The Dallas Stars have seven players appearing in the 2012 World Championships this summer, a chance for the key pieces of the Dallas Stars future to gain valuable experience on the international stage against (mostly) the best the world has to offer. All players in the World Championships this summer should be considered a part of the core of the future for the team (except, perhaps Bachman) and this is a great chance to see how they respond in pressure situations.
After the first day of play in Finland, Dallas Stars have a lot to be proud of. Here’s the rundown of how each player performed.
- US Defeats France, 7-2 – Alex Goligoski provided two primary assists, including a sweet breakaway pass and tipped-in shot on the power play, as the Americans overcame an early snafu to easily beat a hockey team from France. The Americans seemed to have trouble with the open ice at first, but settled down to dominate the game. Richard Bachman backed up Jimmy Howard in net.
- Canada Holds Off Slovakia, 3-2 – Jamie Benn, playing on a line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, opened the scoring in the first period and then settled into a defensive and checking line role for the rest of the game. Interesting note: Benn is wearing #24, with Jordan Eberle wearing #14.
- Czech Rep. Win Tight One Over Denmark, 2-0 – Philip Larsen led his team in ice time with just over 24 minutes, but was minus-2 as the Denmark team was shut out by Czech Republic. Tomas Vincour did not play in the game.
- Finland Shuts Down Belarus, 1-0 – Kari Lehtonen stopped all 21 shots he faced as the Finnish team needed just one goal to take down Belarus. “We knew that Belarus is a good team, but our defence worked pretty well, and Lehtonen was excellent in net,” said Mikael Granlund.
- Sweden Beats Norway, 3-1 – Loui Eriksson scored in the third period off the power play as the Swedes held of Norway in a rough game that was filled with penalties in the first period. Eriksson, of course, had none.
Team USA takes on Team Canada tomorrow at 11am on NBC Sports Network, although the game is tape delayed to 6:30 pm local. This should be an entertaining affair between two of the top teams in the conference. Expect Jimmy Howard to be back in net against Canada.