, but they were not blow outs and did not diminish their faith in their victory. In Game 3, the Stars only trailed by two, and Game 5 was an overtime loss. In Game 6, the Wild scored four goals, but the Stars were able to get the win by scoring five.
Nothing But Net
To say that goaltending was a major problem as the Stars faced the Blues in the second round is an understatement. Without a doubt, goaltending was the number one problem for the Stars. Neither Kari Lehtonen, nor Antti Niemi were especially impressive during the postseason. Head coach
Head coach Lindy Ruff ran a bit of a two-ring circus as he rotated between Lehtonen and Niemi, probably desperately hoping for one to go on a hot streak. If Ruff could have wished upon a star, he would have wished for an elite netminder who could take the team all the way to the Stanley Cup.
Hi, my name is Kari Lettin’ In everything #Stars #Blues #BecauseItsTheCup pic.twitter.com/J00aSvSVBX
— Patrick Girard (@PatrickJGirard) May 12, 2016
If you could pinpoint the number one, Lehtonen might be it since he earned most of the starts. He had 11 starts, but he was pulled three times in the series against the Blues (including Game 7). In the postseason, Lehtonen had a record of 6-3, one shutout, a .899 save percentage, and a 2.81 GAA. Although these are vastly better numbers in comparison to last year’s numbers, these are not the stats that blare, “STANLEY CUP WINNER!!!”
In the postseason, Lehtonen had a record of 6-3, one shutout, an .899 save percentage, and a 2.81 GAA. Although these are vastly better numbers in comparison to last year’s numbers, these are not the stats that shout, “STANLEY CUP WINNER!!!”
In his five starts, Niemi had a record of 1-3. He had a .865 save percentage and a 3.29 GAA. These numbers are entirely disparate from 2010 when he raised the Stanley Cup as a rookie with the Blackhawks. To jog your memory, he had a record of 16-6, two shutouts, a .910 save percentage, and a 2.63 GAA. However, the team ahead of him in 2010 also provided elite level defensive play. Dallas was certainly not known for their defensive prowess.
Last night they couldn’t have stopped a mosquito w/a fire hose. 1 will be gone maybe both. #Stars #BecauseItsTheCup pic.twitter.com/r9BO2ugrio
— Kristi Loucks (@LoucksKE) May 12, 2016
In the series against the Blues, the Stars allowed 25 goals over seven games. As mentioned previously, the Wild were able to score 17 goals in six games. Thus, the Stars permitted 42 goals in thirteen games. Ouch! This is not to say that Lehtonen and Niemi just laid down and let the Blues and Wild have a field day at the net because the defense in front of them was often lacking. Acquiring an elite netminder has to be top on the to-do list for general manager
Acquiring an elite netminder has to be top on the to-do list for general manager Jim Nill, who is nominated for this year’s GM of the Year Award. However, his two-headed goaltending experiment may prove to be the one reason he does not win.
Here’s a picture of the #Stars playing defense: *picture not found* #Elimination #BecauseItsTheCup
— Jacob Barker (@CBJake2) May 12, 2016
Out of Ammo
Unfortunately, the firepower of the Stars went out as well. Benn, who led the offense in the series against the Wild was unable to get past the defense of the Blues and their netminder Brian Elliott. He was reduced to only five points in the series (1G, 4A). Benn went scoreless in Games 1, 3, 5, and 7. Sharp had only a goal and an assist. Both of those were in Game 4. Spezza had only one goal and three assists for four points. Like Benn and Sharp, he was held scoreless in several games (Games 1, 2, and 7).
Oh what could have Benn! The #Stars have Spezza’d the bed.@DallasStars
— Kirk (@CaptainKirk5250) May 12, 2016
Some argue that the Stars lost because they did not have Seguin, but no team should have all their hopes invested in one player. The Tampa Bay Lightning are currently in the Eastern Conference Finals without their top scorer Steven Stamkos. They have also gotten to that point without their top defenseman, Anton Stralman, who has since returned in Game 2. It is not to say that the team did not feel the loss of Seguin, but a team that is truly a Stanley Cup contender should be equipped to overcome injured players.
Fans are welcome to express their condolences or make any final personal statements below or in The AOSN Forum. You are also welcome to tweet the AOSN’s own Josh McSwain who is a Stars fan. Music is often used as a form of therapy, so here is a song to help ease the pain.
