Game 5 WCF AfterThoughts: Answering the Wrong Questions
Note: If you’re a subscriber, the usual e-mail for this post appears to have failed to send for some reason. So, don’t worry, you haven’t been unsubscribed or anything; it’s just the internet gremlins gobbling up some bits and bytes at one in the morning.
Through all I sit here and I wait
(I turn to stone, I turn to stone)
You will return again some day
***
Let’s start off with a nice little vignette featuring Peter DeBoer responding to a question from a local columnist whose perspective I will link to below.
Pete DeBoer took major exception to a question calling out the Stars Game 5 effort pic.twitter.com/gIfZ7wW6W5
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 1, 2024
I wanted to point this out not because of the colorful language used, but because of what DeBoer said leading up to it: “You haven’t been around all year. I haven’t seen you here all year.”
It’s interesting that, in defending his line of questioning afterwards, the writer said nothing about that aspect of DeBoer’s response. Possibly, I think, because it hits home. He hasn’t been covering the team with anything close to regularity this year, and in fact his publication hasn’t dedicated a full-time beat position to the Stars since Matthew DeFranks left at the end of the 2022 calendar year. So for someone with national clout like this columnist to practically ignore the Stars for years (as I’m sure DeBoer feels he’s done) despite making back-to-back Western Conference Final appearances, only to show up after Game 5 to get a juicy quote about how badly the team played, well, it’s understandable why that would rankle.
It’s also true that, at this point in the year, nobody really knows what these players are going through, what the entire team is going through, except the men in the arena, so to speak. As much as we’ve been talking about Chris Tanev, it’s doubtless true that Roope Hintz is not fully healthy. Joe Pavelski is probably fighting more than just father time, and certainly Tyler Seguin’s body has been through more than most of us would ever wish. Camaraderie is everything to a hockey team in the playoffs, and to lose two games in a row where you could feel the energy sagging for much of the contest must be a deeply disheartening thing indeed. They are sticking up for each other because they have to constantly go up against another team seeking to tear them apart.
DeBoer’s annoyance at the question (which was really a statement) about Dallas looking “lifeless” in the second period, and “really putting no pressure on [Edmonton] at all” isn’t because DeBoer thinks the Stars played great hockey in the second period or anything. I assure you, he was not thrilled with what took place on the ice through 40 minutes of this game, and probably even the full 60, despite the obligatory push in the third that scraped back a goal. But coaches get to choose how they answer questions, and while DeBoer has generally been quite gracious about answering questions and even giving more than he has to, it’s not surprising to see him close ranks a little bit when he senses the vultures starting to show up.
I’m not here to critique Cowlishaw, since I don’t know what his job description is or is not. He’s been covering Dallas sports in some manner for longer than a lot of folks have been on this earth, so it’s not like it’s his first rodeo. In fact, lest you doubt his credibility, let me disabuse you of your ignorant notions by informing you that he wrote and published, and I am not making this up, an original “rap” following the 1999 Cup victory, which you can read right here, at a link I will include very plainly for the benefit of all: https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/stars/2020/09/28/from-the-archives-check-out-tim-cowlishaws-celebratory-rap-after-the-stars-1999-stanley-cup-win/
To be clear, I don’t ever love coaches (or players) getting haughty in press conferences, but that’s not what this felt like. DeBoer has been gracious with a lot of folks since his arrival in Dallas, and I’ve heard many stories of him making an extra effort to clarify his perspective when he really felt that someone needed to understand where he was coming from. This isn’t a superior person showing disdain for the media; he’s showing his distaste for the nature of a question from someone who seems to be punching his team while they’re down.
I guess all I’m saying here is, coaches have a job to do, and answering questions is part of it. But it’s not absurd of DeBoer to snap at someone who can certainly take it when he feels a question is disingenuous. With any luck, both parties will get to have another chance at a positive exchange after Game 7 anyway, and we’ll all be friends again. It’s our state motto for a reason, you know.
***
Razor mentioned in the postgame radio broadcast how the 1999 Dallas Stars also had a bit of a rough ride in the Western Conference Final. In fact, the pattern has mirrored this series through five games quite closely:
2-1 Colorado
4-2 Dallas
3-0 Dallas
3-2 Colorado
7-5 Colorado
Razor mentioned that he recalled that Game 5, 7-5 loss to be a day game, which Eddie Belfour hated. And looking at the box score, I can’t blame him. Dallas and Colorado yo-yoed their way to a 3-3 score before Colorado finally went up 5-3, only for Dallas to claw back and tie it at 5 in the third period on goals by Hull and Verbeek, only for Colorado to grab the lead back on a Peter Forsberg goal and go on to win 7-5.
