Game Recap: Stars Get Throttled Early & Often In 7-1 Loss To Panthers

Things did not quite go according to plan for the Stars on Friday night from Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers scored just three minutes into the game and did not stop scoring on their way to a dominant 7-1 win.

Sam Bennet led the Panthers, recording three goals and one assist for his third career hat trick. Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Duclair also had excellent nights, tallying one goal and three assists, and one goal, two assists, respectively. Sergei Bobrovsky finished the night with 27 saves on 28 shots but was not tested much throughout the game.

While the Stars did not play poorly in the first period, they did not seem to have the same jump that we have seen over their recent success streak. Florida was able to turn pucks over on the forecheck and push play in transition, at times finding lanes for cross-ice passes that should never be allowed in the Stars defensive zone.

“There was a lot [that I did not like about the Stars game]. A lot,” Rick Bowness said. “It starts with just not being willing to compete. Starts with that. If you don’t want to work, you don’t want to compete, you get that.”

After the first, things got far worse. Florida took full control of the game, scoring four goals in the second period and adding one more in the third. Roope Hintz tallied the Stars lone goal on a breakaway early in the second period.

Jake Oettinger had no chance on the first two goals for Florida but never really found his game either. After allowing the fourth of the night, he was replaced by Anton Khudobin, who saw his first appearance with Dallas since allowing seven goals against the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 18. Khudobin played fairly well over the final 33 minutes, stopping 19 of 22 Florida shots.

With the loss, Dallas drops to 4-11-1 on the road this season. They have only one regulation win away from American Airlines Center, which came against the Arizona Coyotes just after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27).

“We have some guys who are very comfortable playing at home and very uncomfortable playing on the road," Rick Bowness said. "It ‘s very obvious.”

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For the Stars, it is time to erase this one from the memory and move on to Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. While they will certainly learn from mistakes made on Friday, games like these are better off deleted in the minds of the players and staff and written off as an off night for everyone. They will need to be up to the test as they face another elite team on Saturday night.