5 takeaways: Lack of scoring remains an issue in key divisional loss

DALLAS --Riley Damiani's goal should've been a pivotal turning point in the game for the Stars, but instead the Blues were the ones driving play from then until the final buzzer.

A team that's hurting for goals right now can't afford to give up many, but tonight the Stars allowed four. It's hard to blame Jake Oettinger, who made 24 saves on 28 shots. The third Blues goal was a redirect off Esa Lindell's skate and the fourth goal was at a time when the game was already out of reach.
St. Louis brought a heavy game, and it seemed the Stars couldn't rise up.
Here are the five takeaways of the game.

FIRST NHL GAME, FIRST NHL GOAL

Damiani had an incredible shift that led to his first career NHL goal. Robbed just seconds earlier with a left-pad stop from Blues goaltender Charlie Lindgren, Damiani didn't give up. Instead, with the play staying alive inside the zone, Damiani found a soft area backdoor and waited patiently.
As John Klingberg carried the puck below the right faceoff dot, he spotted Damiani alone, and the veteran defenseman fired a pass right onto the tape. From there, Damiani roofed it to send the American Airlines Center crowd of 18,012 into a frenzy.

It was an unforgettable moment not only for the 21-year-old forward, but also his family, who was watching from back home.

STARS LET LEAD SLIP AWAY

Damiani's goal was a big moment in the game for him and his teammates. The Stars play their best when leading, but they gave up the equalizer less than two minutes later. In a way, it set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Blues scored just 2:07 into the third and the rest is history.
Stars coach Rick Bowness said he wasn't pleased with some of his players and their unwillingness to get their noses dirty and get into the dirty areas.
"When you get one goal, and it's from Damiani's first NHL game, that's incredibly disappointing in a big game like this," he said to reporters. "We had some guys who, I'll have to check the video to see if they even played. I couldn't find them on the ice. Unless you want to show up and get your nose dirty and get involved in a game like that then you're a complete non-factor, and we had a few of those guys that were complete no-shows. We have no chance if we have guys that don't want to show up and play in those games."

PLAYOFF-TYPE PHYSICALITY

The first period had the look and feel of a playoff game even though it's mid-December. It started when Luke Glendening gave a little bump on Torey Krug, who then crashed into Lindgren knocking his helmet off.
It continued throughout the period, highlighted by a thunderous hit behind the net from Klingberg on Blues rookie Alexei Toropchenko.
Far and away the most physical 20-minutes of hockey the Stars have played all season.
SOLO LAP FOR DAMIANI
Recalled earlier in the day from Cedar Park, Damiani got the time-honored solo lap during pregame warmups. Damiani took a few twirls by his lonesome before his teammates followed suit.

STARS MUST FIND A WAY TO STOP THE BLEEDING
With other teams in the division stringing together wins, the Stars are quickly losing ground in the Central. At this point in the season, the Stars simply can't lose many more games.
Tuesday night opened a stretch of 10 consecutive games against divisional opponents with two in a row against the Blues.
Lose a few more and the playoff picture looks a lot dimmer.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.