TAKEAWAYS: Blackhawks Come Up Short in Overtime Loss to Stars

Despite an overtime winner on Wednesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks couldn’t complete a repeat win against the Dallas Stars. After Tyler Johnson tied the game in the final minutes of the third period, the Stars found the game-winning goal with seconds left in overtime to seal the final at 5-4. 

While they might not have earned the extra point, Jason Dickinson noticed the team made some improvement with their competition level. When Dallas took over the lead, the veteran forward felt the Blackhawks fought back harder and found new chances to send the contest into overtime. 

“I thought we showed a lot of good push, we never quit,” Dickinson said. “We kept pushing. We had a lot of good looks on the power play that I felt like created momentum and some opportunities.” 

Both teams found success on the power play to keep things even and kept shots on goal close as Dallas outshot Chicago, 35-29.

Although the team competed hard for the majority of the matchup, head coach Luke Richardson described the more defensive style of play the team brought in the second period. 

“I think we just backed off for some reason, we just played a little bit more defensive, meaning not attacking them even in the D-zone,” Richardson said. 

Johnson, who produced two goals in the contest, also felt a similar way with the team’s play on Friday night.

The 33-year-old forward mentioned that instead of a simple playing style, he thought the team didn’t find some simple plays to help achieve an overtime win, especially when they held the lead. 

“I think just making those right decisions of not doing those hope plays, not doing those plays [where you think] that this might work or might not,” Johnson said. “When you have the lead, you have to make the for sure play, the simple play.”

With another game against Dallas on Sunday, Richardson noticed some positives that the team can carry into their game so that they can earn another victory. 

“If we could play like we did in the third period and the start of the first, you’re looking at two points in this league a lot of times,” Richardson said. “So, we got to spell that out and make sure it sinks in and you learn your little bit of lessons along the way.”