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Once upon a time, Devin Shore was on fire. But lately, the Dallas Stars forward has been having trouble putting the puck in the net, currently riding a 25-game goal scoring drought.
One theory could be that Shore changed something about his shot, but Shore himself believes otherwise:
“Nothing different,” Shore said. “I was shooting. I’ve had a lot of Grade-A chances recently, and they’re not going in... You’re going to have spells like that throughout your season and throughout your career, so if you start worrying about it, then it’s going to prevent you from doing the things you may have been doing well even when you’re not scoring.”
Another possible explanation is that he simply isn’t shooting enough. But at the same time, he’s actually getting better shots off, which just makes things more confusing:
According to Natural Stat Trick, Shore has fewer scoring chances overall (6.10 per 60 then vs. 4.62 now) but more high-danger ones (2.25 per 60 then vs. 3.16 now). Thursday night’s 2-1 loss in Philadelphia was the first time since Jan. 2 that Shore did not register two high-danger scoring chances.
You can read more from Matthew DeFranks here.
Stars Stories
Good news, everyone! The Texas Stars beat the Rockford IceHogs 4-3 in the shootout last night: [100 Degree Hockey]
The first star of the game was Denis Gurianov, who had two goals for the evening:
Here's Gurianov's 10th of the season, making it 2-1 #txstars: pic.twitter.com/hCpdDobYTP
— 100 Degree Hockey (@100degreehockey) January 12, 2019
#txstars Gurianov's 11th of the season: pic.twitter.com/k9AYxO2tiw
— 100 Degree Hockey (@100degreehockey) January 12, 2019
Gurianov’s success is both a blessing and a curse for Texas head coach Derek Laxdal:
Full Laxdal quote on Gurianov: "Every goal we get out of Gurianov is great until he goes back [to Dallas]. That's a fast team, and he blew by guys shift after shift. If he can play that way every game with confidence and consistency, he's going to be a long-time Dallas Star."
— 100 Degree Hockey (@100degreehockey) January 12, 2019
Around the League
The Winnipeg Jets were the lone Central team to play last night, beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-2. [Winging It In Motown]
Down Goes Brown gets a little serious — and then funny again — in his latest Grab Bag:
Last time: Maybe the answer to dangerous hits on star players is for their teammates to step up and police the game. But let's be honest about what that means. Plus lots more in the Friday Grab Bag: https://t.co/BJja0T4dxd pic.twitter.com/OFS3jfpBLp
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) January 11, 2019
Out of all players with new contracts this season, former Star Alex Chiasson is arguably giving the Edmonton Oilers the most “bang for their buck.” [The Hockey News]
Here’s a quick trade roundup for you:
Trades: Flyers send Weal to Coyotes; Blackhawks get Koekkoek from Tampa https://t.co/Ag6DxUL87G
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) January 12, 2019
Greg Wyshynski digs into player contract limits and more CBA stuff in his latest Wysh List: [ESPN]
Tensions are high between Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets, so is it time for them to part ways?
Should the Blue Jackets trade Sergei Bobrovsky? Not so fast, says @THNRyanKennedy https://t.co/cLMLrxhuIQ
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) January 11, 2019
Finally...
You gotta admit, this is pretty cool.
NHL tests player-tracking technology that could fundamentally change how we watch the game
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) January 11, 2019
The Athletic goes behind the scenes as the NHL tests a system that can track ~10,000 stats in 1 game & create a virtual world.
My full story-https://t.co/oZu9Rc5ACx #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/b1myMBQ03Y