Dallas Stars Squander Home Ice, Lose In OT.

The Dallas Stars’ dramatic third period rally ultimately fell short in overtime. The Western Conference Semifinals now head to back to St. Louis tied 1-1.

Dallas Stars‘ left wing Antoine Roussel has be looking for a do-over after Sunday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues. To wit, Roussel had the dubious distinction of being called for three penalties. The most costly of which put the Blues on the power play in the overtime period. The ensuing man advantage saw Blues captain David Backes stuff a rebound passed Stars’ goalie Antti Niemi to secure victory and steal home ice.

Further, as good as Roussel was in the Game 1 win on Friday night, he was equally as bad in yesterday’s defeat. As with most sports, losing is a team effort. The Dallas Stars certainly did themselves no favors by going down 3-1 in the first period, but it was Roussel’s first penalty of the afternoon that allowed the St. Louis power play to capitalize and extend their lead late in the frame.

The Dallas Stars did manage to battle back, however. An uneventful second period gave way to a third stanza where captain Jamie Benn continued to establish his bona fides as a burgeoning playoff force. After center Mattias Janmark started the rally with a breakaway goal to cut the St. Louis lead to 3-2, Benn provided the equalizer.

The fawning congregation at American Airlines Center blew the roof off the joint. An overtime winner seemed imminent.

Alas, it didn’t come to pass. The Blues prevailed and will host three of the next four games on their ice if the series extends that far. Sunday afternoon provided an accurate representation of how this series is going to play out. While their respective styles of play couldn’t be any different, the truth is that there is very little space between the Dallas Stars and the Blues.

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The fact that a mere two points separated them in deciding the brutal NHL Central Division should tell the story. A weird bounce here or a fluky goal there may have turned the tables in regards to home ice. The Stars are facing the tougher match up this round, and despite Sunday’s scintillating rally, they ultimately did nothing to help themselves.

Moving forward, it will be dependent upon the Stars to avoid the penalty trouble they encountered yesterday. The eyeball test says that even without injured center Tyler Seguin, they’re probably the deeper team. But they cannot afford lapses in discipline as this series move along. A renewed focus on the defensive end and staying out of the penalty box is absolutely necessary if this bunch has any designs on advancing to the conference finals.

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Yesterday’s loss isn’t the end of the world by any stretch. As a matter of fact, it’s beneficial in the long run for the Dallas Stars to face a little adversity. The two teams are simply deadlocked at a win a piece, after all. As the old saying goes, it doesn’t really become a series until the road team wins a game. We’re watching the Stars learn how to win on the fly. We’ll learn a little more about them on Tuesday night.