DALLAS – The Rangers kept the third-best team in the NHL scoreless for nearly 53 minutes.
Zero offense was generated by either team in the special teams game for a majority of the 60-minute contest, but the Stars came away with an empty-net-abetted 2-0 win after Jason Robertson was the first to make an impact by converting on Dallas’ power play.
A holding penalty against Matthew Robertson set the Stars up with their fourth man-advantage opportunity of the game.
An incensed Robertson argued former Ranger Colin Blackwell was holding his stick.
The Robertson in green then collected a rebound and buried a backhander past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin – for his 43rd goal of the season – with 7:11 left in regulation.
The Rangers played this one to win, but the Stars won the special teams battle and, in turn, the two points.
“I just think we’re preaching to the players to stay in the moment. We got to do the same thing,” head coach Mike Sullivan said in the morning, when asked if he’s allowed himself to start thinking about next season while coaching these final games. “So, we’re going to try to put our best game on the ice. We’re going to look at that one challenge right in front of us, and we’ll go through each experience as they come.
“That’s the process that we go through, and that’s the journey we’re on. There’ll be a time when we’ll look to turn the page, but right now is not the time.”
There wasn’t much space on the American Airline Center ice Saturday night.
The Rangers limited the Stars to three shots in the first and six in the second, but the visitors were kept in the single digits themselves in each of the first two frames.
It was more of a physical affair than anything else.
Captains J.T. Miller and Jamie Benn dropped the gloves in the second period, after the latter landed a massive hit on Vladislav Gavrikov.
