Game 30 Scoring Chances: Stars Cover Matt Moulson

by Josh Lile on Dec 16, 2011 3:30 PM CST in Dallas Stars Scoring Chances

The first time we saw Richard Bachman this season was in San Jose, but many were calling for him to make his 2012 NHL debut the last time the Stars and Islanders faced each other. In the previous meeting Andrew Raycroft gave up five goals on 27 shots playing behind a very pour Stars defense. Matt Moulson almost single-handedly beat the Stars after netting four goals.

Last night was quite a bit different. The Stars were healthier, more poised, and had NHL goaltending. The defensive miscues were still present, and Alex Goligoski might have had his shakiest game of the season. They were good enough to win though. They outplayed the Islanders from the first faceoff. The final scoring chance tally was 12-7 in favor of the Stars. Across the board the Stars had a good night. The penalty killing was crisp. They were relatively clean out in front of Bachman. Most impressively, the Stars generated six chances with the extra man.

Period	Totals		EV		PP		5v3 PP		SH		5v3 SH
1	5	3	2	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	3	2	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	4	2	2	0	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	12	7	6	5	6	1	0	0	0	1	0	0

Follow the jump to see how your favorite Star fared.

The individual chance report doesn't look like much tonight. Usually when the teams generate few chances at even strength and/or generate similar totals there isn't much differentiation between individual players. Tonight is no different. The biggest positives tonight were Trevor Daley and Nicklas Grossman, both at +3 even strength chances.

#	Player	POS	EV			PP			SH
2	N. GROSSMAN	D	12:11	4	1	0:45	0	1	1:52	0	0
3	S. ROBIDAS	D	12:43	0	2	5:40	4	0	2:39	0	1
6	T. DALEY	D	13:18	4	1	6:05	2	1	2:23	0	0
33	A. GOLIGOSKI	D	17:25	2	2	5:58	3	0	0:57	0	0
36	P. LARSEN	D	16:07	1	2	0:11	0	0	1:25	0	0
44	S. SOURAY	D	12:18	1	2	5:21	3	0	2:42	0	1
10	B. MORROW	F	13:27	1	1	5:15	3	0	0:22	0	0
11	J. DOWELL	F	7:29	2	0	0:03	0	0	0:00	0	0
14	J. BENN	F	12:11	3	1	5:38	3	0	2:04	0	1
20	R. DVORAK	F	10:45	1	3	1:07	0	1	2:34	0	0
21	L. ERIKSSON	F	12:16	2	1	5:35	3	0	0:57	0	0
23	T. WANDELL	F	8:13	2	1	0:11	0	0	0:00	0	0
24	E. NYSTROM	F	11:03	1	3	1:07	0	1	2:00	0	1
29	S. OTT	F	12:32	1	1	5:15	3	0	1:05	0	0
38	V. FIDDLER	F	8:44	1	3	0:59	0	1	2:32	0	0
63	M. RIBEIRO	F	15:11	1	1	5:15	3	0	0:24	0	0
73	M. RYDER	F	10:05	2	0	5:35	3	0	0:00	0	0
81	T. VINCOUR	F	4:16	1	0	0:00	0	0	0:00	0	0
31	R. BACHMAN	G	41:52	6	5	12:00	6	1	5:59	0	1

The rest of the Stars were more or less even. The biggest negatives are courtesy of Eric Nystrom, Radek Dvorak, and Vern Fiddler. But, as we've mentioned in this space before, they play tough defensive minutes usually so that's to be expected. The Jamie Benn line were once again positives offensively, but this time they were able to generate goals. I've been mentioning Jamie Benn's low shooting percentage the past few weeks as the reason for the scoring drought, and tonight he finally got some bounces to go his way. The goal he set up for Loui Eriksson, and his shot that beat Kevin Poulin were both markers that hadn't been going in lately. Hopefully this is the start of something positive.

The distribution of the ice time last night had an interesting caveat. The Stars were on the powerplay for 12 minutes, and a special teams-heavy game has the tendency to skew minute totals. Take note of the minutes Grossman and Philip Larsen logged. Grossman logged 12 even strength minutes to Larsen's 16. Grossman logged the fourth most penalty killing minutes among Stars defensemen, and he barely edged out Larsen who got 1:25 of penalty killing time. Gulutzan and the Stars are trusting Larsen more by the game. He's clearly ahead of Mark Fistric and Adam Pardy on the depth chart at this point. If he keeps playing as well as he has so far it won't be long before he passes Grossman too, if he hasn't already. The kid can play.

