I'd have slashed the living F outta Kaprizov right there

NHL playoff format is stupid.

really want to see new leadership. Benn isn't good but we can't scratch him

Jamie Bennalties

Roope is made of glass. He's hurt every year at playoff time

joshpettett said:

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I think what irritated me the most was the emotion Miro had on the empty net goal.
There seemed to be essentially zero emotion from the guys in green the rest of the game. Where was that earlier?

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This. Year and year after year they just seem flat or disinterested. I think it starts and ends with the captain. His time with the Stars needs to end after this year.

Yeah, for the most part the Stars had no fire. I know it's not 2000, but a playoff game should be physical and intense. This looked like a game in January.

They need to come out and put someone through the glass on Thursday night. Show some fire or it's over.

Boats and Hose said:

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This team is frustrating. In my opinion we need a more solid leader - either a goal scorer aka MacKinnon or McDavid (I feel like Robo or Wyatt are on the cusp of this) or we need a ****ing bruiser who doesn't take **** aka Tom Wilson or Tkachuck brothers (don't feel like we've had this in a while - maybe since Antoine Rousell?). We have neither. We show flashes of both at times, but it's not consistent. We won't be successful until we get a consistent one or the other.

Again - just my opinion. I personally think this team is toast. Hoping I'm wrong.

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Damn do we miss having a Captain like Derian Hatcher.

Unpopular opinion but my favorite star of all time. Grew up watching him put dudes in place if they ****ed with Modano or any other Star.

Look, the series isn't over yet, but to not get too far ahead of ourselves (we have all offseason upcoming) I'll keep this as short as possible.

This team had a really great, but up and down season. Injuries combined with getting younger and trusting those young players to play significant roles is a lot of that imo. Again, Bouque, Bichsel, Lundkvist, Hryckowian, Hyry etc. all played huge roles this year and I think are getting "playoffed" for lack of a better term right now. Meaning the spotlight might be a bit much for them right now (minus Lundkvist who was great). With that being said, I really do think all of those guys brought great things to this years team, whether that be speed, physicality, grit or toughness. We are better than we were last year in those categories.

I hate to call out a key player after a winning season, but Wyatt Johnston's 5v5 production is a real concern, particularly in the playoffs. We've been waiting for him to step up at even strength all year, and it simply hasn't happened. Mavrik Bourque scored 19 even strength goals and Wyatt scored 18 for some comparison. It's an issue that needed to be solved yesterday. Meanwhile, Harley has clearly come back to Earth, so there's not much more to say there.

Whatever happens on Thursday, this offseason is perhaps the biggest one we'll have in a number of years. It feels like the last stop before hopping on a freight train headed towards "Stanly cup or bust" with basically no wiggle room for 5+ years. I think Jim Nill needs to get serious about the d-corp and finding a different angle for this team come playoff time.

I agree something needs to change in the offseason with this team BUT it's NOT over until it's over. If they can just win Game 6 anything can happen. I have been to a Game 7 vs. the Blues in Dallas where we got destroyed and it was over in 15 minutes and then I have also been to a Game 7 vs. Nashville in Dallas where we won and it was the coolest pro win I've ever seen in person. So let's JUST WIN GAME 6 AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS! Go Stars!

I was at the game last night. I went back and watched some of the key plays.

Obviously, Tyler Myers had a disastrous game. I was really worried about him and Harley together and it went even worse than I thought.

Oetter let in two really bad goals. For some reason he was shaded to the left on the Boldy shot. Also backed into his crease for no reason. Should have been an easy blocker save, but Oetter opened up a window with his positioning.

Of course the third goal doesn't happen if he doesn't lift his pad off the ice.

I don't care what the expected goal differential or scoring chances say, this team has a problem with 5 on 5 play.

They aren't generating enough high quality chances. If Wallstedt can see it clearly then he's stopping it. The windows are tighter and the Stars are struggling to get shots on net.

The net front presence isn't good. Minnesota can clear our guys out without much trouble. It's not just bad puck luck. You create your own luck by being physical in front of the crease.

The Stars want to pass it around and find the perfect shot. It doesn't work long term in the playoffs. It does work on the PP though.

With Roope not out there the Stars don't have the speed for any breakouts. This team is slow and not physical enough. Bad recipe for a deep playoff run.

Rantanen has to be hurt, because he's providing very little out there. The Rantanen and Johnston line has been invisible when it's 5 on 5.

Having said all that, I know they are capable of winning the next two games. I hope they do. We just might need a lot of power plays to get it done.

What I don't understand for the life of me is why Gully broke up the Rob-Wyatt-Bourque line. When Mikko was out, he put those three together and they literally became one of the top 5 lines in the NHL. They were gang busters in almost every facet. Then Mikko comes back and he separates everyone. Wyatt with Mikko, Duchy and Robo, and the Bourque has shuffled amongst the top six. WHY?! We went on that crazy streak with that as our main catalyst and he ditched it. Now we're back to struggling 5v5 and are as inconsistent as we've been all year.