It wasn't exactly the end result that Stars fans would have hoped for. After Eric Nystrom opened the scoring for the Stars, they fell behind 2-1. They fought back to tie it. They fell behind again 3-2. They again fought to tie it up.
The good news is they earned a point out of the night. The bad news is that they lost a well-deserved second point tonight. The Stars were physical, they were hard on the puck, they went to all the hard places and fought all of the hard battles. The Leafs gave them all the fight they could handle. And while the end result isn't what we would hope for, there were still plenty of things to be happy about this game tonight.
Sellout! The Stars recorded their first sellout of the buiding tonight, with announced attendance at about 18,500ish people. Even better was the fact that the fans were really into the game, at one point quelling a "Go Leafs Go" chaMaple Leafs vs Stars coveragent with a "Let's Go Stars" chant. With the Dallas Stars holding one of the best home ice records in the league. It was nice to see the fans "take care of business" so to speak on home ice.
How much are you loving Eric Nystrom? Much like other hardworking guys on the team Steve Ott and Brenden Morrow, Nystrom is quickly making his own spot in the hearts of Stars fans. He's already surpassed his goal total of 5 from last season (7 so far this season) and seems to be on fire in the game lately. In a team that obviously fits Nystrom perfectly, how much else can we get from him this year? (He's also making my Movember pledge of $10/goal and $5/assist work for him - I'm going poor. And I like it.)
What powerplay? It seems as though lately the Stars are allowed to be good at only one side of the special teams battle. It's been the penalty kill side for the Stars that seems to be clicking. But the powerplay has been terrible, although they did have maybe their best man advantage shift seen in quite some time in the second period and still didn't capitalize. It's an area the Stars need to see improvements in if they hope to keep pace with the very tightly packed Western conference this season.
Injury scare: Ryder fell awkwardly and appeared to have tweaked his knee there in the second frame. Luckily, he came out in the third and finished the game. The injury bug has hit the Stars hard lately, they don't need another top 6 forward out for an extended period of time. Let's hope he's fine, and there won't be any lingering effects from tonight. Tomas Vincour went to the ice, bloodied shield and all, after taking what appeared to be an elbow to the head from Luke Schenn. He did get up and continue the game, but the injury scares the Stars seem to be having lately are just that - scares. Let's hope that trend either continues that way or disappears altogether. (I vote for the latter.)
Defending Big D Three Stars of the Game:
1 - Eric Nystrom (DAL)
2 - Jamie Benn (DAL)
3 - Dion Phaneuf (TOR)