Dallas Stars Daily Links: Bachman, Defensemen Struggle In Loss To Devils

by Erin Bolen on Dec 17, 2011 6:00 AM CST in Dallas Stars Daily Links

It wasn't a good night for any Dallas Stars player whose primary job it was to keep pucks out of the net.

The New Jersey Devils made just about every Stars defenseman look bad at one point or another in their 6-3 victory over Dallas on Friday. The fine folks at the Prudential Center might have only knocked the Stars with three giveaways, but that number is laughably low. I would venture a guess the Stars defense combined for at least 8-10.

And young goalie Richard Bachman, fresh off three consecutive wins, also struggled.

It started when he allowed a bad-angle goal from David Clarkson to tie the game late in the first period, a goal he admitted probably rattled him longer than it should.

"I just look at moments in the game and wish I would have reacted differently,'' goalie Richard Bachman said. "I gave up that first one, and it probably bothered me too much. But this is a tough league and you're going to learn lessons every day. I think that's a good thing.''

Still, it was an above-.500 road trip, which all things considered probably has to be taken as a positive. Though once again, they win the road trip mathematically but end up with a minus-3 goal differential on the trip. One day they will need to fix that.

After the jump, more on the Stars loss to the Devils, Matt Niskanen has apparently morphed into a stay-at-home defenseman and fun with internet trade rumors, this time involving the Dallas Stars and Kyle Turris.

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The Stars have been on their best behavior in terms of the penalties the past few games, but they were undisciplined in other key ways against New Jersey, as Mike Heika discusses in this paywalled gamer. [DallasNews.com]
Mark Stepneski picks up on that same theme in his gamer. Gee, I wonder if they think turnovers were a problem. [ESPN Dallas]
Young defenseman Philip Larsen left the game early with what was later revealed to be a charley horse, which can either be used to mean nasty leg cramping (I find this one unlikely) or a painful bruise or hematoma to the quad (I find this one very likely). Although he indicated to Heika that it hopefully wasn't serious, there's still a paywalled article about how it might force more defensive shuffling. [DallasNews.com]
Our friends over at In Lou We Trust are, understandably, quite pleased with the way everything went. [In Lou We Trust]
Um, Zach Parise is really good. End of game story. Though it was not very nice of him to do it in front of my sister, who lives in NYC and therefore only gets to see the Stars a couple times a year. Not nice at all. [The Star-Ledger]
Oh TFP, I sometimes think you just make things up to drive the hit counts up. I haven't seen any reports that linked the Dallas Stars to Kyle Turris of the Phoenix Coyotes (not including crazy trade proposals on HF) until this little blurb. [The Fourth Period]
And once again proving how the great game of Telephone online works, that got picked up by the Edmonton Journal. Still looking for those original reports, TFP. [Edmonton Journal]
Lord knows I haven't payed one ounce of attention to Matt Niskanen this season, though like all former Stars I hope he does well (just not well enough that the Pittsburgh Penguins fans start gloating about that trade again). But has he really become a stay-at-home defensemen in Pittsburgh? I find that hard to believe. [ESPN]
In other former Stars news, Krys Barch is fitting right in with the Florida Panthers. Though their coach seems to be looking for some offense out of him, and I'm not sure how reasonable that is given his strengths. [Miami Herald]
I don't agree with everything former Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden lays out in this article about head injuries in hockey, but he's a wonderful writer and worth reading just for the word choices. [Grantland]
Meet the enemy: Ralph Strangis called them the Duckies on Friday's broadcast, but the Anaheim Ducks played more like Ducklings in their 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Around the Pacific Division: So many inappropriate headline jokes to make with this article about Dan Boyle and his sticks, so little time. [CSN Bay Area]
New game - spot the DBD commenter who makes an appearance as a contributor in this Jersey Fouls entry. I do hope none of you showed up in the pictures. [Puck Daddy]
People take kids' sports way too seriously. I know this is in good fun, but promising a preteen girl you'll get a tattoo of her favorite team if her team wins the city championship? A bit much. Funny, but a bit much. [Winnipeg Free Press]
The Stars were so eager to get home after the five-game trip, and really, I can't blame them, that they didn't put up their normal post-game interviews by the time I went to bed. So instead, I bring you this holiday classic from the Belfast Giants. Yes, it's a year old. But it's that time of year and awesome and features a giant, dancing, hockey elf. Unfortunately, copyright issues mean I can't embed it as per usual, but follow the link. Just... trust me. [YouTube]
I mean it, Stars. I want Jamie Benn in a funny, holiday-themed video, and I want it yesterday. #PeskyChristmas

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Comments

Oh I like the PeskyChristmas hashtag.

