Saturday, March 30, 2013

Dallas Stars Game 33: The Good and the Bad


Getty Images

Dallas Stars lose 5-3 win over the Minnesota Wild
Shots: Dallas 33, Minnesota 33
PP: Dallas 3/6, Minnesota 1/4

The Good:

Power play- 3/6 on the night! Pretty strong showcase against a strong Minnesota penalty killing unit. They were able to dissect and move the puck well. They took time to get good chances, but didn’t overthink and miss out on opportunities. They dominated the 5-on-3 as they should. It lasted only ten seconds. Faceoff wins directly led to two goals on the power play.

Dallas goal #1- Benn wins a faceoff back and Whitney simply blasts it past Hackett. 

Dallas goal #4- Jagr gets his 1,000 assist when he passes the puck down low to Whitney, who then sends it across to a wide open Benn for the one-timer. 

Dallas goal #5- Goligoski shoots the puck in front center ice. The Stars get three men in deep on the forecheck and Eakin pokes the puck to center ice. Roy backhands it on net, Daley crashes the net for the rebound but can't put it in. Eakin follows up and backhands the puck into the net. 


Physicality- This is going to be a really good rivalry starting next season. The teams showed some hate with a very rough and physical third period. In the 3rd, 14 penalties were called including 3 misconducts, and only two of the penalties were on a fight. On the insanity of the Wild jumping Smith in front of the Minnesota bench, it was good to see Daley and even Jagr jump in. and of course Roussel literally jumped in, leaping on top of the crowd, gloves off, ready to rumble. The Stars weren’t going to be pushed around. They weren’t going to be bullied. They were going to stand up together as a team.

Smith is in the middle, being pushed into the Wild bench.

This was the scene after the skirmish was slightly separated. Three misconducts were issued: Rupp, Konopka and Roussel.

A minute and a half later, Nystrom fought Falk and got the win.


Faceoffs- Benn won 13 of 24, Roy won 10 of 19, Eakin won 9 of 14, Fiddler won 2 of 2.



The Bad:

Leaving men open in front- This factored into all 3 Minnesota goals. On the first, Goligoski’s turnover was in front of the net and then Cullen took the puck behind the net and centered it for Setoguchi in the slot. On the second, Spurgeon had a lot of room out front to put in the rebound off Brodziak’s shot. On the third goal, a pass from behind the net bounces off Dillon’s skate to an open Mitchell in front.

Minnesota goal #1- An errant pass by Goligoski in front of the net ends up on Cullen's stick. He skates it behind the net and centers it for Setoguchi out in front.

A sneaky little play by Brodziak to knock Eakin's stick out of his hand, which got him out of position and eventually led to...

Minnesota goal #2- Spurgeon has room in front to put in a rebound off Brodziak's shot.

A pass from Heatley behind the net bounced off Dillon's skate and went in front of the net. Mitchell was there to backhand it past Lehtonen. 



Lines seen tonight:
Nystrom-Benn-Jagr
Whitney-Roy-Eriksson
Smith-Eakin-Vincour
Roussel-Fiddler-Cole
Dillon-Robidas
Goligoski-Daley
Rome-Larsen

PP-Eriksson-Benn-Jagr-Whitney-Robidas
PP-Eakin-Roy-Cole-Goligoski-Daley
PK-Eakin-Cole-Rome- Robidas (Dillon was in the box)
PK-Eakin-Cole-Dillon- Robidas
PK-Roy-Eriksson-Daley-Goligoski


Notable Notes:
  • Fiddler was injured in the first period when he was crashed into the net on a rush. There was no update yet on his status. 
Dallas goal #2- Rome's shot from the point gets deflected by Smith out front. the rebound bounces to Hackett's left and Vincour was there to put it into the net. 

Dallas goal #3- The Stars enter the zone on a 4-on-2 rush. Cole shoots the puck from the right wing boards, but it hits off someone out front. Cole follows up his shot to put in the rebound.

A really good save by Lehtonen. Shot went wide of the net and bounced out on the other side of the net.

A great chance early on by Whitney, but he couldn't get enough of the puck to put it past Hackett.

Fiddler went down in the first period after he crashed into the Minnesota goal on a rush.

Jagr became the 11th player in NHL history to record 1,000 assists.

Legend.

Modano was back, and got another standing ovation! He was honored as a new member of the Dallas Stars 20th anniversary team.

Modano dropping the ceremonial faceoff.

Congrats to Modano!


Dallas' Wild Win. Dallas Stars Game 33: 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild

Getty Images


Jaromir Jagr’s 1,000th career assist and Kari Lehtonen’s 30 saves led the Dallas Stars to a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild Friday night.

Jagr became the 11th player in NHL history, and the first European, to record 1,000 assists. During a 5-on-3 power play, his pass from the point to Ray Whitney down low, ended up being sent cross-ice to Jamie Benn for a 4-2 lead in the third period.

The Stars exacted revenge on the Wild after a 7-4 loss to them Monday night. Dallas is now 2-1-0 on the current 5-game home stand.

