Heika's Take: Good news is Stars show improvement despite overtime loss

DALLAS --It's difficult to tell what's more frustrating for Stars fans - the good games or the bad ones.
Dallas played its best game of the season Wednesday and still found a way to lose to the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime.

"That's probably the best game we've played," Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. "We created the most offense, but the goalie made some incredible saves and we hit a couple of posts and that's the story. It's disappointing to lose that point, but we certainly did a lot of good things."

BOXSCORE / 5 TAKEAWAYS FROM STARS-GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Vegas played Tuesday in Denver, was forced to stay overnight and fly out Wednesday, was missing several key players to injury, and it showed. The Stars were playing a healthy lineup with the return of Jason Robertson and Blake Comeau, and had the energy of the crowd behind them, and it showed.
The result was a 34-21 advantage in shots on goal, a 37-15 advantage in the faceoff circle, and double the scoring chances. Still, the ol' bugaboo of not being able to finish bit the Stars, who sit 30th in scoring at 1.86 goals per game.
"I think we played well tonight and could've won the game," said defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who had an assist and leads the team with seven points in seven games. "I think we've got to score more. We had a lot of good chances and we've just got to score on those."

Dallas broke through just 2:20 into the game when Luke Glendening was able to tip in a Heiskanen shot for his second goal of the season. Glendening was added as a free agent in the summer, and he and Michael Raffl each have been unexpected goal scorers early in the season.
Glendening and Joel Kiviranta are playing on a line with Tyler Seguin, and that line created several great scoring chances early, a sign that maybe the frustration of puck possession could be starting to turn now that the lineup is healthy.
Robertson played with Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski and looked great in his first game. Jamie Benn centered Alexander Radulov and Denis Gurianov, and that line added a goal.
Still, they all should've had more.
Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore floated a goal through a crowd just 3:47 into the game as Stars defenseman Esa Lindell got tangled up with goalie Anton Khudobin, and the game stayed tied until Radulov made a smart tip at the 6:56 mark of the second period.
Dallas had plenty of chances before and after the Radulov goal, and the Stars finished the first 40 minutes with a 49-29 advantage in shot attempts (on goal, missed and blocked). However, the Stars fell into a bit of a shell in the third period, and while the actual shots on goal were 12-8 in favor of the Stars, the shot attempts were 28-15 in favor of the Golden Knights.
That proved to be way too much time in their own end of the ice.
Vegas pulled goalie Laurent Brossoit to get the extra skater, and Jonathan Marchessault connected on a one-timer with 1:02 left in the third period.
The Stars hurried up ice and almost cashed in on a game-winner. After the contest went to overtime, Dallas almost won again when a Robertson shot clanged off the crossbar before Vegas' Evgenii Dadonov ended it for good. It was eerily reminiscent to last season when Dallas squandered far too many scoring chances and lost far too many games in overtime.
"They came on hard in the third, we battled back, Robo hit the crossbar in overtime, but it was one of those nights where the puck just wouldn't go in," Bowness said. "At least we put a lot more shots on the net and we had a lot more scoring opportunities, so that's the good news. It's disappointing to lose that point, but we certainly did a lot of good things."

Asked if there's anything he can see on why the Stars can't get the finish they need, Bowness chuckled in exasperation.
"If there was a simple answer to that, every guy who played in this league would be a 30-goal scorer," Bowness said. "There's not a simple answer. You get out there, you see an opening and you take your shot. The important thing is you're getting Grade A chances and then it's up to the player to put the puck in the net."
Glendening said he understands the frustration when the Stars can't score goals.
"You know, goals are hard to come by in this league," Glendening said. "There's going to be a lot of tight games, and we'll just continue to work on that and keep getting better."

To be honest, the Stars (3-3-1) were better than they've been in the previous six games, and that's encouraging. They seem to have found some line chemistry, and they seemed to have found energy and direction. Now, they have to take the next step and start banking some points in the standings.
"We want to build on tonight, for sure," Bowness said. "Offensively, that's the best game we played. Zone time and quality chances were clearly on our side. The puck's got to go in here at some point, so we've just got to stay with it."
Don't miss your chance to see the Stars battle the Ottawa Senators as the homestand continues at American Airlines Center on Friday at 7:30 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.