Game # 21: 27 NOV 2024

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he Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks haven't been very good at holding leads lately. They'll try to rectify that shortcoming when they meet on Wednesday evening in Chicago.

The Stars are coming off a 6-4 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. Dallas held a 3-1 lead after the second period, but surrendered three goals in the first 8:09 of the third and two more in the final 2:07.

"Next one's always big after a loss," Dallas forward Jamie Benn said. "Obviously, we want to end this road trip with a win."

The Blackhawks are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Chicago squandered a 2-0 lead heading into the third period before giving up the game-winner 1:06 into overtime.

The Blackhawks fell to 6-1-2 when leading after two periods.

Chicago defenseman Alec Martinez, who won two Stanley Cup titles with the Los Angeles Kings and another with the Vegas Golden Knights, said confidence plays a big role in holding leads.

"If you have experience where you've held those leads and been successful in that, then you fall back on your experience," Martinez told the Chicago Sun-Times. "There's a knowing that, 'We're going to get this job done.' It's a process. Every team goes through it."

Martinez said players also need to walk that fine line between attacking and playing with caution when holding a lead.

"You've got to keep attacking," he said. "If you just sit back and allow them to enter the zone, you increase the sample size. You give them more zone time and the odds are further and further stacked against you."

Chicago coach Luke Richardson agrees that holding a lead is all about puck management and staying out of your own zone as much as possible.

"Eventually, it's too much and it wears out all your good energy playing defense (rather) than creating offense, which is part of our problem offensively," Richardson said.

The Stars hope to reignite a power-play unit that is just 1-for-15 in its past six games, causing it to drop to 25th in the NHL in efficiency (16.1 percent).

Dallas ranked sixth on the power play last season at 24.2 percent.

"It starts with breakouts," Stars forward Tyler Seguin said of improving the power play. "More pucks to the net, for sure."

Even more discouraging for the Dallas special teams, the Stars' penalty kill gave up one short-handed goal against Carolina and two power-play goals.

"I liked most of our 5-on-5 game all night, but the special teams were a disaster," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "(One) short-handed goal, two power play goals by them. You're not going to win if your special teams look like that."

If the Stars can find success in Chicago, they can look forward to a busy December schedule that includes nine home games and five on the road.

Dallas has been much better in Its arena this season, going 8-2-0 compared to 5-5-0 on the road.

"We've got to go out and execute," Benn said. "The power play can make a big difference on the road. We just need to go out there with the confidence to make a difference in the game."

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Taylor Hall's fifth career hat trick leads Blackhawks over Stars 6-2
AP
CHICAGO (AP) Taylor Hall scored his fifth career hat trick, Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen and Louis Crevier also scored, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars 6-2 on Wednesday night for their second win in three games.

Hall’s game-opening goal 17 seconds in set the tone. His shot clipped a defenseman’s stick and tumbled under the glove of Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith. From that point, the Blackhawks could do little wrong, and the Stars took the brunt of it in their second straight loss.

Bedard’s goal was his first in 13 games. After he scored on a wrist shot from the right circle, he lifted his head toward the roof in relief.

Petr Mrazek turned back 25 shots in collecting his seventh win of the season.

Colin Blackwell and Matt Duchene scored for Dallas.

Stars: DeSmith came in with a 2.22 goals-against average, his best in seven NHL seasons, but allowed four goals on the first 14 shots he faced, and got little help from his defenseman. Hall’s three goals didn’t travel 50 feet in total.

Blackhawks: For one night, the offense of the league’s last-place team clicked. Twelve of the 18 skaters scored goals or assists, with Crevier’s first NHL goal coming in his second game in the league.

Teravainen’s goal made it 4-0 3:06 into the second period. Six of the Blackhawks’ eight wins this year have come when they’ve scored at least four goals.

Hall went 659 games between his fourth and fifth career hat trick. Hall had four hat tricks for Edmonton in his first four seasons, but none in the next nine seasons with the Devils, Coyotes, Sabres, Bruins and Blackhawks.

The Stars return home to host Colorado on Friday. The Blackhawks are in Minnesota on Friday.