by Ivan Dawkins @ikingdawk / Journalist
In front of an officially announced crowd of 18,271 at the T-Mobile Arena just off of the strip in Las Vegas, the Dallas Stars fall 4-3 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights. Just 95 seconds into the extra period, Golden Knights' Center Brett Howden puts one into the back of the net to end game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. This is the third consecutive 2023 Stanley Cup playoff series in which the Stars lose game 1 in overtime. Minnesota Right Winger Ryan Hartman scored the game winner in double overtime to open the Stars playoff run with a 3-2 loss in round 1, game 1. Seattle Kraken Left Winger Yanni Gourde scored at the 12:17 mark of overtime to defeat Dallas 5-4 in round 2, game 1. They've gotten it from left, right, and center.
In the postgame presser, I asked Coach Pete DeBoer,
"Hey Coach, Ivan Dawkins, The BS3 Network. So, Groundhog day is not supposed to be here until February 2, 2024. It sure feels like it came again early. So talk about the third series starting with an overtime loss. How does that feel?"
His response after a nice smile and an initial chuckle at my Groundhog day reference,
"Yeah, yeah tough. You know I think you're right. I think the good news is the other two ended the right way so that's what we'll hope for. But you've got to win some overtime games too in the playoffs. You know, you can't go 0 for 3, 0 for 4 in the playoffs in overtime. So that's something that we've got to get fixed quickly. Yeah, but you're right, same start you know, similar starts to the games too which we've got to fix."
It should be noted however, that all 3 overtime losses ended in different fashions. Based on that, you may not feel good the next time the Stars head into yet another extra period during a game in this playoff run, but you'll at least have hope that they aren't falling victim to the same crime in overtime.
Another good sign is that Stars Left Winger stud Jason Robertson, nicknamed "Robo" ended his goal scoring drought of no 5 on 5 goals in this year's playoffs. He scored the series' first goal with the deflection of a shot taken by Stars phenom Center Roope Hintz with just 1:16 left in the 1st period. He has obviously garnered a college credit hour or two in Joe Pavelski's tip drill university. When asked by Saad Yousuf of the Athletic and 96.7 FM/1310 AM if he felt relief after ending his goal scoring drought, Robo had this to say
"Yeah relief. I mean I knew eventually something's going to happen. I play on too good of a line not to get opportunities for the puck to finally go in. I'm sure it's a good relief for my line mates and me, everyone. I just want to look to build off of that."
Western Conference Finals Game 2 will take place Sunday, May 21 – 12PM PT/2PM CT (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS), at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The Stars are praying that the groundhog emerges from its cozy den, see its shadow and give them six more weeks of playoff hockey participation, beginning with a win on Sunday afternoon.
This story was not subject to approval by the Dallas Stars Hockey Team or The National Hockey League.
Ivan Dawkins is a Journalist for BS3Network.com. Follow him on Twitter @ikingdawk.
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