Stars fall short of dream in Game 6 of Stanley Cup Final

The Dallas Stars could not hide their pain.

For 65 days in the Edmonton bubble, the Stars gave their all physically and emotionally but fell two wins short of fulfilling their Stanley Cup dream.
So when it ended with a 2-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Monday, there were tears and disappointment, but also pride.
"Everyone's been away from their families and their lives," Stars defenseman John Klingberg said. "It's a second family. We spent a lot of time this season together as well … and we're brothers. We're having a great time together and this one stings a lot. It hurts. It hurts more. This is the dream to play on the biggest stage in the world and you end up losing. It stinks."
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After staying alive in the best-of-7 series with a 3-2 win in double overtime in Game 5 on Saturday, the Stars appeared to run out of gas and healthy bodies Monday in their 27th game of the postseason. The lineup they used was missing forwards Roope Hintz, Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau, defenseman Stephen Johns, and No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop, who were all unfit to play.
No doubt several players who did play were dealing with ailments that won't be known until the coming days, but they tried to battle through.
After falling behind 2-0 and being held to eight shots on goal in the first two periods, the Stars summoned enough energy to put forth a final push in the third period, outshooting the Lightning 14-8. But Dallas could not break through against Tampa Bay's relentless forechecking and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 22 saves for his first shutout of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"Anyone who's ever won a Cup will tell you that, if you win the Cup, you've got to be lucky and you've got to be healthy," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "That's why I'm proud of our players. They gave us everything they could. Was there enough in the tank tonight? No, there wasn't. But it's a credit to them. It's a credit to our players, with everything that we've been through, to get to Game 6."

Dallas center Tyler Seguin described the daily scene in the locker room of players waiting in line to get in the trainer's room for treatment, "because everyone's got ice bags on them."
"Boys were grinding through," he said. "I know Tampa was, too, and they're a great team. Congratulations to them. They earned it, but I'm very proud of everyone in our locker room."
The Stars have every reason to be proud. When they checked into their hotel in Edmonton on July 26, captain Jamie Benn was asked about all the luggage they brought with them and replied, "We plan on staying here a while."
They might have been the only ones at that time who believed they would stay so long, but after earning the No. 3 seed following the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, they eliminated the No. 6 seed Calgary Flames in six games in the Western Conference First Round before surviving overtime in Game 7 to get past the No. 2 seed Colorado Avalanche in the second round.
Dallas then upset the No. 1 seed Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the Western Conference Final to reach the Cup Final for the first time since 2000, but after a 4-1 win in Game 1 against Tampa Bay, the magic ran out.
The Lightning pushed back and won the next three games, and although the Stars scraped together the double overtime victory in Game 5 to extend the series two more days, it couldn't do it again in Game 6.
"We never thought once, never doubt ourselves that we can quit or we can't win," Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin said. "We just kept going. Unfortunately, it is what it is right now. We're not the winners, but the character in this room was unbelievable."

Some of the pain the Stars felt after the game will subside in the coming weeks and they will eventually be able appreciate some of their memories of this tournament played in a bubble, away from their families and secluded from the outside world, because the coronavirus pandemic. But their emotions made it difficult Monday.
"[It was] the biggest grind and the hardest time of our lives as professional athletes, and also the most fun," Seguin said. "We had so much fun -- that's kind of why it's so disappointing -- on this run. It's fun being on this stage. A lot of guys in this league or this business don't have that opportunity to feel this pressure, and we had a lot of fun with it, so it was great.
"But other than that, there's nothing positive you're going to take from the bubble life. It definitely [stunk] and I think we're all looking forward to seeing family and friends now."