The only thing that stood between the Stars and a clean, 4-0 west coast road trip was the Seattle Kraken on April 3. Unfortunately for Stars fans, the boys in green and white came up short with a 4-1 loss.
“This one stings a little bit because you come in 3-0; you fully expect to go out 4-0,” Stars forward Joe Pavelski said. “Six out of eight points, throughout a season, you’re thinking that’s a pretty good trip. But, in this situation, you like to be a little greedy and a little selfish, and you wanted that fourth one. Would’ve liked to have that last one.”
The loss to the Kraken coincided with a Las Vegas Golden Knights’ victory (3-2 over Vancouver), meaning the Sin-City squad jumped above Dallas in the Western Conference Wild Card standings, moving into a tied first place in that race with Nashville. The Stars slip to No.3.
The Stars vs. Kraken game came down to power-play opportunity and execution. Dallas was 0-3 with an extra man on power-play chances and gave up six shots on goal, one of which found paydirt.
“The power play sucked the life right out of us and gave them a lot of life,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said post-game.
In most other statistical categories (aside from the score and power plays), the Stars led the way, including winning 60% of faceoffs and outshooting Seattle by a 30-29 clip.
Dallas’ lone goal came from John Klingberg at the 14:25 mark of the final period, but two unanswered goals, one into an empty net, spelled doom for Dallas as they fell 4-1. Klingberg’s goal was his fifth of the year, and Joel Hanley (3) and Jamie Benn (23) each notched assists on the point.
Jake Oettinger earned the loss in the contest, dropping his record to 24-12-0. He stopped 25-of-28 shots on the night.
The good news for Stars fans is that Dallas will have the home-ice advantage in ten of the final fourteen games of the regular season, starting with a three-game homestand on Tuesday, April 5, when the Islanders travel to Arlington. After that, the Stars host the Maple Leafs on Thursday, April 7, and then the Red Devils on Saturday, April 9.
Single-game tickets for the remainder of the Stars’ regular season can be purchased here.
