Stars Recall Mavrik Bourque While Hoping to Forget Games 1 and 2

The Stars have been here before. Or at least, somewhere equally dreadful.

While we’ve been bemoaning how Dallas was “just one goal” short of sending both of their recent losses into overtime, you might already have forgotten that Dallas accomplished that feat against Vegas in the Western Conference Finals just last year, when Games 1 & 2 both went to overtime.

Game 1 of the Western Conference Final last year saw Dallas claw back, with Jamie Benn scoring a 6-on-5 goal with two minutes left in the third period to send things to overtime, after which Stars decided that defensive zone coverage was really more of a suggestion, leaving Jake Oettinger set to “spin cycle” as Brett Howden and Mark Stone played around in the offensive zone before stuffing the puck past a completely twisted-up Jake Oettinger for the 4-3 win just over a minute into overtime of Game 1.

It was really disheartening, but the Stars managed to top it in Game 2, when they fought hard all night to even the series, only for Ryan Suter to do, uh, this to allow Vegas to force overtime. And once again, Vegas didn’t need more than two minutes in the extra frama to win it. Bam-bam, a 2-0 series deficit.

That’s where Dallas stands now, albeit without home ice awaiting them in Games 3 and 4. And you know about that Game 3, or at least about the main part. But it was perhaps worse than you remember, if that’s even possible. Because, did you remember that before Jamie Benn went banana sandwich on Mark Stone, Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault carved up Dallas less than two minutes into Game 3 to go up 1-0?

That context is important, I think, because that’s when Jamie Benn jumped Stone. After two straight games of Dallas immediately caving in overtime, one of which they never should have allowed to happen, and after yet another too-easy Vegas goal less than two minutes into a must-win Game 3, Benn took matters into his own hands.

I believe that if Dallas doesn’t surrender that quick opening goal, Benn never goes after Stone. And then, maybe Game 3 goes Dallas’s way, and maybe the series ends differently.

It’s a fool’s errand trying to un-butterfly the effects of that goal, of course. I’m not here to wish upon formerly suspended Stars. But the playoffs are an incredibly emotional experience, most of all for the veteran players who know how rare these opportunities are. Making it to the dance with a legitimately great team does not happen more than a couple of times in a player’s career, and that’s if he’s lucky enough for it to happen at all.

Benn, and Pavelski, and everyone else on the roster who knows playoff heartbreak like an ex who lives next door need to find another gear before desperation and despair take over. They cannot afford to let Vegas do what they’ve been doing to Dallas for over a year now, and that means Peter DeBoer & Co. will need to have used these two days off to come up with a new plan.

Mavrik Bourque may be part of that plan, although it’s fair to wonder whether his recall is simply injury insurance for the players missing from practice, particularly Faksa and Marchment. Seguin missed practice too, but given that he finished the game on Wednesday, it seems more likely that he’s just being rested as much as possible. And, I mean, that’s what the coach said, too, so don’t take my word for it. (But also, you had better always take my word for it, or else I will cancel your membership to this online web site, which is, I believe, A Thing That You Can Do, Right?)

DeBoer downplayed the practice lines today. Said a few players skated beforehand and also labeled Marchment/Faksa as “day-to-day”. Added both forwards were progressing.

We will see what things look like in Game 3. #TexasHockey https://t.co/upqXNSC3Zt

— Brien Rea (@BrienRea) April 26, 2024

Game 3 isn’t going to be about “being more physical” or “being less reckless” or anything like that, because it’s always about both of those things, and many more. Instead, Dallas is only going to win Game 3 if they get some supernatural performances from key players, or if they take care of details more effectively than Vegas. That’s really what it comes down to.

Through the last 120 minutes, Vegas’s maddeningly simple game has turned Dallas into the chasing team even before they start trailing, as Dallas has done for most of the series. Any game plan adjustments need to be tailored towards efficiency and disruption, not aggression and risk-aversion. Vegas is patient, more than happy to let you try to break their stranglehold on the low slot before turning the puck over and heading north before Dallas can get into a solid defensive structure. Dallas may well have to concede a bit of transition play in order to be more deliberate in the neutral zone, preventing Vegas from counterattacking so quickly.

They’ve been stretching the zone for most of the series (remember Jamie Benn’s breakaway in Game 1), and that’s perfectly fine. But I wouldn’t be shocked if the Stars are leaning a bit more towards their own blue line as a whole in an effort to mutually clog the neutral zone until one of their forward lines can pick it apart.

Craig Ludwig mentioned one of Razor’s better analogies on Spits and Suds Thursday: the Stars have been trying to climb through a barbed-wire fence while wearing a wool sweater. The only way to do that successfully is with a ton of patience, and perhaps by looking for a different route through the fence than you’d take without the sweater.

I’m overtaxing the metaphor here, but you get the point. Dallas has thrived this year by overwhelming other teams with their quick transition play and repeated low-to-high scoring chance generation. Vegas has slowed them down in transition and maintained a tight defensive structure that have largely neutralized both of those tactics.

You don’t want to completely abandon your game just because things aren’t going great, but it’s now or never for DeBoer and the Stars. You don’t make it to the top seed in the Western Conference without being able to make changes when necessary, so now is the time for DeBoer to prove his detractors wrong and adapt, adapt, adapt. It’s high time Vegas remembered the flaws that kept them in the Wild Card spots down the stretch, and Dallas is in just the right position to help them recall each and every reason why Vegas isn’t as good as they’ve looked so far.

It’s a dour place to be in, as a fan. You hate the idea that the same dumb team ruins your hopes two years in a row, especially after you’ve spent six months watching your team come out on top more than just about any other hockey team in the world. It feels unfair, and you want to blame someone. The refs, the league, the announcers, or your own players and their coaches. Fan Rage comes out in surprising ways this time of year, and never moreso than when your team has everything to lose. It feels downright wasteful for a team this good to be in a spot this bad.

But Dallas isn’t done yet. Better teams than Vegas have blown 2-0 leads, and goodness knows the Texas Rangers set a precedent last fall for laying eggs at home only to vanquish a hated rival just when the series looked lost. Hope is out there, if you want to look for it. But no one will blame you for keeping your eyes closed, given what we’ve had to watch so far.