Dallas Stars split in Nashville, steal home ice advantage

The Dallas Stars ultimately achieved the main objective in their opening round series, but a golden opportunity was missed.

It’s easy to get greedy in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It’s especially easy when your team flips the script and wins the opener on the road. Such was the case for the Dallas Stars’ impressive Game 1 win in Nashville last Wednesday night in which rookie defenseman Miro Heiskanen impressed in his playoff debut. After surviving a shaky first period, Dallas settled into their game and dominated en route to a 3-2 triumph in front of a stunned Bridgestone Arena crowd.

The stage was set for something quite improbable: winning the second game and bringing a commanding 2-0 series lead back home. And for a few fleeting moments, it seemed quite possible, if not altogether probable. The Stars took the lead in the early moments of the second period when Tyler Seguin fed Jamie Benn on the doorstep for a nifty goal and a 1-0 lead.

Alas, Nashville righted themselves in the ensuing action. They tied the game shortly thereafter, and then the game settled into a grim, grinding playoff contest. To that point, Dallas had lost winger Mattias Janmark to a lower body injury, and Nashville had suffered their own attrition when Wayne Simmonds caught a puck to the knee and never returned.

Janmark somewhat miraculously returned to the ice as the game wore on. Simmonds wasn’t quite as lucky. But Nashville proceeded to more or less control the action in the third before finding pay dirt in the first overtime, tying the series at 1-1. Credit the Predators for finding a way to prevail, but the Stars did themselves no favors in going 0-for-6 on the power play. To be sure, one converted chance changes the timbre of this series dramatically, and the Stars are probably dwelling on that at least a little bit.

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Of course, all is pretty rosy in Stars-ville, as well it should be. The series is now a best-of-five, and they have three of those games at home, if needed. Furthermore, Dallas has exerted their will in longer stretches of this young series, and honestly had their chances to win on Saturday despite not playing their best game. If you’re a fan, you have to like this team’s prospects whether you’re lamenting the split or not. The simple fact is that if we were guaranteed they’d win a game in Nashville before this series started, the line to sign-up would’ve formed to the left. That’s ultimately what happened, so that’s a hugely positive takeaway.

So in the meantime, all the platitudes about being happy with the split are being offered. It still warrants mentioning that these two teams are among the best in the league when it comes to defense. The grinding, choppy affair we were “treated” to on Saturday has a chance to become the norm. This isn’t bad news for the Stars. Nashville has shown an inability to stay out of the penalty box, and if Dallas can start making them pay for that, then the arrow really tilts in the Stars’ favor.

The reality is that it took all of one game to remember how incredible this all is. Playoff hockey is extraordinarily unique in the sports landscape. There’s simply nothing like it. Moreover, the Stars have shown in short order that they belong here. There hasn’t been a part in any game where they look out of their depth, and that’s encouraging. The quest resumes tonight. If they can hold serve and find a way to win the next two on home ice, there’s no telling how far they can go.

• Published on 04/15/2019 at 11:00 AM
• Last updated at 04/15/2019 at 06:44 AM