At first, it was just another Dallas Stars game.
Not the multi-goal drubbing that we’ve been accustomed to as of late, mind you, but rather the age-old “less than 60 minutes performance.” The first period against the New York Islanders was fantastic, even if the scoresheet didn’t reflect it, but after the first intermission there was… nothing. Just meh, blah, however you want to characterize it.
Sure, there were goals, and the occasional high-danger scoring chance. But for the most part, it was mostly just back and forth oatmeal, and as the Stars pulled their net for the extra attacker, it looked like it was going to end as a rather uneventful 3-1 (or 4-1) loss.