This one hurts. In what is likely the season ender, the Stars lost 5-2 to the San Jose Sharks as the Sharks scored twice more in the third period. Things just never got off the ground in the third period for the Stars.
Dallas had some dicey moments in the first minutes of the period after Mark Fistric took a double minor high-sticking penalty. The Stars were able to kill off both of them with minimal danger to gather a small amount of momentum. That momentum wouldn't really last though as the Stars just couldn't get shots onto Niemi. His defenders were blocking shots and the Dallas forwards were just reluctant to shoot the puck.
Jamie Benn had a breakaway with five minutes left in the game to tie it up but he couldn't slide it past Antti Niemi. The Sharks would take immediate advantage of that with a Joe Thornton goal. He ended up with the puck in the face-off circle and beat Lehtonen high and short-side to put the Sharks up 4-2.
That loss likely ends the Stars season as they find themselves two points behind with only two games left in the season. Top players just didn't show up in this game. Among the guys that just disappeared this game was Mike Ribeiro, who did literally nothing. Lehtonen also had a poor one as he let in two soft short-side goals. I figure he was gassed a little as he's started nearly every game for the past month and a half and he's nearing career highs in games played.
It was a disappointing ending to what should have been the most important game of the season for Dallas. They did overachieve a bunch this season though, so things are looking up for next year, but this one still hurts.