You know what happened next, though. (And so does Tim Cowlishaw. Again, he wrote this thing and got paid for it, and it was published.) Dallas went back to Colorado for Game 6 and ripped off the first of a pair of 4-1 victories to send Patrick Roy home.
So, if you’re looking for hope, there you go. Dallas has to win two games in a row against Edmonton, which they’ve already done, and they have to get to Game 7, which their coach has repeatedly done with great success. Easy, right?
NB: Also, how crazy is this: that Colorado series featured five future NHL GMs, by my count: Hull, Nieuwendyk, Verbeek, Drury, and Sakic. And it would’ve been six if Keith Jones hadn’t been traded mid-year. Could you predict five future general managers in this series, right now?
***
Ty Dellandrea had two chances to get the puck out of the zone before the shift that ended with Ryan Suter’s penalty. He did not get it out of the zone either time.
First, Dadonov is hoping to bust out with the puck, only for he and Dellandrea to lose it to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (who had one of the best games you’ll ever seen from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins).
Then, Dellandrea collects a rebound from Zach Hyman’s shot, and prepares to once again get the puck north (with Evgenii Dadonov blowing the zone to create space at the blue line, as Stars forwards are wont to do):
But once again, Nugent-Hopkins managed to foil his plans, and the puck gets stuck along the wall, with Suter eventually getting a bit overzealous in his business-giving to Connor McDavid:
A closer look at the roughing penalty that led to the Oilers goal pic.twitter.com/dxHlqiVP7R
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 1, 2024
You be the judge, I guess. Anyway, you know what happened next. Ty Dellandrea didn’t quite take care of business after a shot trickled out from Oettinger, and it was 1-0 late in the first period.
That call irked me, given the earlier icing call that Broberg seemed to have given up on earning, only for the linesman to earnestly signal it anyway, blowing the whistle before the puck even crossed the red line, which is my officiating pet peeve this year.
If the Stars hadn’t struggled so much to generate a genuine offensive effort for the majority of this game, we could spend a lot of time talking about penalty calls by the extremely veteran referees Sutherland and Eric Furlatt, given that the two Oilers power play goals ended up being the difference in this game. I mean, even Miro Heiskanen’s delay of game penalty surprised me, given that none of the officials on the ice seemed inclined to call it. And how a conclave right next to the scorer’s table somehow emerged with certitude about a play none of them were confident enough to call stumps me, unless you think they got some subtle help from said table in a surreptitious manner. I’m sure they’ll be glad to hand off the responsibility for making those calls correctly to the coaches next year.
This is where I once again shake my head at the fact that officials (likely at behest of the league) have now taken to brazenly calling obviously nonense major penalties simply in order to trigger the video review process to make sure they don’t miss the call on a minor penalty. The phrase “get the call right” is so glorified these days that we’ve all kind of forgotten how miserable it is when officials really try to do that at the expense of the experience. For instance, if we’re reviewing offside calls, why not icings? Faceoffs? Line changes? We’ve sacrificed so much in order to prevent a referee’s blown call from being the story that now they seem terrified of even potentially missing a razor-thin call in any circumstance. We so often lose more than we can imagine when we hold onto only what we see.
***
It’s hard to be optimistic about the Stars’ chances right now. This series no longer feels like a wild emotional swing, but more like one that has settled into a disturbing trend of Edmonton generally being more dangerous while Dallas fecklessly tries to vicitimize Stuart Skinner. And unless you’re Jason Robertson, that hasn’t been working well as of late.
That picture at the top of this article was a key moment for me, when Joe Pavelski actually got a great look in the first period, making a nice move to lose the last defender and get an open shot…which he sailed wide.
If you really want to join in the fanbase’s collective sorrow right now, just compare the below screenshots, one of which came tonight, and one of which came last year:
The lower one, you’ll notice, is from farther away with more defensive pressure. And that one went in, followed by three more goals. What a difference a year makes, huh? After feeling fortunate to have beaten Minnesota after Pavelski’s injury saw Dallas start to sag, the Stars were thrilled to have Pavelski return against Seattle, and his four-goal outburts was just one part of his key contributions during that playoff run.
