Dallas Stars Daily Links: Make That Five In a Row

Man, that was a good game. I’ll admit, I thought it was going to be one of those games when the Stars went down 2-0 in the first, especially considering it was the second night of a back-to-back and against the defending two-time Stanley Cup champions.

But Dallas pulled through and defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in the shoutout for their fifth consecutive win. Of course, the Stars haven’t budged at all in the standings since that streak started, but they’ve caught back up to the St. Louis Blues and have put some distance between them and the playoff bubble teams.

Here are the highlights from last night, starting with Tyler Seguin’s 29th goal of the season:

Thanks to Seguin, Dillon Heatherington was able to land an important NHL milestone:

Next was a sick Alexander Radulov pass that set John Klingberg up for the (first) game-tying goal:

Dan Hamhuis soon put the Stars in the lead with a laser of his own:

The Penguins scored with the extra attacker to send the game to overtime, but luckily Seguin pulled through again in the shootout as the lone scorer:

Here’s Ken Hitchcock’s take on the game:

...and Klingberg’s:

...and Kari Lehtonen‘s:

You can read more post-game quotes courtesy of Mark Stepneski: [Between the Blue Lines]

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Other Stars News

Jamie Oleksiak returned to Dallas for the first time since being traded, so Scott Burnside had a chat with the defenseman:

Unfortunately for our friends down in the AHL, the Texas Stars had a much different Friday night:

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Around the League

There was a decent amount of action around the league last night, but only two other central teams played. The St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets squared off, with the Blues winning 5-2, because of course they would. [Arctic Ice Hockey]

They might have lost to a division rival, but at least the Jets had a familiar face return last night:

And while we’re on the subject, will Winnipeg’s recent success push Kevin “What is a trade?” Cheveldayoff to make some deadline acquisitions? [Sportsnet]

Speaking of Canadian General Managers, the Ottawa Senators have extended Pierre Dorion for three years, while CEO and President Tom Anselmi is stepping down. [NHL]

It seems Brendan Smith didn’t see this coming when he signed that extension last year:

Sam McCaig breaks down the top ten rookies of the season as the race for the Calder trophy approaches the final stretch: [The Hockey News]

Could ongoing issues in the MLB help negotiations between players and owners in the NHL? DownGoesBrown discusses this and more in his Grab Bag: [Vice Sports]

You may not be a fan of him, but Greg Wyshnyski is doubling down on John Klingberg as a top (if not the top) Norris trophy candidate:

The Chicago Blackhawks are finally paying for their years of success. Considering “success” in this case means “three Stanley Cup Championships”, I’d say the price was more than worth it. [NBC Sports]

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Finally...

Considering only Evgeni Malkin registered a single point and he, Phil Kessel, and Sidney Crosby were stopped in the shootout, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this shortly after last night’s game: