Honestly, after a historic collapse like we saw on Tuesday night, it’s hard to know where to start. It’s probably the three goals in the final 60 seconds of the third period after being up 5-2. Even still, it takes a minute to wrap your brain around what exactly just happened.
Related: Canucks Complete Improbable Comeback, Defeat Stars 6-5 in OT
In case you missed it, the Stars were up 3-0 on Tuesday night heading into the third period. Five minutes in, the lead was cut to 3-2. Yet, with 2:21 remaining in the period, the Stars had reclaimed their three-goal lead. Then, chaos ensued, and they lost 6-5 in overtime.
This really could be “The ONLY Takeaway”, but we’ll find a couple more to get us through a miserable morning in Dallas.
Third Period Continues to Haunt the Stars
The Stars were up 3-2 in the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and lost 5-3. On Sunday, they were up 1-0 going into the third and lost 3-2 in overtime. Then, of course, the Stars were up 3-0 against the Canucks on Tuesday, and lost 6-5 in OT. To do the math, the Stars have allowed 11 goals in the last three third periods, and each time, they had a lead.
Before Saturday’s loss, the Stars had won seven in a row and had points in 10 straight games, so there’s a part of me reminding myself of how good this team has been and not reacting irrationally to a three-game blip. However, upon further pondering, this isn’t really a blip anymore. Even in the wins, there have been recurring bad habits that started to cause concern. Before the winning streak, they found a way to push two games to overtime, which they did not deserve to get a point in. On the one hand, they found a way to get a point. But on the other hand, they shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place.
The bottom line is that they blew three straight leads, all in the third period. That cannot happen, especially against who they were playing. The Penguins’ season has been done for a while now, and the Canucks season is going to be over soon. Sure, give the Canucks credit. If they lost on Tuesday, they would have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. They showed heart and fight and deserve to live another day, however, they will most likely be eliminated from contention by the weekend. You have to find a way to close that team out. The Wild are a playoff team, and with the Calgary Flames hot on their heels and the St. Louis Blues leapfrogging them in the standings, they are trying to find their playoff form as well. Still, the Stars are the better team, and they need to dispose of teams when they have third-period leads. It’s that simple.
Now Is Not the Time to Learn Lessons
With the playoffs 10 days away, now is the time of year when playoff teams want to be playing their best hockey. Everything should be dialed in and ready to go for what they hope to be a long playoff run. For the Stars specifically, they already had a trial-filled stretch this season. Before January, there was a decent amount to be concerned about. Road success, the power play, and consistent goal-scoring were a few of those concerns. Since January, they’ve been one of the best teams in the NHL.
That last sentence is something to remember if you’re trying to grasp something positive. However, blowing third-period leads is not something that should happen three games in a row to a playoff team. There are goals over the last few games where the Stars are leaving guys wide open in the slot and not in the proper defensive positions. That stuff just cannot happen this time of year.
After the game, coach Pete DeBoer was asked if he thought the performance was unacceptable. “Yeah, I do,” DeBoer said. “Thankfully, it’s not a playoff game. Hopefully, we learn from it. It’s unfortunate because it’s going to cloud some of the really good things we did tonight for big portions of that game. But you’ve got to play for 60 minutes, and we didn’t” (from ‘3 Dallas Stars: Stars Dominate, Then Unravel in 6-5 OT Loss vs Canucks,’ alldlls.com, April 9, 2025).
That phrase towards the middle really bothers me. “Hopefully, we learn from it.” Listen, yes, this isn’t the end of the world. They have four games left and are playoff-bound with home ice in at least the first round. However, to be learning lessons like this in April is somewhat terrifying. This team has been two wins away from the Stanley Cup Final in each of the last two playoff runs and is currently in a battle for the Central Division. Do they have to learn not to blow third-period leads against teams that will be golfing in a week? Yes, their roster is somewhat different, but in a lot of ways, it’s the same. I don’t know, something doesn’t sit right with that.
Captain Jamie Benn agreed with DeBoer. “Unacceptable by our group, especially this time of year,” said Benn, a man of few words. A quick side note: Benn, along with many of the Stars, had a really strong 40 minutes before the third period started. But, yes, it is unacceptable.
This Game Will Define the Season
It feels pretty safe for me to say that this game on Tuesday night will define the season, no matter how the cookie crumbles. If the Stars sputter out in the first round and go home in three weeks, then this game will be remembered as the night that broke the Stars.
On the other side of that, though, this could finally be the game that gets the Stars’ attention and snaps them out of whatever weird lull they’ve been in the last month or so, even with the winning streak.
For the record, I do believe it will be the latter. Last year, the Stars finished the regular season on a 17-4-0 heater before losing the first two games of the playoffs at home to the Vegas Golden Knights. They bounced back, won the series 4-3, and ended their run two wins shy of the Final. Talking about learning lessons, the majority of this team has a ton of playoff experience, and I feel like it’s okay to assume that it will come to the surface next weekend when the playoffs commence.
There’s a voice in my head that is telling me that the first two-thirds of this article is a giant overreaction. This is a really good team that has put themselves in a position to win the division and, again, has been one of the best teams in the NHL in 2025. However, almost every Stars writer out there has been pointing out some worrying trends over the last month, and Tuesday night, they all came to a head.