This year, the Stars were sagging against Edmonton, and he’s been moved down the lineup in hopes of other players doing more in his stead. Time is cruel. So very, very cruel.
As for the rest, give credit to Edmonton, because they’ve earned it. They have made the Stars look like they’re playing Vegas again, and not in the good way. After some earlier periods in this series where the Stars were getting offensive opportunities almost by default, they’re suddenly struggling to generate even 2 expected goals per game in their last two losses, and that’s just not gonna get it done.
That’s another reason why I’m still not ready to say Skinner has been as good as either Vegas goalie or even Georgiev, by the way. Skinner’s “great” saves in this game were simply being hit by the puck, which itself is a sign of good positioning and tracking, but not necessarily highway robbery. He still gives up rebounds that Dallas can’t seem to get to, and I remain committed to the belief that the Stars will win games when they generate consistent chances against Edmonton, regardless of what they give up. They simply have the better goaltending. But generating offense against a Vegas-like system (as they now seem to be facing) is a tall order for a squad that looked gassed for long stretches.
Wyatt Johnston scored a goal by turning the toe of his stick blade vertical as a makeshift ramp for the puck, sending it over the pad of Skinner and into the corner of the net. This fantastic deflection earned due praise on the broadcast, which was as nice as a garbage time goal (or what felt like one) ever is.
Johnston is now in an elite club of players who have done something special at so young an age. Early days in his career so far, but then again, the early nature of his achievements is what makes them so very impressive. It’s why I don’t think it’s irresponsible to mention that it’s been decades since we’ve seen a teenager come up and tear the cover off the ball to this degree. He’s a special player.
Stars forward Wyatt Johnston became the fifth active player to score 10 goals in a playoff year at age 21 or younger, joining Sidney Crosby (15 in 2009), Nikita Kucherov (10 in 2015), Patrick Kane (10 in 2010) and Evgeni Malkin (10 in 2008).#TexasHockey | #NHLStats
— Owen Newkirk (@OwenNewkirk) June 1, 2024
***
The good news after this bad game is that Dallas has a day off, and that Edmonton has to go back home. The Stars just haven’t been good at home these playoffs, which is part of the reason for my deciding not to purchase an impulse single ticket for $150 before the game tonight. There’s a special sort of bitterness in skating off the ice in front of your unhappy friend, family, and fans, and I have little doubt that this was also eating DeBoer when he was fielding questions after the game.
Dallas wants it. They’ve been here before, and they know what it takes. It’s not a question of effort, or even of winning battles, per se. (Though that’s what you preach in the room, of course.) Sure, there are tactical questions to be answered, particularly on the power play. Aside: Dallas absolutely cannot win this series if they fail to win the special teams battle at any point, and while Steve Spott and Co. did see better results in terms of chances on the Stars’ second of their two power plays on Friday, they need it to be a weapon, not just a lottery ticket. Working the power play from the point isn’t getting them enough looks right now, and they haven’t been getting the cycle going in the corner that allows Robertson, et. al. to curl up into the circles for a shot or a pass through the low slot. They’re fishing when they need to go hunting.
What it’s really about is whether Dallas believes they can beat the other team in every area of the ice. Earlier in the series, they were managing this, albeit not in dominant fashion. But Edmonton crushed their spirit with those quick goals in the second period on Friday, and it took far too long for the Stars to recover. It’s not a matter of psychological trickery or whatever you want to call it, though. It’s about seeing your process bear fruit. And right now, far too many of Dallas’s processes, from their breakouts to their dump-ins, need viable alternatives.
They’ll look at video, of course. They’ll bring some responses to what Edmonton has been doing so successfully for almost six periods now. But none of those things will matter if they don’t work, and quickly. Players tend to revert to type when their marching orders lead them into a swamp, and that’s a losing place to be at this point in the playoffs. You have to trust your process, along with whatever its Plan B or C is at every step along the way, and execute it better than the other guys.
My hope for this series isn’t that Dallas will echo 1999 in some romantic rehash. This team is so wildly different from that one that it’s almost an insulting comparison to both of them (for different reasons). Instead, my hope is that Dallas will do, on Sunday, what they’ve always done under Peter DeBoer: stop their losing streaks at two. By hook or by crook or by a 4-1 goalie robbery, Dallas needs to believe in themselves. If they do that, we’ll be more than happy to join them for the ride, wherever it leads.