Stars Fade Away in Final Week, Miss Playoffs
And so it was not meant to be for the Dallas Stars. A team that had exceeded expectations for much of the season failed to live up to the expectations that they themselves created. Alas, the Dallas Stars season has ended; they lost five in a row and nine of twelve to close out the season.
The Stars fell and faded at the end of the year. They had chances not only to make the playoffs, but win the division too. There was a real sense of optimism, but over the past two weeks, the Stars failed to prove that they were a playoff team. This week was no different. Dallas could have made a statement on Tuesday by beating San Jose and jumping ahead of them for a playoff berth. Instead, the Sharks beat them down, winning 5-2 and putting the Stars playoff hopes on thin ice. The icebreaker came Thursday where thanks to a combination of teams the Stars needed to lose winning and the Stars losing 2-0 to Nashville, the Stars playoff hopes were extinguished. Saturday, they scored two late third period goals, but it wasn’t enough to beat the St. Louis Blues as the team lost 3-2. No question, the Stars had a very difficult two week schedule to end the season, but if they wanted to make the playoffs, they were going to have to earn it and in the end, it wasn’t meant to be.
(The Stars show frustration over their playoff hopes slipping away after allowing a goal against Nashville Thursday. Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images)
For fans looking for someone to blame or looking for answers as to why the Stars aren’t in the playoffs, look no further than at an offense that ranked 22nd in the league in scoring (2.5 goals per game) and a power play unit that was dead last, yep 30th in the league at a conversion rate of 13.8 percent. Eventually, the good goaltending that the Stars got out of Kari Lehtonen would not be enough to overcome a dismal offense. Some of the leaders for the season for the Stars include:
- Points: Loui Eriksson, 70
- Goals: Michael Ryder, 35
- Assists: Mike Ribeiro, 45
- Penalty Minutes: Steve Ott, 156
- Goals Against Avg (GAA): Kari Lehtonen, 2.33, 32-22-4 overall
The Stars just didn’t have enough explosion and enough really good players on this team that could score goals or create opportunities to make their opponents sweat. There is no Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby on the Stars current roster. Not saying that the Stars have to go out and get a top five player in the game, but they need to do some re-tooling in the offseason and get a legit scorer who can create and make opponents focus on that one guy not beating them. By doing that, the Stars will have their other guys on the team be able to skate more freely and have better scoring chances. But that is something to worry about once free agency roles around.
Sure Stars fans are disappointed by the way the season turned out, but in looking back, the Stars actually overachieved this season. Sports Illustrated picked them to finish dead last in the Western Conference. Sports Forecaster, a Canadian publication, also picked the Stars to finish last in the West. They were also ranked as the 27th team or worse in a few power rankings. The Stars went above and beyond in surprising people and proving them wrong about this years team. They showed that they may only be a player or two away from winning the Pacific division and making the playoffs. So yes, the Stars failed to make the playoffs this year, but given what they were expected to do this year and what they actually did, the Stars more than proved themselves this year and exceeded the expectations of many across the hockey world.
So as the Stars head into the offseason, their season done, be proud of this team and what they were able to accomplish this season. Sure no playoffs, but the Stars look like they’re closer to the playoffs than most people thought. And that can and should get fans excited for next season. Hopefully the anticipation and buzz around this team builds. Enjoy the NHL Playoffs. There are some great teams with some amazing players in this tournament. It is going to be a fun ride. Unfortunately for Stars fans, the playoffs for the Stars were not written in the stars.
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