|
Wrap: Road Stumbles Continue in 3-0 Loss to Devils |
|
|
|
|
|
Coming into the 2018-19 season, one of the big objectives for the Dallas Stars was to improve their road performance significantly. Last season, a poor road record (16-20-5, 37 points) was a primary reason why Dallas missed the playoffs. The Stars were a 55-point team (26-12-3) at the American Airlines Center.
It's early. There is plenty of time and opportunity to accomplish the road-improvement goal over the course of the marathon-like regular season. Nevertheless, it is not an encouraging start for the Stars to win three of four on the season-opening homestand and then lose 4-1 in Ottawa on Monday and then blanked 3-0 by the Devils in Newark the next night.
New Jersey played from ahead for 56-plus minutes. A Kyle Palmieri power play tally at 3:42 of the first period established a quick lead the Devils never relinquished, and it was supplemented early in the second period by a Blake Coleman goal. Jean-Sebastien Dea added some extra insurance in the latter stages of the middle frame. At the other end of the ice, Dallas mustered 24 shots on Keith Kinkaid's net, while Anton Khudobin denied 31 of 34 in a losing cause.
Stars captain Jamie Benn tried to stir up some emotion on his side, dropping the gloves with Miles Wood early in the third period but it only ended up being a good five-minute tradeoff for New Jersey in this instance. Dallas was outshot, 11-7, in the third period despite being the team chasing the game down by three. Having to kill off two subsequent minor penalties in the third period was a setback the Stars didn't need, losing precious time off the clock.
The unbeaten Devils improved to 4-0-0 on the season. The Stars fell to 3-3-0 overall.
The Stars return home for their next three games before returning to the road at the end of October. On Friday night, Jim Montgomery's team will play host to Bruce Boudreau's Minnesota Wild (2-2-2).
Dallas Stars Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»
