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The Stars offense couldn’t get much going last night a pair of goals by the Blue Jackets in a less than two minute span in the third was enough to give them the lead for good. It was a pretty tight game with few penalties (zero power plays for the Stars), but the offense just never found its groove. There was no scoring at all until the third period, in fact. Here are a few highlights:
Devin Shore tipped in a John Klingberg shot 44 seconds into the third period (Klingberg was initially credited with the goal) to break the 0-0 tie:
Klingberg puts it on net and Shore gets a piece of it for his second goal in as many games. #GoStars pic.twitter.com/NPkWzFbwMV
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 3, 2018
Stephen Johns may have been watching old tape of Nelson Cruz playing right field for the Rangers because he did not play this fly ball very well, leading to Oliver Bjorkstrand scoring for Columbus to knot things up at 1:
Bjorkstrand wasn’t done there, however, and just 1:18 later he beat Ben Bishop short side in a goal that I’m sure Bishop would really like to have a do-over on:
Wow, @OBjorkstrand sending the short side snipe with authority. #CBJvsDAL pic.twitter.com/JP4G6jcc6R
— NHL (@NHL) January 3, 2018
And that was all she wrote. On to New Jersey.
Stars Stuff
Here’s Ken Hitchcock after the loss:
"We had a 1-0 lead in the third period and didn't get it done. End of game." pic.twitter.com/gaCIWjSQth
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 3, 2018
Scott Burnside’s Counterattack yesterday afternoon was with Seth Jones, son of Popeye:
Seth Jones was born in Arlington, TX and he played minor league hockey right here in Frisco. The defenseman talks with Scott about coming back to Dallas. pic.twitter.com/uFBICMiYks
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 2, 2018
You wouldn’t know it from this tweet, but this article is actually mostly about Tyler Pitlick:
Adjusting to a new team can be tough. How @jamiebenn14 going out of his way to get @DallasStars teammates together away from the rink helped @Pitty687 fit in: https://t.co/NEDDTOB7KS pic.twitter.com/pNUiz2edd8
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) January 2, 2018
Some injury updates prior to last night’s game:
Methot (knee) and Hanzal (lower body) still not ready to play. Remi Eli has flu, so Jason Dickinson will be in. Bobrovsky vs. Bishop. In his career against Dallas, Bobrovsky is 9-1-1 with a 1.80 GAA and .944 save percentage. https://t.co/qc2zp64HiH
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) January 2, 2018
John Klingberg talked about some things and tried on some hats at the NHL Offices:
.@johnklingberg was in the @NHL Offices and as always, he knew how to have a good time! #GoStars pic.twitter.com/ZPijW6WLYp
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) January 2, 2018
Julius Honka might have a backup career ready in case this whole hockey thing doesn’t work out:
It may be hockey season right now, but @DallasStars blue-liner @HonkaJulius has all the tips you need to rake in homers on the diamond ➡️⚾️! #GoStars pic.twitter.com/TxbrwK3J4Y
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) January 2, 2018
Way to go Hamhuis fam. I especially like that the paint color is Victory Green:
We got some help from Dan Hamhuis' daughters for our #Stars25 Act of Kindness this week! They helped paint rooms at the Pythian Home, a group foster home in Weatherford, TX. pic.twitter.com/gjPRdpjd0f
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 2, 2018
Around the League
In Rob Mixer’s weekly Mixed Bag, he joins the rest of the hockey media world in admitting defeat on his skepticism of the Vegas Golden Knights. [Sporting News]
Predators’ d-man Ryan Ellis made his season debut last night after recovering from off season knee surgery. [Sporting News]
2 season debuts from key players on the same night? That’s...Wild:
NEWS: #mnwild has activated Zach Parise from Injured Reserve and reassigned Zack Mitchell to @iawild → https://t.co/6ARowT7v4E pic.twitter.com/ob0NEYZRDo
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 2, 2018
Greg Wyshynski ranked all of the Winter Classics. All of the outdoor games just kind of blend together for me now, especially since the Stars have never played in one:
My ranking of the 10 NHL #WinterClassic games. I've been accused of both hating on and overrating the Penguins, so par for the course, then. https://t.co/Gyx1j5jDks (ICYMI)
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) January 2, 2018
This is a family site so I won’t explain exactly what I did when I saw this list, but let’s just say it involved my hand and a repetitive motion:
The legendary players that have worn the @NHLBlackhawks uniforms through the years love them just as much as fans. #NHLGreatestUniforms https://t.co/pTOp8vG3Fu
— NHL (@NHL) January 2, 2018
World Juniors Updates
Canada blasted Switzerland 8-2 and will face the Czech Republic in the semifinals:
#WorldJuniors: Canadians crush Swiss, will meet Czechs in semis https://t.co/ZcYbpvkRhI pic.twitter.com/VtamkMIZ6y
— HockeyNightInCanada (@hockeynight) January 2, 2018
The Czech Republic squeaked by Finland to secure their spot in the semis:
Upset! tops in shootout, heads to semifinals.#WJCinBUF recap ▶️ https://t.co/c4NJWbezXi pic.twitter.com/WGJvz9L0cc
— WJC 2018 in Buffalo (@WJCinBUF) January 2, 2018
Sweden beat Slovakia 3-2 to advance. [2018 World Junior Hockey]
And the USA probably watched the movie Miracle to get pumped up before they took down Russia 4-2. [2018 World Junior Hockey]