Sam’s Story: Stars Finally Have a Bad Day in Loss to Jets

Every NHL team has a bad day, some more than others. In Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, the Dallas Stars finally had theirs. 

Things were shaky from the start in Manitoba. Or at least right after Jason Robertson took part in the ceremonial puck drop celebrating ‘Filipino Heritage Night’. That part was pretty cool. 

Stars start slow, finish slower. 

Once the game began, the Stars were burping up pucks all over the ice and Scott Wedgewood had to be excellent to keep the game tied. In the first period, however, the Jets were returning the favor, as both teams raced up and down the ice exchanging high-quality scoring chances. Wedgewood stopped all 18 shots in the period and somehow, it was scoreless after one. 

In the second, Winnipeg upped their game and Dallas fell off. The turnovers became more consistent, the legs were not going, and Wedgewood was unable to remain perfect. Despite Jason Robertson scoring early in the period, the Jets ripped off four straight to take a 4-1 lead into the intermission. Winnipeg added an empty netter in the final 20 to round out the scoring.

"That's a whole different team than the team we saw on our home ice," Tyler Seguin said. "There's a lot of things we need to be better on from tonight. It's easy to kind of put this one behind us from how the road trip has been but a lot of things to learn from." 

Fatigue wasn’t the issue in this one for Dallas. The club was coming off two straight rest days and should have had plenty in the tank. The issue was that they thought the game slow, which led to them playing the game slow. That, combined with the Jets skating well and pouncing on turnovers, led to a lopsided contest. 

Stars defense was unable to shut down the Jets. 

Most notably, Dallas was unable to end plays or contain Winnipeg skaters in their own end. When a big team like Winnipeg gets their cycle game going, they are tough to stop. The Stars have been excellent at ending those cycles before they get going, breaking the puck out of their zone, and transitioning up the ice on the attack. For whatever reason, they couldn’t do it on Tuesday, and they paid for it. 

"It was a great roadie," Esa Lindell said of winning two of three games. "But we had a chance for a great one, and we just blew it today."

Hot Take: Dallas missed the net on a few golden chances throughout. If Robertson hits the net from the slot on his two and Mason Marchment taps in the back door play in the third, is this game different? 

Ty Dellandrea: One positive to take out of tonight was the play of Ty Dellandrea. The young forward has been excellent this season, playing mostly on a line with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston. On Tuesday, Dellandrea was all over the ice, including dropping the gloves with a much bigger and more experiences Brendan Dillon. The tilt and his overall play have earned him plenty of respect around the room. 

Rick Bowness defeats his former club. 

Since Rick Bowness left Dallas in May 2022, he technically holds a record of 1-0-0 against Dallas…for those counting. Unless you want to count the game in Dallas, which he was watching on TV with COVID. Then he is 1-1-0 as the teams have traded lopsided wins at home. 

Sam’s Three Stars 

• First Star: Mark Scheifele, WPG (2 goals)
• Second Star: Kyle Connor, WPG (3 assists)
• Third Star: Neal Pionk, WPG (1 assist)

He Said It

"Our division is going to be tough all year," Stars Coach Pete DeBoer said. This is a tough league to win in any night, particularly on the road. You go into a building like this, you have to show up to play hard for 60 minutes or you are not going to give yourself a chance to win. We didn't tonight."