dallas stars hosted their most important game since 2016, and in front of a cheering crowd, they immediately performed like they had never seen a hockey puck in their lives.
Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center, the Stars offered their loyal fans one of the worst views of a post-season game this city has ever seen.
Never mind, it’s only Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against Las Vegas where Stars Started the day 0-2 in the series.
In the first seven minutes and 10 seconds of the first period, stars captain Lost his mind and ejected, the team allowed three goals and the goaltender was pulled.
After the third goal, you could hear MasterCard drop in disbelief among the 18,000-plus fans who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars more to watch their team play like it was a Tuesday night in January.
What should have been a series that went into Game 7 looked like it would be over by the end of Game 4.
After winning the first two games in overtime, the Las Vegas Golden Nuggets came to Texas and the Stars kicked around 4-0 win, The Golden Knights lead the series 3-0, and could end this sad show on Thursday night.
If you’re a Dallas Stars fan and bothered to read this far, thanks, and much respect.
Nothing happened in the first two games of this series to indicate that the Stars were vulnerable to this kind of butt-kicking.
Less than a minute after Vegas scored the first goal of the game, Stars captain Jamie Benn called the most cocky, dumb and stupid penalty imaginable.
After Benn cleared Golden Knights forward Mark Stone on the ice, Benn took his stick with both hands and effectively dived into Stone’s chest with a brutal cross check.
Ben didn’t even try to hide it; He did it right in front of the referee. go big or go home.
Even in the playoff game, the official had no choice. Benn was given a game misconduct, the Knights were given a five-minute power play, and that was it.
Over the next five minutes, Vegas scored twice more and Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger was appropriately pulled in favor of backup, Something McSomething Orother.
What Ben did was uncharacteristic, and beneath one of the most respected players in the NHL.
Ben has historically been a tough, fair player. What he did to Stone was dirty.
This is not some 23 year old kid fresh off a float plane from Moose Jaw. Ben is 33 years old and a 14 year NHL veteran. He knows better, and he did it anyway.
The sad irony is that no player played more selflessly in his career than Benn, and in that moment he made the most selfish play.
There is a good chance that his fine will be suspended by the NHL. It was a shameless hit regardless of the time or weight of the game.
In between, the Stars listed the “NHL Fan Code of Conduct” on their Jumbotron. The list included, “Fans may not use abusive language or obscene gestures.”
No such demands were made to the Stars’ coaching staff, GM Jim Neal, team president Brad Alberts, and owner Tom Gaglardi.
A boring outburst actually got worse by the end of the second period; Stars forward Max Domi was given a game misconduct, which led to fans throwing bottles, food and other garbage onto the ice, but not the hat.
Looking at the way the Stars played, the ice could be confused for a garbage can. Say this to Stars fans, at least they could hit goals, unlike Stars players who couldn’t find their way past the net.
With 21.6 seconds remaining in the second period, the referees sent both teams to the dressing rooms. It’s a shame they didn’t keep him there for a third term.
By the end of the night the Stars had completed one of the worst home playoff showings in franchise history.
Last time they hosted a game of this magnitude Game 7 of their second round series against the St. Louis Blues in 2016. The Stars fell behind 3–0 in the first period, pulled the goaltender, and lost 6–1.
It’s the Western Conference Finals, and they had to win Tuesday night if the Stars were to have any realistic chance of advancing to the Stanley Cup.
Instead of winning, he chose not to play, and his season is just about to end.
