Shooting Stars: 3 Keys to Bounce Back

The Dallas Stars look to bounce back from a Game One loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. The Stars got off to a slow start, but turned up the pressure in the third period. They threw 17 shots at the net, but Jordan Binnington stopped all but one shot that was thrown on net. 

Game 2 of the series is Saturday afternoon with puck drop slated for 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Here are three things the Stars need to happen to win the game.

1) Fast Start

The Stars need to set the pace and tone early in this game, preferably right from the drop of the puck. The Blues scored within the first six minutes of game one and kept the crowd in the game. The tone can be set with either a physical play or a goal very early in the game. They’ll want to establish a good forecheck and pressure the player carrying the puck for the Blues to try to force some turnovers. The biggest reason they will want to set the tone and pace early is to take the crowd out of the game and quiet the building. 

2) Top Line Produces

A big reason that the Stars disposed of the Nashville Predators in six games in the first round was because the top line came up big. The trio of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov didn’t start the series on the same line, but Jim Montgomery made the change and the line produced. Benn did have a goal in game one, but the line needs to be in the offensive zone forechecking and cycling to get some chances. Seguin and Radulov were kept off the board in the first game and if the Stars want to bounce back and steal a game in St. Louis then these two guys need to step their game up.

3) Ben Bishop Bounce Back

Bishop will need to bounce back from the game one loss. He let a few pucks get by him that may be he should have stopped. The first Blues goal went five hole and he should have stopped that puck, if he saves that shot it could have been the difference in the game. The second goal was a power play goal where he was screened a little bit by his own teammate, but again he was beat five-hole. The third and final goal for St. Louis, he was just too aggressive and tried to poke check the puck off of Vladimir Tarasenko’s stick, but missed and it wound up behind him. If Bishop can play just a tad better then the Stars have a good chance at stealing a game on the road in this series.