It was a step in the right direction for the Dallas Stars’ offense against the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night but not enough to get out of this three-game losing streak, falling 0-2.

This loss wasn’t due to the offense not producing chances, because the Stars did their fair share of matching the Lightning throughout the game. Rather, Tuesday night’s defeat came from the Stars missing opportunities where the Lightning were able to strike.

In the first period, we saw Dallas come out with a little bit quicker of pace than we’ve seen in past games, firing right out of the gate. With Dallas unloading the speed right away, they were able to get chances on Andrei Vasilevsky quickly.

The Stars were able to match Tampa Bay through 20 minutes, although a slip up on defense was the difference maker and proved tough to overcome. Steven Stamkos drew in Taylor Fedun, Alexander Radulov, and Julius Honka to one side dishing the puck over to Ondrej Palat for the goal. Honka was dealt with a tough situation as he was the only defender back to get in the way of Stamkos yet there was no communication to cover his side. Palat slipped by while everyone was trying to deal with Stamkos and Honka wasn’t quick enough to get back to his side to disrupt the pass or the goal.

There were 26 shots on goal fired evenly by both sides and the lone goal for Tampa Bay through the first. The second period would be a different story.

Although the Stars dominated possession of the puck and controlled the flow of the middle frame, Tampa Bay’s defense looked to be just as elite as their offense. Dallas’ offense was ringing with shots on goal with 13 compared to Tampa’s three.

The Stars got everything a team wants in a game but continued to squander every opportunity. With three power-play opportunities, Dallas essentially should have just let the man back on the ice as the Stars wasted all six minutes of the penalties.

Dallas saw three more power-play opportunities in the third but much like the second, they were all for naught. All of a sudden the Stars’ biggest opponent was slowly becoming themselves as much as the opposing defense stepped up to the plate.

A 1-0 lead isn’t too much to overcome, but for Dallas, it was a mountain and then some. As the goose egg was starting to be laid, Tampa Bay’s Mikhail Sergachev ripped a quick shot after the faceoff in the Stars’ own zone for a stinger of a goal. With Anton Khudobin covering the short side it, of course, found the long side of the net. Khudobin may have thought his defender would be covering that side but both teams were a man short.

Now down 0-2, the hurdle to overcome became two despite the Stars not being able to jump over the first. Dallas, for the most part, was able to match Tampa Bay in every facet of the game besides really where it counts.

It was a step in the right direction based on the play seen –minus finding the twine– but the loss bumps the Stars down a spot in the Central to fourth. If the Stars don’t start winning soon, they will continue to drop in the standings with how tight the division is. No one wants to see a repeat of last season (rolls eyes).