Awkward Penalty Kill Sinks Stars, Flames great Win 5-1
Awkward Penalty Kill Sinks Stars, Flames great Win 5-1

The Dallas Stars will take back-to-back losses and will not play three straight games of great hockey in the holiday break.

Today’s handiwork was the result of a penalty kill that was bad, something that is usually a strength for the stars. According to the Natural Stat Trick, the game was originally played even when it was played on the basis of strength.

It would have been a very commendable game had the special teams not suffered an epic collapse tonight.

It was also a banner day in the DFW game. Earlier in the day, the Dallas Mavericks led by 30 points to lose to the Toronto Raptors and the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles to close out the NFC East title.

Awkward Penalty Kill Sinks Stars, Flames great Win 5-1
Awkward Penalty Kill Sinks Stars, Flames great Win 5-1

At least the stars should not worry about boarding an aircraft that is not “viable”. He was the only one playing at home tonight.

First Period

It was not the best start by the stars, as they did not record their first shot on target for eight minutes in the period. However, he limited what Calgary was able to do with the puck, so it felt a little less like it would be much better than what you would think based on that information.

Andrew Mingiap eventually opened the scoring, redirecting a shot from a position in the slot in which he looked around all of Dallas’ strongholds.

Denis Gurianov immediately responded: Apart from Matias Janmark’s injury there is not really much to report in the first period. He blocked a shot near the end of the period and immediately went down the tunnel with the help of training staff.

He was not putting much weight on the foot as he left the game, and interim head coach Rick Bowness listed his injury as “day-to-day” after the game.

Second Period

Dallas quickly suppressed the attack in the second period, leading to several major setbacks in tight on David Rittich.

After the first six minutes of the period, the Stars were outplaying the flames 6–0, a complete flip for the script of the first period. Then, penalty trouble ensued.

The stars looked as if they had stopped skating, leading to some hooking/slashing type interrupt call. Less than two minutes later, the Stars surrendered two power-play goals, digging themselves to get out in the third period.

At the full potential of Calgary, it has been possible to send the entire ice to the ice at will, pulling out the penalty killers and sending them into their own territory.

The Third Penalty Killer, punished for top punitive murders such as Pendak Foxsa, Andrew Cogliano, and Jamie Benn, is a recipe for disaster.

Third Period

The penalty kill did not get any better in the third period.

The flames ended with a power play after a dustup between the stars and the flames (stars out of desperation, most likely).

Faksa, who was doing it behind the referee with Rasmus Anderson, got a rough call, which was offset by Anderson’s rough in addition to the 10-minute major. Meanwhile, Cogliano took the sledging penalty, giving the Flames an advantage.

The third straight target on Mara basically sealed this one.

He made a successful kill after an unsuccessful goal challenge on that power-play goal scored by Mikel Bacund. That lost challenge resulted in a rarity, considering the record for Stars, video coach Kelly Forbes.

However, a late power play for the Stars was looking to put something else on the board, with an empty-net shorthand goal making it completely out of reach.

In a day of DFW sports oddity, even the way the Dallas Stars were lost was strange. They now have a five-day break without games, as the snow at home on Saturday before heading to Arizona on Sunday.