Stars' overtime heartache reaches boiling point in loss to Predators

The frustration of the Stars' season hit a peak Tuesday.
Knowing it needed an intense effort to compete against a hot Nashville team that was sitting six points ahead in the standings, Dallas came out with a passionate effort that created puck possession and solid scoring chances for the first two periods -- one of their most impressive performances of the season.

And then, Dallas allowed the Predators to come back, tie the game in the third period, and eventually come up with the win, 3-2, in overtime. It was a punch in gut for a team that now has a league-leading 10 losses in overtime or shootout and slips further behind the race for the final playoff spot in the Central Division.
Nashville got two points and moves to 19-17-1.
Chicago got two points and moves to 17-15-5.

Columbus got two points and moves to 14-15-8.
The Stars got one point and now sit 11-12-10.
Now, in the overall perspective of a 56-game season, one less point shouldn't be that big of a deal. But the problem is Tuesday's game was a refrain heard so many times this season. Dallas was the better team for large swatches of the game. Dallas received some big efforts from key players like Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson and Anton Khudobin. Dallas simply didn't cash in on enough great scoring chances to put the game out of reach early.
So a Nashville team that seemed to be swimming upstream found its breath, made some huge plays late, and forced overtime. Once in the extra session, the Predators made quick work of the Stars and sauntered out with a win when Eeli Tolvanen took advantage of a Denis Gurianov mistake and found his way into open ice for the game-winning goal just 1:29 into the overtime session.
"That was a gift," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "That's all I'm going to say on that. That was a complete gift."

Gurianov gave the puck away in the offensive zone and then struggled to track back to catch Tolvanen. The Stars have found all manner of ways to lose in overtime, but this was new. Usually, the team tries to keep the puck and wait to get numbers when attacking. Asked what the key to winning in overtime, Bowness said "puck possession."
"It's puck possession is what it is," Bowness said. "Overtime is puck possession. When they're tired, you bring it back in the neutral zone, you hang on and make some plays. Try to hem them in their zone. You do not give them the puck back."
Strangely enough, the Stars had not given the puck away before. In a game in which they did so many things right, this was a different way to disappoint.
"It's something different every game," Bowness said. "That, we haven't seen that; so it's something different every game."
One thing that seems to be consistent is the Stars failed to score when they had numerous chances early. Yes, Jason Robertson blasted in a great shot for his 16th point in the month of March, and yes, Hintz scored on a power play rebound for his 11th goal of the season, but Dallas could have had so much more.

It had a 26-14 edge in shots on goal through two periods. It had a 41-26 advantage in shot attempts. It had a 2-1 lead. But Nashville goalie Juuse Saros was spectacular, and he kept it a one-shot game.
That shot came in the third period when Luke Kunin slammed a hard shot off the end boards behind the net, and Calle Jarnkrok was there to clean up the rebound. It was a tough goal for Anton Khudobin, who really had no chance on the play.
Khudobin made a late deflection to allow the game to get to overtime, but saving the point seems a little pointless at the moment.
Dallas simply can't continue to waste opportunities like this if it hopes to make the playoffs. It can't continue to play the way it has played all season.
"It's hard," said defenseman Mark Pysyk. "We've been in a lot of overtime games that haven't gone our way. We're happy with the point, but we obviously wanted two."

Up next

at Predators; Thursday 7 p.m. CT
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
TV:Bally Sports Southwest
Radio:The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM
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.