Janmark's goal not enough as Stars fall to Canucks, 4-1

The Dallas Stars' late-season woes continued Sunday with a 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The defeat pushed the Stars' losing streak to eight games (0-6-2), the longest winless slide for the team since the move to Dallas in 1993-94.
"We don't deserve to win right now," said Stars defenseman John Klingberg. "We just don't execute enough. We don't have any confidence at all the way we are playing right now, on (the defensive) zone, neutral zone, and (offensive) zone.
"We didn't do anything right, and you can tell there is no confidence now."

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The Stars, who were hoping to make the most of a three-game homestand following a 0-4-2 road trip, have lost the first two games at American Airlines Center. Friday's 3-2 loss to Boston, in which the Stars blew a 2-0 lead in the third period and gave up the winning-goal with 11.1 seconds remaining, seemed to have carried over into Sunday's tilt against the Canucks.

"I think losing does that. You do lose confidence," said Stars coach Ken Hitchcock. "I thought we got it back, a little bit, in the Boston game. But then that kick at the end did a lot of damage. So, he's probably right in the fact that that's where we are at. Nobody is feeling sorry for us. We have to pick our heels up and get back at it and see if we can piece some good part of our game."
With the loss, the Stars (38-30-8) remained in tenth place in the Western Conference and five points out of the final playoff spot with just six games remaining.
"We have six more games and if we play perfect, then maybe we have a chance, said Klingberg. "It will be tough, but we have to stay professional and try to do it."
Mattias Janmark scored the lone goal for the Stars, tallying shorthanded to stake the Stars to a 1-0 lead in the first period. The Canucks would tie the game 30 seconds later on the power play and take the lead for good with another power-play goal in the second period. Kari Lehtonen stopped 23 of 26 shots for Dallas.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 of 31 shots, and Reid Boucher tallied one goal and one assist for the Canucks (27-40-9), who won for just the second time in the last 10 games.
"Everything is easier when you win," said Markstrom. "The flight home's going to be easier. The next practice and coming into the next game. But we're trying to work. I know we have a lot of young players. We have to work to be more consistent. We have to work on that every day."
Markstrom was sharp early for the Canucks making a nice glove save on Tyler Seguin, denying Jamie Benn on a two-on-one rush and turning away an Alexander Radulov bid from the slot on the rush. The Stars finally broke through late in the first with Vancouver on the power play. After the Canucks misfired on a pass in the Dallas zone, Janmark grabbed the puck and scored on a breakaway for a shorthanded goal to put the Stars up 1-0 at the 16:54 mark of the first.
But the Canucks answered 30 seconds later with their remaining power play time when Boucher redirected a Jussi Jokinen pass into the net to tie the game 1-1 at 17:24 of the first.

The Canucks got the only power play of the second, a four-minute chance when Seguin took a double minor for high sticking. The Canucks cashed in with just one second left on the second minor when Nic Dowd's shot from close range hit the post, then Lehtonen before going into the net to put Vancouver ahead 2-1 at the 14:43 mark.
The Stars went on a power play with a chance to tie seven minutes into the third period but did nothing with the opportunity and a little more than a minute after the chance expired, Jake Virtanen beat Lehtonen with a shot from the right boards to push the Canucks lead to 3-1 at the 10:28 mark.
Dallas missed on another power play chance later in the period but couldn't cash in, and Tyler Motte sealed the win with a late empty-net goal to make it a 4-1 final.
"Certainly not the result that we wanted, obviously," said defenseman Marc Methot. "And, I think it's a tough position for everyone right now. We have to just continue to be professionals and come to work at the rink and worry about the next game."

Notes

What's Next

The Stars wrap up their three-game homestand Tuesday against Philadelphia. This will be the second and final meeting between the two teams. The Flyers won the first meeting, 2-1 in overtime, in Philadelphia on Dec. 16.

Stars Lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark - Devin Shore - Brett Ritchie
Curtis McKenzie - Jason Dickinson - Remi Elie
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Marc Methot - Stephen Johns
Dan Hamhuis - Greg Pateryn
Kari Lehtonen
Mike McKenna
Scratched:Julius Honka, Gemel Smith, Dillon Heatherington
Injured:Ben Bishop (knee), Jason Spezza (back), Martin Hanzal (back)

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.