Sam’s Story: Stars Gutty Effort Falls Short in Road Trip Finale vs Bruins

For a team that was playing their third game in four nights on a long road trip, the Stars put up a pretty good fight in Boston against the NHL’s best team. But in the end, it wasn’t enough as the Bruins pulled away to a 3-1 victory. 

Penalties hurt the Stars again on Tuesday, as they allowed four power plays for the sixth straight time this season. David Pastrnak hammered home a one-timer in the first period to give the Bruins the 1-0 lead and their lone power-play goal.  

The kids are alright. 

A couple of youngsters led the way for Dallas, as Ty Dellandrea and Wyatt Johnston were the most notable skaters on the ice. The two hooked up for the Stars only goal, with Dellandrea winning a battle and finding Johnston alone in front of Linus Ullmark early in the second period. 

Late goals are killers. 

The game moved along and Dallas was arguably the better team for much of the night. But a late-period goal for the second night in a row proved to be a tide-changer and the eventual game-winner, this time from Taylor Hall. 

Late in the third, Dallas proved their toughness, despite their legs feeling awfully heavy from the tough schedule. After killing off a Boston power play, the Stars had multiple chances to tie the game but could not beat Ullmark. Patrice Bergeron added the empty netter to put it away.

A battle in the pipes. 

Both goaltenders had excellent games. 

Jake Oettinger stopped 27 of 29 Boston shots and certainly did enough to come out on top. It took a perfect shot from Pastrnak and a lucky bounce off of Ryan Suter for Boston to beat the Dallas netminder. 

But the Stars were unable to create enough offense largely due to the excellent performance from Ullmark, who stopped 30 of 31 shots for a .968 save percentage. It was the second night in a row that an opposing goalie finished with a .935 save percentage or higher. 

Key Stat: The Dallas power play went 0-for-3, making them 0-for-6 over the last two games. 

Sam’s Three Stars 

• First Star: Linus Ullmark, BOS (30 saves on 31 shots, .968%)
• Second Star: David Pastrnak, BOS (1 goal, 1 assist) 
• Third Star: Ty Dellandrea, DAL (1 assist)

He Said It

"We were right there," Oettinger said. "They got a lucky bounce and it costs us the game. It could've very easily gone that way for us too. I was proud of the way that the guys played, it's not easy, second night of a back-to-back. The guys played really well in front of me."