Instead of moving into playoff spot, Stars give away goals, end win streak with 7-3 loss in Detroit - The Dallas Morning News

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On what could have been a momentous evening for the Stars, Jakub Vrana spoiled the party.

Vrana scored four goals for the Red Wings as Detroit handed the Stars a 7-3 loss to snap Dallas’ four-game win streak. A Stars win would have moved them into a playoff spot, tied with Nashville with 52 points with two games in hand. It would have given the team its longest win streak of the season.

Instead, the Red Wings jumped out to a three-goal lead in the first period and held on as the Stars mounted rallies in the second and third periods. Radek Faksa, Joe Pavelski and Denis Gurianov scored for the Stars, either on the power play or shortly after one expired.

The Stars remain two points behind Nashville with 10 games to play.

“It’s a classic example of beating yourself,” coach Rick Bowness said. “Just very poor puck management gave them goals. Simple as that.”

Vrana was too much — for both Anton Khudobin and Jake Oettinger.

He scored on the rush in the first period after an Andrej Sekera giveaway. He scored in the second period by tipping a Danny DeKeyser shot in the slot. He scored on the rush in the third period after poking the puck away from John Klingberg. He deposited a rebound in the third period to cap his career night.

Khudobin started and was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots in the first period. Oettinger was pinned with the loss when he gave up three goals on 13 shots. Sam Gagner scored an empty-netter.

“Just got to be better, that’s it,” Khudobin said.

Bowness on why he pulled Khudobin: “Just didn’t seem to be his night.”

Vrana became the second Red Wing to score four goals against the Stars in the last two seasons, joining Anthony Mantha. At the trade deadline, Detroit traded Mantha to Washington. In return, they received Vrana and Richard Panik, who also had a goal Thursday. Robby Fabbri also had a hat trick against Dallas earlier this season in Detroit’s only other win over the Stars.

It was a night to forget for the Stars, who entered Thursday playing some of their best hockey of the season against the two worst teams in the Central Division: Columbus and Detroit. Dallas had collected points in each of its last eight games and wins in its last four. The first period put the Stars in a hole too deep to escape, and Vrana kept shoveling dirt.

Khudobin’s night ended after he surrendered a head-scratching goal to Panik in the closing seconds of the first period. After Panik sent a high flip on net, Khudobin thought he collected the puck, but it squirted through him and between his legs. The puck sat in the crease long enough for Panik to beat Miro Heiskanen and Jamie Oleksiak to it and give Detroit a 3-0 lead.

“I lost the puck, I thought I had it,” Khudobin said. “Guys started yelling, ‘It’s behind me!’ and it was too late.”

These types of games happen. A stinker ruins a run. A clunker sours a streak. The Stars don’t have a ton of margin for error in the final 10 games, but their recent play and results should help them weather an ugly night like Thursday.

“We have to learn from the mistakes and get better against them on Saturday,” Faksa said. “If we didn’t play against Detroit, then maybe just throw it behind your head, but when you’re playing against Detroit again, we have to see what we did wrong and don’t repeat the same mistakes.”

The final underlying statistics won’t resemble those from a four-goal loss. The Stars outshot the Red Wings 46-23. They had 75 shot attempts to Detroit’s 40. They scored twice on the power play and killed their only penalty.

“I never thought we were out of that game,” Bowness said. “We were creating enough chances. We were creating enough shots. I never thought we were out of the game until we shot ourselves in the foot.”

But Khudobin and Oettinger couldn’t make the saves they needed to. According to MoneyPuck, Detroit had 2.25 expected goals. Natural Stat Trick placed the Red Wings at 2.06 expected goals. Of course, they scored seven.

“Just swallow this pill, have a good practice tomorrow and get ready for the next one,” Khudobin said.

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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