Failure to capitalize on chances bites Stars in OT loss to Oilers

DALLAS -- The Stars did just about everything right Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers.
Except win the game, that is.
For the most part this season, Dallas has not had too many cases where they really should have won a game and didn't. This was the exception. The Stars had a 43-27 advantage in shots on goal, a 73-41 advantage in shot attempts, and a 69 percent winning edge in the faceoff circle. And still, they lost a 2-1 overtime game to the Oilers.

READ MORE: [Three takeaways from Stars' overtime loss to Oilers]
"That was one of our better games all year, from start to finish," Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said. "We just didn't capitalize. We out-chanced them, we outplayed them, and they won 2-1. Again, if we play like that, we'll live with the result. It was a good effort by everybody."
It wasn't the end of the world. Dallas (37-21-8, 82 points) still has two points in the past two games and is actually looking like a team trending up. The Blues and Avalanche continue to win games, so the chase for the Central Division title is getting statistically tougher, but the Stars follow a trip to Nashville Thursday with four straight home games, and they should do that with a team that is possessing the puck more and outshooting the opposition more.
"When we look back on this game, this is how we want to play," said defenseman John Klingberg. "We really had the game for the whole 60 minutes. We played really well today."

The problem with all of this is that this team still has trouble converting its scoring chances. Natural Stat Trick has the Stars sixth in the NHL with 612 high-danger scoring chances after Tuesday's game. The site also has Dallas 30th in converting those scoring chances. That's something that has happened a lot this season for a team that ranks 25th in scoring.
The conversion rate Is particularly concerning when you consider that the Stars coaching staff very much judges games on whether or not this team gets more scoring chances than the opposition. In games where Dallas has been outshot, Bowness has said he felt scoring chances were even or that the Stars had an edge, and that was the stat that mattered to him.
Now, figuring out what is a high-danger scoring chance and what isn't is a moving target, but if ever the Stars dominated chances, Tuesday was that night. Dallas came out hard against an Edmonton team that won 8-3 in Nashville on Monday. The Stars were all over goalie Mikko Koskinen and even earned four early power plays. Dallas generated nine shots on goal with the man advantage in the first two periods, but failed to score.
Again, there were posts and saves, but the bottom line is the Stars' best players couldn't beat the opposing goalie. It was a frustrating microcosm of one of the team's more consistent problems.
"I think the way we play defensively is going to win us a lot of games. But they're going to be tight games," Klingberg said. "We're a really heavy team and a really good team down low. Obviously, we want to win the battles there and create scoring chances. But playing really good defensively you're going to have to give up some offense. What you see from this team is that everyone is buying into that."
Can Dallas break out of it? Sure. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn each had 13 points in 15 games in February while the team went 9-3-3. Joe Pavelski and Klingberg each had 11 points in the month. Klingberg scored on the power play in the third period to force overtime, but Dallas took a penalty 36 seconds in, and then Alex Chiasson took advantage of a misplay by Stephen Johns for the game-winning goal.

And that was it.
Anton Khudobin was solid in net, but he was left alone to defend Chiasson and the former Stars winger came up big at the right time. It was the story of the game.
On the positive side, Dallas was dominant in every other area. On the positive side, this is the kind of hockey that will get you a lot of points in the NHL. On the positive side, this is an improvement for a team that has been looking to succeed with more traditional analytics.
But the bottom line is they still have to find a way to score goals. They created offense from defense Tuesday. They activated their defensemen and sustained time in the attack zone Tuesday. They got a lot of great scoring chances Tuesday.
Now, they have to finish the job.
"It's an effort that, this time of year, they have to repeat," Bowness said when asked if the team can repeat the good parts of the game. "You're chasing positions, you're chasing playoffs. It's going to be hard to do that every night, but that's the expectation."
Spend your afternoon with the Stars when they return home to battle the Nashville Predators at American Airlines Center on Saturday at 1 p.m. Get your tickets now!
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.