Three Thoughts - Stars Sliding To The End

Stuck in a slump that they cannot escape, losing streak reaches three at horrible time.

When it is going right, we ignore a bunch of bad indicators. For a stretch of time, you can tell yourself that maybe scoring the first goal is not that important because you keep winning the games.

You might tell yourself that your penalty kill can hold up, too. So, maybe those offensive zone penalties are not the killers that you claim them to be.

You see how poorly things are going on the road, but also know that you have won big road games in the past, so therefore, it is in there somewhere.

But, the truth is that these indicators of ominous skies exist because over 100 years of hockey, the truth usually emerges as the sample grows.

Perhaps you can kill off penalties for a bit. Perhaps you can escape road games where you are always behind for a while. But, eventually, those bills come due.

The stats versus Colorado in Round 1 told us that the Avalanche were ahead the entire series and yet lost to the Stars because Dallas could engineer these great escapes in the end. The results against Winnipeg in Round 2 showed a Dallas team that didn’t even score north of the border after Game 1 and yet they somehow advanced.

This isn’t to say that Dallas doesn’t deserve to be here, but it does tell you that they were perhaps using some sleight of hand to engineer some narrow escapes. I guess the point to that technique is it is difficult to replicate over and over again. The test for the Stanley Cup requires four conquests over four quality enemies. Each level allows your new opponent to go to work on what was learned from those that came before. And to the dismay of all of us who root for the boys in green, it definitely appears that the current opponent is cleaning up all the mistakes that the others could not.

Edmonton is weathering the storms, taking the leads, cashing their chances, and locking down attempts for rallies in a way that has the Stars shaking their heads. Why aren’t the tricks working anymore? Why are the grand escapes no longer effective?

There is a reason they call this the toughest trophy in sports. A hot-streak cannot save you over two months and four rounds. Only quality hockey played at an extremely high and mistake-free level is the path through four excellent opponents. For the third year in a row, Dallas appears to be running out of ideas at precisely the very same spot in the road and boy, is it ever frustrating.

All involved look dismayed and upset at how they cannot break out of this maze. Yes, many teams would love these “conference finals problems” because it would be a huge task to ever advance this far for many, but that is no consolation prize for a team that is now one loss from a third consecutive exit as May ends and June begins. The Stars next loss will be their last of 2024-25 after a Game 4 loss in Edmonton of 4-1. The Oilers have won three straight and now are almost back to the Stanley Cup Finals again.

Dallas is shaking its head again.

And These are My Three Thoughts: