Dallas fell to the two-time Stanley Cup champions Saturday night 4-0, marking the team’s first shutout loss of the season.
The Stars shifted into gear immediately, and moved the puck efficiently at the beginning of the first period, with a couple scoring chances from Radek Faksa. Those did not count towards the shots on goal tally, and the period ended with two for Dallas and three for Florida. But any positive momentum the Stars had stopped there.
Dallas got a power play opportunity when forward Mackie Samoskevich got sent to the box for hooking, but the Stars spent most of those two minutes defending the Panthers, who had a few short-handed chances against Jake Oettinger.
Florida wasted no time continuing that momentum into the second period. Anton Lundell slipped the puck behind Oettinger who moved out of his crease to try and stop the center.
The action continued when Carter Verhaeghe’s shot bounced off Oettinger’s pad and into the orbit of Sam Bennett who managed to convert. Because the puck was close to Bennett’s skate, the goal was automatically reviewed to see if it bounced off his skate instead of his stick. To the crowd’s displeasure, the officials determined the goal was good, and the Stars found themselves down 2-0.
Jamie Benn’s frustration boiled over when Jack Studnicka aimed a hit at him, and he took out his anger on Noah Gregor, sending a clear message to his bench. The pair dropped gloves and the captain got a few punches in before the officials separated them and banished both to the box for five minutes. Benn wanted his team to dig roll up their sleeves and get to work.
“He (Benn) stood in there, and certainly the boys knew. And even in between periods, the guys knew,” head coach Glen Gulutzan said. “And you look at our push in the third — we pushed — but they had their A-game and locked in. And our guys were pushing, not only for ourselves, but they knew their captain stepped to the plate.”
Florida got a little indirect revenge when Dallas received a bench minor for too many men on the ice and sent the Panthers to a power play. The Stars were able to fend off Florida, despite the multitude of pucks the team sent flying towards Oettinger.
Dallas got a chance to respond when Aaron Ekblad got called for hooking, but the power play was more fruitful for the shorthanded Panthers. The Stars did not log any shots on goal. Another Dallas power play from Jeff Petry’s tripping penalty also did not yield any points, despite the Stars’ slightly better handle on the puck.
The Stars continued to stumble as Florida’s Eetu Loustarinen broke away and nearly scored on Oettinger, while Ilya Lyubushkin got sent to the box for interference shortly after. Less than a minute into the Panthers’ power play, Brad Marchand scored and extended his team’s lead to three.
Desperate, Dallas fired off as many shots as they could manage, but the team looked tired and out of sync. Justin Hryckowian and Evan Rodrigues got into it and both ended up in the box for roughing after a Stars scoring chance. The Panthers sealed the deal when Marchand slung a puck into Dallas’ empty net and brought the score to 4-0.
“Maybe (it’s) good we got a little slap because last few games were a little sloppy, I feel like,” Faksa said. “We need to start working again and play our game.”
The Stars will look to bounce back as they head west on Monday to take on the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m. CT