3 Takeaways From Dallas Stars’ Disappointing Game 6 Loss to Wild – The Hockey Writers – Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars have had some heartbreaking moments in the postseason in recent years. But their first-round series against the Minnesota Wild may have been their most disappointing result to date. The Stars held a 2-1 series lead and were on the cusp of taking a 3-1 lead in Game 4, but things unraveled in a hurry.

Some concerns quickly emerged, especially in five-on-five situations, and they ultimately proved costly to the Stars in Game 6. Injuries were a factor, specifically to Roope Hintz, but I’m not sure he would have made a difference. This Stars team just didn’t have the juice.

Stars Once Again Failed to Score Enough at 5-on-5

You want to get off to a quick start in an elimination game, but the Stars did anything but that in Game 6. The Wild took a 1-0 lead, and could have easily been down 2-0 if Marcus Foligno hadn’t gotten too cute trying to stick-handle and deke a goal past Jake Oettinger.

The Stars got thoroughly outplayed at five-on-five in the first period. They were out-attempted 17-7 and generated just one high-danger chance. The Wild also controlled just above 80 percent of the expected goals (xG%) in the opening frame. They were fortunate that the Wild only took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

That provided the Stars a chance to get back in the game, and of course, it was their power play that tied the game. That goal seemed to give the Stars some life at five-on-five. One issue they had in the first period was that they couldn’t establish a forecheck and get the cycle game going. The Wild broke out of the defensive zone without much trouble, but that changed after Wyatt Johnston’s tying goal.

The Stars found some sustained offensive zone time, and it led to Mavrik Bourque giving the team a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. The Wild scored a mere minute later to tie the game, and that was about the best the Stars looked at five-on-five until about midway through the third period, when it was too late.

A lack of five-on-five production was the story of the series for the Stars. The Wild outscored the Stars 14-4 at five-on-five across the six games. It’s unfortunate because the Stars’ man advantage couldn’t have been any better than it was. Had they scored more five-on-five goals, we’d be getting ready to preview a second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche. Instead, an offseason of intrigue awaits in Dallas.

Rantanen Was a Ghost

We’ll see if any details emerge at cleanout day, but Mikko Rantanen did not look like himself in this series. His five-on-five struggles were emblematic of the team’s five-on-five woes. He totaled just one five-on-five point throughout the series.

Head coach Glen Gulutzan tried shaking up his line combos to find a spark at five-on-five, but it had no effect. Rantanen was one of the Stars’ worst five-on-five skaters in Game 6, totaling an xG% of 28.08 percent, ranking him third-worst among Stars skaters.

Rantanen was unable to drive play and couldn’t generate anything offensively. He did not have a single shot on goal at five-on-five in Game 6 and totaled just one shot attempt and one scoring chance.

It makes me wonder if Rantanen was playing through an injury. That would make more sense because a player of his caliber should have more of an impact at five-on-five than he did last night and throughout the series. Otherwise, there’s no excuse for his performance. He needed to be much better.

Stars Missed Lundkvist

Another problem for the Stars over the final two games of the series was the lack of a puck-moving defenseman on the right side of their blue line. Tyler Myers was a disaster in Game 5. Hence why Gulutzan scratched him in favor of Alex Petrovic for Game 6, but that didn’t make much of a difference.

Petrovic finished with an xG% of 37.09 percent in Game 6, while Ilya Lyubushkin, who moved up to the second pair, totaled an xG% of 34.06 percent. Aside from the on-ice metrics, both defenders are black holes offensively. That’s part of why the Stars struggled to generate five-on-five offense; it also didn’t help that Nils Lundkvist missed the final two games due to injury.

Lundkvist’s loss may be a bit understated because he was having an excellent series before taking a skate blade to the face in Game 4. I’m not sure if he alone could have flipped the series, but the Stars certainly missed him.

Regardless, Stars GM Jim Nill must add a mobile, puck-moving, right-handed shot to his blue line this offseason. He’s fumbled the bag with too many acquisitions (Cody Ceci, Myers, Lyubushkin), and at some point, you have to look in the mirror and realize that those types of defensemen are not what the team needs to get over the hump in the West.

Quick Hits

• Bourque scored his first goal of the series in Game 6, but he was a positive storyline throughout the first round. He was one of the few players who generated good looks at five-on-five. It’ll be interesting to see what the Stars do with him this offseason. He’s due for a modest pay raise from his $950,000 cap hit, but the Stars are not exactly flush with cap space and need to re-sign Jason Robertson. Bourque could end up as a cap casualty. Time will tell.

• The Stars needed much more from Duchene in this series with Hintz out, but he failed to provide anything at five-on-five. His five-on-five numbers were even worse than Rantanen’s in Game 6, as he finished with an xG% of 5.5 percent. Had he and Rantanen stepped up, perhaps we’d be preparing for Game 7 tomorrow night.

Advanced stats from Natural Stat Trick