We need to get that trending!

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Dec 17, 2011 8:28 AM CST reply actions

Nice catch on the Mooterus Goose Jersey.

Definite foul. Why would you do that?

"I know the last couple of years have been especially hard for Stars fans. To all of you: First let me say thank you for your patience and support, and please know that the uncertainty is now over." -- Tom Gaglardi

by EagleBelf on Dec 17, 2011 11:29 AM CST up reply actions

am I the only one who doesn't like this " pesky stars " ?

Its not masculine in at all, and sorta fruity. This is a mean hard hitting team of grown men. pesky just sounds weak and infantile to me. I geuss its just me since they use it constantly now but it makes me shudder every time I hear it.

GET OFF NIEUWENDYK'S NUTS

by 8thegreat on Dec 17, 2011 11:20 AM CST reply actions

I definitely like it.

I think of it more like something the other teams mumble under their breath. It’s not weak. It means bothersome, annoying, tiresome, troublesome. I don’t think of the team as mean per se. Just like I don’t think Ott is a mean player. He’s…troublesome, mischievous, etc. I think that’s kind of what they’re going for. They want to be a thorn in the side to other teams. They want to get under their skin and drive them straight to a loss. I think for the most part it’s working.

by EagleBelf on Dec 17, 2011 11:36 AM CST up reply actions

yeah I get that I just think pesky sounds lame when describing a hockey team

theres better words I think. but o well.

GET OFF NIEUWENDYK'S NUTS

by 8thegreat on Dec 17, 2011 11:51 AM CST up reply actions

make sure you tell that to Ott

Since he came up with it. ;)

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Dec 17, 2011 12:50 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

i will next time we hang

GET OFF NIEUWENDYK'S NUTS

by 8thegreat on Dec 17, 2011 8:51 PM CST up reply actions

Zach Parise is my favorite player in the league

Just wish he wouldn’t have had probably his best game of the season against the Stars. It did help my fantasy team, though.

by cms1171 on Dec 17, 2011 11:33 AM CST reply actions

Raycroft

Bachman had a bad game last night against the devils, so IMO now is the the perfect chance to give Raycroft a start. Also with the ducks struggling there’s a good chance Raycroft could get the win, which will help his confidence.

by rayzorsharp on Dec 17, 2011 11:50 AM CST reply actions

True. But its really NOT about Raycroft confidence. Its about winning games.

by iHorses on Dec 17, 2011 12:58 PM CST up reply actions

Ken Dryden's piece is interesting.

It is a good read, well written. It comes from a Hall of Fame goaltender with six Stanley Cups, a Conn Smyth and 5 Vezina trophys. A former member of the Canadian parliament and former president of the Maple Leafs. He has a few credentials! lol

His opinions on head injuries have a lot of good points.

by 1paniolo on Dec 17, 2011 1:58 PM CST reply actions

That Belfast Giants video is amazing.

The only thing that would have made it better is to do it when Fleury was playing with them. Still, thanks for finding it, Erin.

by LilEagle on Dec 17, 2011 2:05 PM CST reply actions

The Stars need to something like the Belfast Giants video.

Maybe not a music video like that, but they need to do something to help fans relate with them a little bit.

I mean the Belfast thing was fun and I’m sure if the Stars did the exact same video, I’d have laughed hysterically at it. Marketing-wise throwing together some small skits similar to the ones they had with the Chipotle commercials and the SportClips thing with Hull a while back would be funny if they had some where they weren’t advertising anything but themselves and they didn’t play the same one over and over. I mean…some 1 or 2 minute video every so often wouldn’t take very long to make and I’m sure the guys would have fun putting them together and even seeing them up on the screen. I bet they could even come up with some good ideas if they were asked to help out. The one thing that they did do together (the puck warning thing) draws laughs every time it’s put up there. Why not more?

The casual fan needs some kind of avenue through which they can connect to the team, and that would be perfect. With the lack of real hockey coverage on mass sports media like ESPN, I think it’s necessary for them to do something like this. Also, bringing back the thing where the players pick songs and the crowd cheers for the one they want to hear needs to come back as well. That was a good segment.

by Travis Drybread on Dec 17, 2011 7:42 PM CST reply actions