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Panthers Grab Lead in Third Period, Stars Drop Both Games in Finland

taylor newby
·6 min read

After dropping the first game of the NHL Global Series in Finland 6-4 to Florida, the Dallas Stars could not find a win in the second half of the back-to-back despite a better first period effort from the team.

Florida used a third period goal from AJ Greer to break a 2-2 tie and added an empty netter to win 4-2 in Tampere, Finland Saturday. The Stars trailed 2-0 before two quick second period goals brought them back even in a game that felt like a needed win for Dallas. But the third period wasn't strong enough, and even with a solid performance from backup goaltender Casey DeSmith, Dallas now heads back home with no points to show for their trip to Europe.

Because of the short turnaround of a back-to-back, there wasn't much time to prepare lineups beforehand. At morning skate, head coach Pete DeBoer announced that Casey DeSmith would be in net after starter Jake Oettinger let in all six goals Friday. DeBoer also advised that there was someone who would be a game-time decision due to a nagging injury. At warm ups, it was Tyler Seguin who was not on the ice, and Oskar Back drew in to his usual spot on the fourth line in his place. Mavrik Borque moved into Seguin's spot on the second line but the first and third lines stayed the same as Friday.

Nils Lundkvist was chosen as a healthy scratch and Brendan Smith made his first appearance in Finland and first since Matt Dumba came back from injury.

The only change for Florida was goaltender Spencer Knight replacing Sergei Bobrovsky in net.

The first period started off much different for the Stars than it did on Friday. They began creating chances right off the bat to establish their game and were looking competitive for a good part of the period. Yesterday after the game, DeBoer spoke about how they weren't competitive enough and the Stars made certain that they had energy and intensity from the first whistle. The Stars got the first power-play of the game due to a tripping call on Aaron Ekblad. Dallas recorded three shots on goal, not including a shot that rang off the post by Logan Stankoven, but ultimately would not convert.

After the Stars had their close call, the Panthers were able to strike first again, and mirroring Friday's Global Series game, Evan Rodrigues opened the scoring. This time, Rodrigues was net front and had an incredible redirection off of a long shot from the blueline by Ekblad. Rodrigues rotated his body while mid-jump to get his stick in position to launch it over a crouched DeSmith.

Nearing the end of the period, the extra-curricular activities started. Mason Marchment got a minor penalty called for boarding against Nate Schmidt, which ultimately ended up with the two players fighting. In the midst of the other scrum, Dumba and Sam Bennett took matching minors for roughing. Everything canceled out except Marchment's boarding penalty, and Florida got their first crack at a power-play but did not convert. The score remained 1-0 at the end of the first frame.

The second period had the same energy as the first period, with teams playing sound defensive hockey and not letting the game slip away into the track meet that Friday's game had devolved into. It seemed as though the Stars had more chances but were unable to capitalize. Dallas could not get any puck luck, and it seemed like the Panthers had plenty of it.

A hooking penalty called on Esa Lindell put the Panthers back on the power-play, and just like several of their other goals in this series, they scored yet again on a tip-in, this time by Matthew Tkachuk. The Panthers exploited the Stars time and time again with shots that got through from the blue line to waiting forwards ready to tip the puck. Tkachuck had to fend off Smith in front of the net and mid-battle was able to free his stick up for the redirection.

Shortly after, the Stars got yet another chance on a power-play as cold as the Tampere air, and it felt like it was a must-score opportunity to have a chance in the game. Evegnii Dadonov came through with a wrist shot along the ice that got through the wickets of Knight, putting the Stars right back in it at 2-1. Then, just a mere 34 seconds later, Matt Duchene evened up the game when he cleaned up a rebound to the blocker side of Knight off of a Miro Heiskanen shot. The Finnish native got his first point of the Global Series to the cheers of everyone in the crowd.

The Stars used the momentum, pushing to take the lead and keep on the Panthers while they showed a sign of weakness. Florida was able to survive through the remainder of the period and head to the third all tied up 2-2.

In the last period, the Panthers took the lead out of nowhere with a quick shot off a won face-off from Greer just a little over two minutes in. Now down 3-2 and needing something to get back in the game, the Stars ended up doing the opposite. Marchment got called for a hooking penalty shortly after, but they were able to hold the Panthers off the scoreboard on their man-advantage. It was a fight to get any high danger chances for the rest of the game, but Jason Robertson had a high tip that rang the top corner of the post, but puck luck once again was not on the side of Dallas.

With less than two minutes left, Dallas pulled Casey DeSmith in a last ditch effort to secure a point on the long journey over to Europe, but the dagger would come with 58 seconds to go when Sam Reinhart hit the empty net despite Thomas Harley's best attempt to block the shot.

Now, the Stars head back to Dallas with nothing to show for their special trip, other than a lot of special memories for the Finnish players and their loved ones who got to see them play in their home country. The team will need to reset in the five days off before taking on the Chicago Blackhawks at home next Thursday. Switching up the first and third lines when 7-2-0 on the season and losing both games should provide plenty of questions for the coaching staff to figure out before the team takes the ice next.

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