Team	Period	Time	Note	DAL						Opponent
DAL	1	17:13	Vincour	2	6	11	23	31	81	16	17	36	42	44	60	5v5
DAL	1	13:09	morrow	3	10	29	31	44	63	10	27	40	51	60		5v4
DAL	1	11:24	eriksson,g	6	14	21	31	33	73	10	15	17	27	60	91	5v5
NYI	1	10:54	grabner	20	24	31	33	36	38	21	40	42	44	51	60	5v5
NYI	1	3:22	grabner,g	3	6	10	29	31	63	21	40	42	44	51	60	5v5
NYI	1	1:50	martin	20	24	31	33	36	38	2	3	16	17	36	60	5v5
DAL	1	0:54	morrow	3	10	29	31	44	63	10	27	40	51	60		5v4
DAL	1	0:20	bailey	6	14	21	31	33	73	2	3	12	17	60		5v4
DAL	2	15:31	ott, wide	2	10	29	31	44	63	2	15	26	27	60	91	5v5
NYI	2	15:17	tavares	2	20	24	31	38	44	2	15	26	27	60	91	5v5
DAL	2	11:52	nystrom	2	6	20	24	31	38	10	12	17	27	41	60	5v5
NYI	2	1:37	okposo,g	3	14	21	23	31	44	2	3	12	16	21	60	5v5
DAL	2	0:06	eriksson,tip	6	14	21	31	33	73	3	12	17	42	60		5v4
DAL	3	18:56	morrow,g	3	10	29	31	44	63	2	3	16	17	60		5v4
NYI	3	17:22	okposo	2	6	20	24	31	38	21	42	44	51	60		5v4
DAL	3	16:54	dowell	11	14	23	31	33	36	2	3	26	36	60	91	5v5
DAL	3	15:27	benn,g	2	6	14	21	31	73	2	3	21	40	51	60	5v5
NYI	3	7:20	nielsen	3	14	24	31	44		2	15	26	51	60	91	4v5
DAL	3	4:24	eriksson,tip	3	14	21	31	33	73	40	42	44	51	60		5v4

The Stars get an opportunity to push the winning streak to four tonight in New Jersey. They're playing relatively well in all facets of the game, and hopefully that will continue for the foreseeable future. As always, if you have any questions about the scoring or any comments feel free to leave a comment or send me a tweet @JoshL1220.

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Comments

To elaborate...

…we had NHL ‘tending called up from the AHL and AHL goaltending that’s been on the bench all season and needs to be sent down.

Our GM,
who art in the front office,
on Conn Smythe be they name.

by ex_seraphim (Angelou del Angel) on Dec 16, 2011 4:14 PM CST reply actions

I read the defensive toi a bit different than you.

I think Grossman’s low time last night was due to the big amount of special teams, esp shorthanded that Daley plays. With Goose drawing very little time on the kill I think that pair gets put out after most kills. So I think in this specific game the toi for Grossman and Larsen are more a reflection of how their partner was used.

Hard to compare Grossman and Larsen, they are so different. But no question Larsen is way ahead of Pardy/Fistric.

Off topic, but does Pardy look like Joe’s worst move? At the time I was like huh?? but figured Joe saw something in his game that suggested he could be more. But at this point I just don’t see it.

by 1paniolo on Dec 16, 2011 4:27 PM CST reply actions

Thats one interpretation I considered.

But I think the fact that Larsen got as much penalty killing time as Grossman suggests otherwise.

Pardy has to be his worst move imo simply because he hasn’t been able to do much else. Pardy, so far, is Joe’s biggest FA signing, and he’s terrible. The contract isn’t for very much though so ultimately I don’t think it will matter.

Defending Big D Check it out
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--iorange555 8/23/2011

by Josh Lile on Dec 16, 2011 5:39 PM CST up reply actions

You are probably right,

but that was my knee jerk thought without looking at all the info you get. That was just my eyeballs. I did think Grossman had a poor game last night. Several turnovers and I remember a couple times Daley bailed him out. Conversely I noticed Larsen doing well on a couple of defensive plays. But no question that Goose/Larsen are fresher after a pk than the Daley/Grossman pair would be.

Cool thing about the data, is it starts to really come into focus over time. Individual games jump around for all sorts of reasons. Especially when you are looking at is as much as you do! So I usually go with your interpretation. Part of my post was just pointing out to others how the data can always be interpreted in different ways.

Bottom line is they are really dissimilar players who both bring needed skill sets to the Stars.

by 1paniolo on Dec 16, 2011 6:18 PM CST reply actions