Better effort yields little in return as Stars fall to Lightning again

DALLAS --The Stars lost again Tuesday.
They dropped a 2-0 game to the Tampa Bay Lightning at American Airlines Center and now are 1-6-3 in their past 10 games. It's a frustrating and pressure-filled time for a team that is very much in a win-now mode and is trying to make the playoffs.

But if this team hopes to get back in the win column and take advantage of a six-game homestand, then Tuesday's game did have some encouraging signs. The Stars had a 28-19 advantage in shots on goal, and Natural Stat Trick had them with a 13-4 advantage in high danger scoring chances. So while they were foiled by Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for the second consecutive game this season and third in a row stretching back to the playoffs, they did a lot of things right.
"We outplayed that team 5-on-5, we did," said Stars coach Rick Bowness. "When you lose, you lose, I get that, but we're losing because the puck is not going in. I'll take the way we played 5-on-5 all day."
Dallas lost a 5-0 game to Tampa Bay on Saturday, worked on some flaws, and came out and played much better Tuesday. It was a lesson in how the team can improve despite a condensed schedule.

"We can take a lot of positives, but unfortunately we keep coming up on the short end of the stick," said forward Jason Dickinson. "If we keep playing like that, things will turn. We keep getting a lot of great chances and they're going to go in the net eventually. I know it's getting tiresome to keep saying that, but they will."
The scoring chances were spread throughout the lineup. Jamie Oleksiak had a golden chance on a rush, Andrew Cogliano was left alone in front of the goalie and couldn't score, Jamie Benn had seven shots attempts, Dickinson drilled one into the stomach of Vasilevskiy at point-blank range. It was another clinic by the 2019 Vezina Trophy winner, who currently leads the NHL in wins, goals against average and save percentage.
"If there is any other goalie in the league other than Vasy in there tonight, we score some goals," said Bowness, who was an associate coach on the Lightning staff two years ago. "He was great, and that's why he's the best goalie in the league."
Still, Dallas has scored six goals in its past five games and has to find a way to break out of that slump if it wants to get winning again.
"Whether it is trying to be too perfect or just not getting a bounce, that second or third chance is all playing a part," said center Joe Pavelski. "We had some great looks tonight. We did enough 5-on-5 to get more than nothing tonight."

Dickinson said he didn't want to give Vasilevskiy too much credit.
"He's a good goalie. He's big and he moves well," Dickinson said. "We created a lot of good chances and there are moments where you see that we should be putting it in the net. We are missing the net on 2-on-1s, we are not getting shots, or I get the puck in the slot and I shoot it right in his stomach.
"It's silly things like that that are in our control and has nothing to do with the goalie himself. That's just us."
So how does the team use that in a positive way? How does it keep from being frustrated?
"I hate losing. It sucks," Dickinson said. "I don't think anyone wants to be doing this right now, so it's pretty obvious it's going to be frustrating. But it's important that we stay together and we don't let it consume us. Because as soon as you let the frustration take you over, then there's no getting out of it."

Bowness said in a lot of ways, Tuesday's performance is something the team can build upon.
"That's the Stanley Cup champion team and we created a lot. Vasy steals the game for them," Bowness said. "We'll build on it. We used our defense a lot better tonight, we created more time in the offensive zone, the things we've worked on in practice to create more offense was evident tonight. We'll try to build on this Thursday night."
Because, as the season continues to roll along, there really is no alternative but to find a way to win games.
"Any time you're losing games like this and you're sitting in our position, no one is happy. But with that said, there's definitely a formula or plan to get out of it," said Pavelski.
"If you're in our position, you understand where you are, and you understand you're not getting it back in one night. But we can't keep letting it slide every night, so we've got to dig ourselves out of this hole and get it turned in the right direction."

Up next

vs. Blue Jackets; Thursday 7:30 p.m. CT
American Airlines Center
TV:FOX 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.