It was supposed to be an exciting atmosphere as two central division teams faced off Dec. 5. The Nashville Predators came to Dallas on the second half of a back-to-back, after defeating the Boston Bruins the night before at home. I thought it was going to be a slight advantage for the Stars especially when the Predators star netminder, Pekka Rinne, was inactive. The Predators would have to depend on backup Jusse Saros who was 1-3-1 coming into the game.

There was a lack of energy in the building during the first, on the ice and in the stands. The Stars never tested Saros with quality chances, even though they had short bursts of opportunities. Nashville was struggling to get much going as they were getting devoured by good forechecking from Dallas. Goaltender Saros stopped everything that came his way in the first. Jamie Benn then got upset after a hit from Alexie Emlin and decided to add to it by cross-checking Emlin and getting himself two minutes. On the penalty kill, defenseman Stephan Johns ended up out of position after playing Forsberg on the boards, and Kevin Fiala was wide open and snapped a wrister short-side of Ben Bishop. The Predators went into the locker up 1-0 after the first.

Just as the second period was underway, Emlin tried dumping the puck in behind Bishop, so he went behind his net to cut it off as he had done 100 times this season. It just so happened that Stephen Johns got over in time to block the incoming dump attempt and went straight off his skate into the slot, where Cody Mcleod was skating and threw one into the net while Bishop was still scrambling to get back to his crease. The best chance for the Stars was a breakaway by Radek Faksa, which Saros easily shut down. Otherwise, it was a nightmare for Dallas. P.K Subban pinched and created a turnover in their offensive zone, allowing Jarnkrok to slide a pass to Pontus Aberg who scored his first goal of the season, while ending Bishops night in a net after a 3-0 lead. Kari Lehtonen was tested early and often upon entering the game. Nashville received another power play, and newly acquired Kyle Turris, from Calgary, one timed a slap shot to extend the lead to 4-0. Kari wasn’t able to see the shot at all due to a screen. If the period couldn’t get worse than it already was, Klingberg mishandled a pass on the power play, igniting a two-on-one where Austin Watson went behind the net and passed it in front to the waiting Jarnkrok who finished it off upstairs. Also had his second game with multiple points. The period was over, but it’s practically impossible to come back down five goals.

The third period was just a couple of pride goals by the Stars. Stephen Johns threw one at the net through traffic and found the net. All the Predators had to do was play defensively until time ran out. Jamie Oleksiak got lucky as he took the puck end to end in the last minute of the period and passed one in front of Saros, which hit off a skate of his own defender and went top shelf. Overall, it was disappointing game. It’s already difficult making it to the playoffs in this division, but in order to make a run they have to start beating the top teams in their division.