Dallas Stars offence fails to shine as Tampa Bay Lightning secure much needed 2-1 win on the road
The Dallas Stars failed to shine yet again as they succumbed to another defeat, this time against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-1 defeat, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, United States, on Friday, January 20th 2012.
Stars have now lost four games in a row and the defeat became more painful due to the fact that Tampa Bay has failed to win their last six road games.
Dallas entered the game on the back of a, 3-2, shootout defeat to the Detroit Red Wings and were favourites to overcome a poor Lightning side but it did not turn out that way as the Red Wings missed a great opportunity to move into the playoff standings.
The Stars are two points behind the eighth spot in the Western Conference with a 24-20-2 record and 50 points.
Stars’ coach, Glen Gulutzan, looked greatly frustrated with the defeat to the lowly Lightning and showed it in his post game chat with reporters saying
"The frustrating part was the first 30 minutes of getting outworked", Gulutzan said. ".... Some team comes into your building on a Friday night and outplays you for 30 minutes, I got a real problem with it. We have to work 60 minutes every night with everyone
in our lineup if we want to make the playoffs. If we don't, we won't play. That needs to be learned".
Tampa Bay’s victory comes on the back of a surprising, 5-3, victory over the defending Stanley Cup holders Boston Bruins which ended a seven-game losing streak.
The Lightning built on that win by just about navigating past the Stars as they ended their miserable form on the road bringing their record up to 19-23-4 and 42 points.
Tampa Bay dominated proceedings in the first period keeping possession of the puck and outshooting the home team 13-5.
"We've been focusing on our starts, specifically on the road", Tampa Bay coach, Guy Boucher, said. "We had a lot of shots in the first period and didn't give up a lot".
That dominance paid big dividends near the end of the period. Teddy Purcell found himself in space after Martin St. Louis’s pass found him and made no mistake in putting his shot past Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen.
The second period saw both sides failing to score with the score maintained at 1-0. The Stars offence revved up a little but was unable to beat Lightning goaltender Mathieu Garon who made 27 saves on the night.
The Stars finally beat Garon early in the third period as the home crowd finally got something to cheer about. Loui Eriksson sent a pass near the goal line and the puck bounced off Tom Wandell’s skates to nestle in the back of the net.
The officials reviewed the goal but upheld it when replays showed that Wandell made no effort to kick the puck in.
Two minutes is all it took for the Lightning to regain the advantage as Purcell was back on score sheet after slotting his second past Lehtonen and give his team a much needed road win.
The Stars will now travel to Minnesota to face the Wild on Saturday as they look to end a four-game losing streak while the Lightning who have won their previous two face the Phoenix Coyotes in another road game.
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