Ever since the Dallas Stars overtook the St. Louis Blues for third place in the Central Division last Friday night, things have seemed to go a bit sideways for them. While it’s not quite fair to just say that they’ve slowed down since rising in the standings, it has been clear that they were better chasing the spot than they are in it.
After their 5-2 blowout in San Jose, Ken Hitchcock and his crew both attributed their downfall that night (and on several other recent nights) to some stretches of tuned-out attitudes. Tyler Seguin mentioned that when the score jumped to 3-0 while the first period was still young, it was like they had blinked and missed it.