DALLAS — Tuesday’s game against the Canadiens was supposed to be an oasis in a desert of road games for the Stars.
Montreal is the worst team in the league that entered Tuesday with two road wins all season. It played the previous night in Arizona. The Stars were nigh unbeatable at the American Airlines Center.
It was all a mirage, capped with a frustrating 5-3 loss to a Montreal team that had no business winning on Tuesday night. The loss was Dallas’ third in a row, and fourth in the last five games. It was the Stars’ first home loss since Dec. 14, snapping a five-game home win streak.
Jake Oettinger was yanked in his second straight appearance after allowing five goals on 18 shots. He was also pulled Friday in Florida after allowing four goals on 17 shots.
Christian Dvorak scored twice for Montreal, as Tyler Toffoli (one goal, one assist) and Nick Suzuki (two assists) also had two-point nights. Jacob Peterson, Tyler Seguin and Joe Pavelski scored for Dallas. The Stars’ power play went 1 for 7.
The end result was embarrassing, even if the performance wasn’t quite as putrid.
The Stars were, unbelievably, the better team offensively. If only their finishing had polish.
They rang four posts, including Radek Faksa’s shot in the first period that bounced off both posts and Ryan Suter’s that clanged off the iron with a chance to trim the lead to one in the third period. In the second period, Roope Hintz and Michael Raffl were each wide open in the slot, but the puck bounced off Hintz’s skate and over Raffl’s stick.
Raffl had a breakaway shorthanded that he trickled through Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault and on to the goal line. It laid on the edge of tying the game before Montembeault covered it with his back. The play was reviewed, and no video angles provided evidence the puck crossed the line.
Chances like that dotted the Stars’ third period, particularly on the power play.
The Stars finished with 50 shots on goal. It was the first time all season that Dallas fired at least 40 shots on goal, which can be either an indictment of the team’s ability to produce scoring chances across the last three months, or a verdict on its shooting skill Tuesday night.
The Stars have been waiting for a night like this offensively. But they couldn’t capitalize on the chances it generated, and the result will look the same as it did during an anemic offensive performance on Saturday against the Lightning.
Normally, a performance like Tuesday wouldn’t cause much alarm. But this is not a normal time against a normal team.
The Stars are teetering on the verge of another lengthy losing streak, having already lost four straight once and five straight another time. They head out on a four-game road trip, and the Stars have lost seven straight away from Dallas. Opportunity presented itself Tuesday, and the Stars rang it off the post repeatedly.
Decisions loom, and there are questions that the Stars need to answer — maybe not immediately, but at some point.
Management needs to decide if they become sellers, and when to do that, particularly as it relates to defensemen John Klingberg. They need to decide if Rick Bowness is the right coach to lead the Stars back into playoff contention, if that is the franchise’s intention.
Players that are counted on to produce need to produce more.
Seguin scored on Tuesday, his 10th of the season. Jamie Benn now has two goals in his last 14 games. Klingberg has one goal this season. Miro Heiskanen has one goal in his last 23 games. Radek Faksa hasn’t scored in two months. Alexander Radulov (currently in COVID-19 protocol) hasn’t scored since October.
