Dallas Stars Daily Links: Texas Wins in Double Overtime

Happy Monday, everyone! No one really wrote about the Dallas Stars yesterday, so we’re instead going to focus on our neighbors from Cedar Park!

Last night in Ontario, California, the Texas Stars and Ontario Reign battled it out in their third game of a best-of-five series for the first round in the Calder Cup playoffs. The score was 4-4 after three periods, and it took two overtime periods for the Stars to finally prevail and take home the W.

Here are the scoring highlights from the game. First, Remi Elie put the Stars on the board in the first period:

The Reign would retake their two-goal lead in the second, but Justin Dowling helped Texas cut the lead once more with a power play goal:

Ninety seconds later, Colin Markison tied it up 3-3:

Unfortunately, Ontario took the lead just two minutes later, and Landon Bow was pulled in favor of Mike McKenna (more on that later). Thankfully, Travis Morin was able to tie things up again early in the third:

Nearly an hour of game time later, and Samuel Laberge was able to put an end to it all in the dying minutes of the second overtime period:

Just to give you an idea of how crazy of a night it was for the goalies:

...and then consider the fact that Mike McKenna stopped all 44 shots he faced. In relief.

In fact, let’s isolate the awesome McKenna save from right before the 2OT winner and watch it again:

Guess we know who’s starting in net for Game Four, eh?

You can read a recap of the Stars’ victory over at 100 Degree Hockey here.

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Playoff Update

Two Game 6’s were played yesterday, both the last games of their series. First, the Pittsburgh Penguins came from behind to win 8-5 and eliminate the Philadelphia Flyers.[Pensburgh]

Yeah, you read that right: 8-5. Without Evgeni Malkin. In fact, it was only because of Jake Guentzel, who scored a natural hat trick plus one, that the Penguins were able to come back and win at all:

On the other side of things, Sean Couturier, who scored a hat trick and made two assists, saw his five-point game go to waste. And to make that even more impressive:

The other game, featuring the Nashville Predators and the Colorado Avalanche, also featured lots of goals, but only from one team. The Predators took the series with a 5-0 shutout. [On the Forecheck]

And since the Predators won their series, here’s an interesting tidbit about the remaining Western Conference teams:

There are only two series left, both with games tonight. The Washington Capitals look to eliminate the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Boston Bruins hope to do the same to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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Other News

After what was a really good year for rookies who don’t play for the Dallas Stars, the finalists for the Calder Trophy have been announced:

With the Carolina Hurricanes head coaching job now open, Jared Clinton looks at four possible candidates for the team (all of which are potential candidates for the Stars as well, mind you): [The Hockey News]

Hot take here on the Hart Trophy race from Predators defenseman P.K. Subban:

After years of expansion teams struggling out of the gate, the Vegas Golden Knights have provided a new blueprint for future teams such as Seattle to follow. [NBC Sports]

Finally, the Winnipeg Jets may not be the favorite in their upcoming series against the Predators, but Connor Hellebuyck has the potential to steal them the series: