Dallas Stars Daily Links: Rocky Mountain Low

Well, that was a frustrating one. As with other Stars’ losses this season, the boys seemed to dominate at times (most of the third period) but then look very flat at other times (the double minor power play at the end of the first). There was a lot of line shuffling and a goalie change, but nothing quite worked out. Except for Jamie Benn, who had a great game. In the end, the Denver demons reared their ugly heads again:

In what seems to be the theme of every Stars’ loss in the young season, there were plenty of chances generated, but missed nets and strong goaltending did them in in the end:

At least Vern Fiddler was looking sharp in the studio:

Stephen Johns left the game early after a shot to the head. This is pure speculation, but I have to imagine he’s in the concussion protocol, or as it’s known in hockey, an upper body injury.

Everyone was fearing the worst when Ben Bishop exited the game, but it turns out it was Hitch’s decision in an attempt to “fire up the team.” Big Ben was not too thrilled with it:

This unlucky carom off the boards in the dying seconds of the second ended up resulting in the game winner:

The Stars couldn’t possess the puck enough to get Kari off the ice until there was less than a minute left, but the Avalanche still put in an empty netter to seal this one. It was also Matt Nieto’s third goal of the night, giving him his first career hat trick:

Razor and Luds with some afterwords:

Let’s hope our guys can bounce back and turn it around for the rest of the road trip. It was another night of brief spurts of excellence overshadowed by spells of uninspiring play. Check out a little more over at Mike’s place. [SportsDayDFW]

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Stars News

Scott Burnside says that the ensuing 11-day road trip will provide some good bro time for the team:

Ben Bishop isn’t your typical weirdo solitary goalie:

Here’s how the goalie situation will play out this week:

A few words (and an Extreme Close Up!) from Jamie Benn prior to last night’s game:

Mike Heika answered some questions about Hitch, Ben Bishop, Tyler Pitlick, and more:

Scott Burnside chewed the fat with the Avalanche’s Erik Johnson before last night’s game:

Around the League

Zach Parise will miss 8-10 more weeks after having back surgery on Tuesday morning. [Sporting News]

Down Goes Brown has some ideas for All-Star game replacements. I think all of them would be better than what the current product is (well, besides the lockout one).

Sidney Crosby vs. Connor McDavid, who ya got? [SportsNet]

The goalies ended up stealing the show, with Phil Kessel netting the winner for Pittsburgh in OT:

The Sedin twins aren’t playing nearly as much as they used to, which is a sign that times they are a-changing in Vancouver:

Ryan Lambert has some insight into the young NCAA hockey season. [Puck Daddy]

Have fun with that:

Adam Cracknell’s stint in New York was short lived:

A former NHL player commiserates with what Patrick Eaves is going through:

If you could pick one of the current top-20 scorers in the NHL to build a team around, who would it be? (Caveat: Connor McDavid is somehow not in the top 20 right now). [ESPN]

Elliotte Friedman’s 31 Thoughts lead with a bit about how the Canadian Olympic team may not be able to take players from the CHL, let alone the NHL. [SportsNet]