Dallas Stars Daily Links: Bishop Takes King As Stars Defeat Rangers, 2-1

The Dallas Stars threw everything they had at the New York Rangers last night, and it turned out to be enough. Tyler Seguin scored on a delayed penalty and Martin Hanzal on the power play. Those two goals meant two more precious points in a tight Western Conference playoffs race.

The Stars brought skill and hustle to grab both goals, and they needed every bit to dethrone Henrik Lundqvist, who saved 39 of 41 shots. It’s the latest manifestation of an encouraging trend, writes Mike Heika of The Dallas Morning News:

The victory is the third in a row for Dallas, which moves to 31-19-4 (66 points). Dallas now is just one point behind third place St. Louis in the Central Division and continues to keep a firm hold on the first wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference.

What’s more, the Stars continue to find a way to stay calm and battle through some pretty tight games. Dallas survived a tough first period against Arizona and took a 4-1 win Thursday. It then exploded in the second period during a tense scoreless game against Minnesota Saturday. And on Monday, the Stars didn’t allow Lundqvist to get into their heads.

Ben Bishop held up his end of the ice, making 31 saves on 32 shots, yet the Stars really benefited from the team’s persistence at the opposite net, said head coach Ken Hitchcock:

“It’s a second- and third-effort league and that’s where the second and third effort has to take place,” Hitchcock said. “We’ve just got to keep getting better. I told the guys today, ‘The opponent doesn’t matter anymore when you’ve got this few games left. Every game matters.’ These points matter as much as the points on Thursday do.”

There’s more at Mike’s place. [SportsDayDFW]

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More Stars

Want to watch that Julius Honka-to-Hanzal power-play goal again? Sure, we all do!

And here’s the Seguin equalizer, courtesy of a picture-perfect pass by extra attacker Jason Spezza.

Big Ben had a good return to action after catching a puck to the face on the bench last Thursday. He looked only slightly swollen during last night’s post-game presser.

All things considered, it was a great way to end a night honoring Dan Hamhuis for his 1,000th NHL game. [Dallas Stars]

After last night’s victory, the Stars are finally beginning to achieve a little separation from the bottom half of the Central Division.

Is it - is it happening? Greg Wyshynski discusses the latest leaders in the PHWA’s postseason awards derby, and you’ll never guess which defenseman named has jumped to the front of the Norris Trophy race. Spoiler alert: It’s John Klingberg.

Oh, yeah.

Around the League(s)

It was a quiet night in #Murder, with the Nashville Predators the only other Central Division team on the schedule. The Preds got a 5-4, come-from-behind win in overtime against the New York Islanders because of course they did. [On The Forecheck]

The Rangers are heading home, and forward Rick Nash may be heading for a new team. But first, they’ll have to get past his 18-teams-deep no-trade list.

Dan Rosen of NHL.com suggested that the Stars could (...should?) be prospective buyers:

And Mike Heika responded with the sports journalist equivalent of “Settle down, Beavis”:

As if the Winnipeg Jets needed to get any better, center Mark Scheifele is back at practice and could return to the lineup as early as Friday against the St. Louis Blues.

And Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon has returned to the ice, although he’s still expected to miss another two to four weeks with an injured shoulder.

Tonight, Marc-Andre Fleury will play against the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time since the Vegas Golden Knights acquired him in the expansion draft. There may be tears - and not all of them from Pens fans.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, and the Buffalo Sabres are more than ready for a new team culture.

Finally

One more callback to Retro Night, as Friend of DBD Brandon Worley would like to make sure you saw this photo of Jamie Benn in a 1993-era Stars sweater. Enjoy.