Dallas opened the scoring with a Whitney blast off a faceoff win 4:14 into the first period. It was the first of Dallas’ three power play goals on the night. Then, 7:31 into the period, Aaron Rome’s shot from the point was deflected on net by Reilly Smith and Tomas Vincour buried the rebound for a 2-0 lead.

Alex Goligoski’s errant pass in front of the Dallas net led to a turnover late in the first period. Matt Cullen took the puck, skated behind the net and centered a pass for Devin Setoguchi for the one-timer goal.

Minnesota scored their first goal of the game on the power play after Brenden Dillon was called for roughing 14:44 into the second period. Mikko Koivu sent a pass from the left wing boards to Kyle Brodziak near the middle of the offensive zone. His shot on goal was stopped, but Spurgeon was able to stuff home the rebound before Lehtonen or Stephane Robidas could get in position.

The Stars has a fiery start to the third period. They scored twice with the first 130 seconds. Eric Cole gave the Stars a 3-2 lead 1:02 into the period when he entered the Minnesota zone on a 4-on-2 rush. He took a shot from the right wing boards that hit someone in front of the net. He followed up his shot, skated toward the middle of the zone and rifled in his own rebound.

Benn extended the lead with his 5-on-3 power play goal 2:10 into the final frame. Ten and a half minutes later, Cody Eakin backhanded in a rebound on the power play to put the Stars up 5-2.

Some rough-housing ensued 13:23 into the period, when Smith was sandwiched in front of the Minnesota bench by Zenon Konopka and Mike Rupp. Konopka tried to pick up Smith and dump him into the Wild bench, and then he began punching Smith. Jagr and Trevor Daley jumped into the mix and eventually 10 skaters were involved in the skirmish. Antoinne Roussel was given a misconduct for throwing his gloves off and jumping onto the pile. Konopka and Mike Rupp were awarded misconducts from Minnesota’s side. Less than a minute and a half later, Eric Nystrom and Justin Falk fought near the Minnesota blue line.

Torrey Mitchell scored a backhand goal off a pass from behind the net by Danny Heatley to end the game’s scoring with one minutes left in the third period.

Dallas continues on to play it’s 4th game of the current home stand against the Los Angeles Kings Sunday night. 

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Dallas Stars Game 32: The Good and the Bad

Getty Images

Dallas Stars lose 7-4 to the Minnesota Wild
Shots: Dallas 26, Minnesota 42
PP: Dallas 1/3, Minnesota 0/2

The Good:

Loui Eriksson- Throughout the whole game he seemed to always be in position and making plays at both ends of the ice. He was tonight’s set up man for the Stars. He ended with two assists and an even plus/minus rating. He had a chance to tie the game in the 3rd period, but his one-timed shot sailed above the crossbar.

Dallas goal #2- Whitney's shot hits Backstrom. Eriksson is in position for the rebound and he taps it to his right to a wide open Jagr for the goal. 

Jagr isn't going to miss with that much time and room and a defender in net instead of a goalie.

Dallas goal #4- Daley skates puck blue line to blue line and drops it for Eriksson. Eriksson sends the puck back to Daley and he one-times it in. 

A better shot of where Daley was when he released the one-timer past Backstrom.

This was the chance that Eriksson had in the third period, but the puck sailedjust above the crossbar.

Forecheck- If there’s something the Stars did right, it was their forecheck. They were forcing turnovers in the first two periods like we’re used to seeing the Stars commit them at the other end of the rink. The Stars worked hard and tried, but they just fell asleep or messed up at the right time or right place and it cost them dearly. They did well on dump-ins and stealing the puck behind the net or near the corners.

Stars forecheck was strong (mostly in the first two periods), and forced several turnovers.

Roy's forecheck resulted in a steal and he sent a pass out front to Goligoski for the first goal of the game.

Dallas goal #1- Roy dumped the puck in and chased after it. He stole the puck from Suter behind the net and sent a centering feed to Goligoski who one-timed it into the net. It was Goligoski's first goal of the season.


The Bad:

Kari Lehtonen- Not sure what was going on with Lehtonen tonight, but he was out of position often. He was several feet out of the net on Parise’s second goal, and he was drifting around on the Cullen goal. You can’l really blame Lehtonen for the 5th and 6th goal, because he made saves, but needed help with the rebounds or simply clearing the bodies from around the crease. And his teammates turning the puck over in their own zone leading to odd-man rushes didn’t help very much either.

Minnesota goal #1- Eakin can't clear the puck along the right wing boards. A shot from the boards hit the crowd in front, Parise is in position for the rebound. He takes a shot and the rebound pops up. He hits it out of mid-air, it hits the crossbar and then he hits it into the back of the net.

This was the initial attempt on the puck mid-air.

Minnesota goal #3- A faceoff win leads to a shot from the point. It hits Fiddler's leg and goes wide, but Lehtonen misses when he stretches out his leg to kick it away. Koivu gets the puck behind the net and centers the puck.... (picture below explains the rest)

...Lehtonen was out of position and the puck hit off his pad and went toward the front of the net. Parise was at the top of the crease and he knocked the puck in.

Goligoski tackled Parise, but he still got the shot off and it trickled off Daley's stick across the goal line.

Minnesota goal #4- A shot from the point hits Bouchard in front of the net. The puck lands to the side, but Whitney fails to clear or control it. Cullen wrists the puck past Lehtonen, who was out of position because he  was still recovering from diving to stop the initial shot.

A better shot of Lehtonen's positioning on the Cullen goal.


Tough, ugly goals- Take a look at each of the Wild’s goals. Do you see any of them that can be called beautiful or pretty? I don’t think any of the goals would get those descriptions. They were ugly, hard-working and opportunity-seizing goals. A bunch were scored in the ugly areas, right around the crease, and involving crashing and smashing the net and the puck.

Eakin's turnover near center ice that led to... (see below)

Minnesota goal #5- Eakin loses the puck near center ice and the Wild get a 2-on-1 rush. Clutterbuck shoots and Brodziak is there to pop in the rebound.

Goligoski's pass bounced off Benn's skate and it turned ugly... (see below)

Dallas goal #6- A Goligoski pass bounces off Benn's skate near the Stars' blue line. The Wild rush in and fire two shots on Lehtonen, but he isn't able to stop the third as Heatley pounds it in.

Clutterbuck was alone to shoot twice on Lehtonen in tight and then Heatley was also left alone to put in his shot.

Holding a lead- Yet again, the Stars can’t seem to hold off opponents. They led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 and ended up losing 7-4? Just by looking at the numbers, someone who didn’t see the game would say they just couldn’t hold the other team off and knock em out when they had the chance(s) to.

Vincour was unable to control the puck off the boards and he tried to backtrack but... (see below)

Minnesota goal #2- Koivu misfires a cross-ice pass, but Vincour can't control the puck near the blue line. Parise taps the puck ahead to Koivu, who takes it and wrists it through Lehtonen.

Minnesota goal #7- Larsen is unable to control the puck along the boards and Bouchard takes it to center ice and scores the empty net goal. 

Turnovers- Always a killer and seems like for a little while at least, the Star had gotten better at this. But it came back in a big way tonight. 5 of Minnesota’s goal came on turnovers by the Stars in their half of the ice. 5! Out of 7! That’s just embarrassing. Two of the turnovers led to crucial third period goals. And there were many more that lead to a bunch of other chances that Minnesota didn’t score on, fortunately. The Stars' turnovers are all shown in the Minnesota goal pictures above, so below i will show the goal that resulted in Dallas forcing a turnover.

Dallas goal #4- Vincour forces a turnover near center ice and pokes the puck ahead to Smith. He skated into the zone and sent a pass to Eakin. Eakin was tied up and fanned on the shot attempt. The puck slid through to a wide open Larsen, who wristed it past Backstrom.

A better picture of the Larsen goal.


Lines seen tonight:
Nystrom-Benn-Jagr
Whitney-Roy-Eriksson
Smith-Eakin-Cole
Roussel-Fiddler-Vincour
Dillon-Robidas
Goligoski-Daley
Rome-Larsen

PP-Eriksson-Benn-Jagr-Whitney-Robidas
PP-Eakin-Roy-Cole-Goligoski-Daley
PK-Eakin-Cole-Dillon- Robidas
PK-Roy-Eriksson-Daley-Goligoski
PK-Fiddler-Nystrom-Daley-Goligoski


Notable Notes:
Faceoffs- Benn won 13 of 20, Roy won 4 of 11, Eakin won 5 of 13, Fiddler won 7 of 12.

A great bank pass from Jagr sprung Whitney on a breakaway. This was a great chance for Whitney, but Backstrom dove and poked the puck away before Whitney could take a shot.

After the poke check, Whitney passed to Jagr, but he overskated it. If he was able to corral it, he would've had a very favorable scoring chance.

Another great chance for Whitney stopped by Backstrom. Eriksson and Whitney were on a 2-on-1, but the pass from Eriksson was cut off. Eriksson got the puck back behind the net and made a centering pass to Whitney but Backstrom made the save.

A goal-line save by Lehtonen. Saw lots of these throughout the game. Minnesota was taking the puck strong to the net.

The weirdest missed goal I've seen in a while. the puck squeezed between Lehtonen's legs and sat there to be tapped in. Roy and Dillon combined to block the chance and it bounced just outside of the opposite post.

Minnesota suffocated the Stars in the neutral zone for a lot of the game.

This play infuriated me. Rome waited and watched the puck before attempting a long-reach poke. Of course, it was a turnover that led to an open chance and almost ended up in the back of the net. 

Robidas threw some big hits, and this one was my favorite.

A good chance by Roy, but it looked like it would have been disallowed due to a slight kicking motion.

Dallas has some good team defense in the first period.

Yet another example of good team defense. And look who is in it again: Roy and Eriksson.

Another turnover in the Dallas zone leads to a shot that rang off the crossbar.

COuldn't help but hear and think about the Morrow trade the whole night. I miss the Captain already. Best luck to him the rest of this season and beyond.

A little introduction of Joe Morrow that FSSW put up.

Sydor was honored as a member of the Stars' 20th Annivery Team.

Ceremonial faceoff.

SYD!!!