Stars rally for point, but fall behind in race for final playoff spot

DALLAS --The Stars are finding a new way to do an old dance.
For them, it's two steps back ... and then one step forward.
Unfortunately, the results are typically the same as the old process.

On Sunday, Dallas allowed the Nashville Predators to jump out to a 3-0 lead before coming back with a furious rally that tied the game in the final minute of regulation. When it was over, however, the Stars had lost a 4-3 shootout and fallen to 2-7-4 in their past 13 games -- further behind in the battle for the fourth playoff spot in the Central Division.
Dallas sits 7-8-5 on the season, at .475 points percentage. Chicago is at 13-8-5 (.596) while the three teams ahead of the Blackhawks are in the .700s in terms of points percentage. While the Stars are doing a lot of good things, it's not showing up in the standings.
That's unfortunate, because the team is four games through a six-game homestand and has three points to show for it. There are upcoming games against Chicago and Columbus in which a mere share of the points is not going to be helpful.

At some point, they can only kick this can so far down the road until they'll have to kick the bucket.
Saturday was one of those weird days where the Stars did so many things right, and yet simply found a way to mess up in a few key areas. Dallas finished with 38 shots on goal and had 22 scoring chances, according to coach Rick Bowness. That was among the most on the season, and yet it didn't help early against a Nashville team that is among the leakiest in the NHL and had allowed 15 goals in its previous three games.
"We are creating scoring chances. We missed open nets; we missed breakaways," Bowness said. "There were 22 scoring chances to their 11, and it was a 3-3 hockey game."
Veteran Nashville goal Pekka Rinne turned away some great shots, but Dallas also missed the net, or flubbed a shot, or simply failed to show poise at a key moment.
In the meantime, Nashville capitalized on a first period power play when Mikael Granlund redirected a Filip Forsberg shot for the first goal of the game at the 15:31 mark of the first period. It was just the third shot on goal for the Predators at the time. A minute later, Calle Jarnkrok made it 2-0 and the Stars were behind the eight ball.
Another power-play goal made it 3-0 after two periods, and Dallas was once again in need of a patented comeback. As they have done so many times in the past two seasons, the Stars got it. Radek Faksa powered in a shot to give the Stars life, Joe Pavelski followed with another power play goal, and then rookie Jason Robertson came up big to tie the game with his fourth goal of the season at the 19:03 mark of the third period.

It was exciting, it was emotional, it was encouraging.
And had the Stars been able to convert it to a win in overtime or a shootout, it would have really meant something.
But they didn't.
Instead, Rinne came up with a huge save on Pavelski in the shootout, and Nashville captain Roman Josi found a way to beat Stars rookie Jake Oettinger to give the Predators the extra point.
"You get a little desperate and you start really playing on your toes and pushing, and there are points out there that we need and want," said Pavelski. "For whatever reason, we get rolling. And once we get that first one, we seem to get a second one, and it's about getting that first one earlier.
"There is no quit in the team, obviously. We are still going, and we've still got some belief. You saw it tonight. Big game and tough to not get that extra point there at the end."

Nashville has its own problems at 11-14-0, but the sight of their captain with a blood-stained jersey from a cut lip on a missed high-sticking penalty scoring the shootout winner … well, that was pretty motivating in itself.
And that's the problem with so many of these squandered opportunities for the Stars -- they are coming against divisional rivals, and they are handing those divisional rivals either actual space in the standings, or the wherewithal to get to a better place.
The Stars on Sunday were choosing to focus on the positive. They created a ton of chances again, they received big games from Pavelski (10 shots on goal and his league-leading 10th power play goal) and Robertson (a goal, an assist, and the only Stars goal in the shootout), they didn't give up.
"It just goes to show how resilient we are," Robertson said.
"People could've wrote us off down 3-0 with 12 minutes to go or 10 minutes to go, but everyone on that bench knew that we had it in ourselves to come back. We were able to squeeze out a point out of a game."
And while that's great, it doesn't mean anything if the team doesn't start taking a few more steps forward.

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vs. Blackhawks; Tuesday 7:30 p.m. CT
American Airlines Center
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This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.