DALLAS — That impressive, gutsy win in Las Vegas Saturday night? Was it just a desert mirage?
The Dallas Stars returned home Monday night at the American Airlines Center, and all early signs indicate their funk is still alive and well.
The Vancouver Canucks scored first and last before 17,876 in attendance, the second-smallest AAC crowd this season, to beat the Stars 5-4 in overtime.
Andrei Kuzmenko’s game-winning goal 48 seconds into OT was reviewed to see if the play was offsides. The review was lengthy because Vancouver’s Anthony Beauvillier was backing across the Stars’ blue line as he was gathering control of the puck. The officials took their time reviewing the play and presumably getting feedback from league officials before making the call: The goal was good. Game over.
Nils Lundkvist scored 3:25 minutes into the third period to pull the Stars even with the Canucks at 4-4.
Despite a 38 to 20 shots-on-goal advantage, including an overwhelming advantage in the second period, the Stars failed to snap the tie in regulation.
The Stars were chasing the Canucks from the early going after Beauvillier’s left-handed rebound goal 3:27 into the opening period.
The Stars pulled even, however, on Jamie Benn’s shorthanded back-handed goal on a Canuck’s power play, thanks to an assist from Tyler Seguin.
The good vibes for the Stars didn’t last long.
Twenty-three seconds later, the Canucks, still on the same power play, reclaimed a 2-1 lead on Sheldon Dries’s goal.
Dallas killed a second power play later in the first period but struggled to put the puck in the net. In fact, they struggled to find chances for a shot on goal for most of the period.
Twice Joe Pavelski knocked the puck off the crossbar in the first period.
Vasily PodKolzin’s goal past Jake Oettinger gave Vancouver 3-1 lead with five minutes remaining in the first period.
The Stars were the aggressor in the second period, and the newest Star, Evgenii Dadonov, scored in his first game with his new team to pull Dallas to within 3-2 early in the frame. The 33-year-old wing was traded to Dallas from Montreal Sunday morning.
Despite a dominant second period in which the Stars outshot Vancouver 20-3, the Canucks made their chances count. Beauvillier put the Canucks back up 4-2 with a goal with 8:32 remaining in the period.
Dallas only cashed in on one of five power plays. It came with 2:14 left in the second period when Roope Hintz scored on a give-and-go from Benn.
The Stars are back on the ice at the AAC against the Arizona Coyotes at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Slow-starting Stars
The Stars have given up the first score in six of their past seven games, including Monday night.
Fast starts are part of the reason Dallas has been near the top of the Western Conference for much of the season. But the first-score luck has dried up of late.
Dallas is 24-8-4 in games it scored first and 7-8-8 in games where the opponent scored first before Monday’s game.
Monday, Monday
The Stars averaged 18,378 fans per game at American Airlines Center, good for 9th highest average in the NHL before Monday’s game. And for much of the season, those crowds have mostly stayed for most of the game, even the late-starting, nationally-televised games. That wasn’t the case Monday. The AAC crowd was thinned out during the second period after the Stars fell behind 3-1 by the end of the first period. The announced attendance Monday was 17,876, one more than the season-low on Oct. 17 against Winnipeg.
