Dallas Stars Lineup
Matthew Seminoff (43) – Logan Stankoven (11) – Matěj Blümel (25)(A)
Antonio Stranges (71) – Mavrik Bourque (22)(A) – Kyle McDonald (40)
Francesco Arcuri (54) – Brad Gardiner (45) – Chase Wheatcroft (48)
Ben Berard (60) – Angus MacDonell (46) – Keaton Mastrodonato (49)
Justin Ertel (62)
Ben Zloty (52) – Gavin White (74)
Jacob Murray (67) – Christian Kyrou (38)
Tristan Bertucci (42) –
Bryan Thomson (50)
Remi Poirier (31)
Period 1
After getting off to a good start in Traverse City, the Dallas Stars sat a number of their top players, especially on the defensive side of the rink.
The undermanned Stars held their own early, and went on the power play four minutes in. The power play units stayed in place from game one, the only difference being Ben Zloty taking Lian Bichsel’s spot at the point on the second unit. Both groups looked more cohesive with a game under their belts, but left with nothing to show (and things broke down near the end, resulting in a dangerous short handed rush by Toronto).
The first period settled in much like the end of the first game, with Toronto holding the edge in possession and the Stars looking to counter on the rush. Unheralded Bryan Thomson was solid in net.
A Kamloops Blazer opened the scoring at 6:19, but it was Fraser Minton (not old teammates Logan Stankoven or Matthew Seminoff) from the left dot.
The Maple Leafs gained confidence after taking the lead, and the ultimately pushed the lead to two when Mikko Kokkonen popped in a easy rebound off the rush with 40 seconds in the period.
Shots – 11/11
Goals – 2/0 Toronto
Period 2
The second period opened with two shots off the pipe – one per team. Dallas’ came from Christian Kyrou, who played a bit more freely this game after being mostly invisible against Detroit in game one.
The Stars found themselves buried in their zone six minutes in, and Jacob Frasca sniped an open look to make it 3-0 Toronto.
Dallas got on the board a minute later when Chase Wheatcroft and the Stars took advantage of a slow Maple Leafs line change. A quick move up the ice by Gavin White led to a 3 on 1 break and Wheatcroft finished off a good give and go with Ben Berard.
The Stars kept up the pressure, establishing themselves with their first real zone time of the tournament. One catalyst was swapping Antonio Stranges to the wing with with Stankoven and Seminoff – moving Matěj Blümel to the line with Mavrik Bourque and Kyle McDonald.
Ultimately, Toronto’s Dennis Holdeby held strong in net, and Easton Cowen put an end to the Stars energy when he beat Thomson against the run of play with four minutes left in the period.
Shots – 22/20 Toronto
Goals – 4/1 Toronto
Period 3
Not much to learn from a third period that turned into a bit of pond hockey – which, of course, played a bit into the Stars “preferred” method of play.
Dallas pulled Thomson with over seven minutes left, and they looked good with the man advantage right up to the point where Toronto seventh round pick Brandon Lisowsky put an end to the fun with five minutes left to play.
From there, it was a lazy stick/tired leg penalty fest. No goals.
It was a bit interesting watching defender Gavin White take a faceoff at 4×3, and then have to play the point on the triangle until the next stoppage. Not sure if he’s even done that in his hockey career.
Shots – 30/30
Goals – 5/1 Toronto
Thoughts
I guess this is why you always take these games with a grain of salt. In game one, Remi Poirier made up for a lot of the Stars defensive flaws. Those issues continued to plague Dallas in game two. Toronto didn’t give up the odd man rushes that this group apparently needs in order to score – and with two of Dallas’ better defenders scratched, Bryan Thomson was hung out to dry (give him credit – for not being on anybody’s radar, Thomson looked ok).
Logan Stankoven improved over game one, and Christian Kyrou was more assertive without Lian Bichsel dominating the pairing. Frankly, there was a lot of chasing from most of the defenders, including some who might be high draft picks.
A few shoutouts on defense. Gavin White has some wheels from the backend and if he sees open ice, he isn’t afraid to run a one man breakout. He finished one of these in game one, and had several more opportunities against Toronto (without the finishing touch). There is still one more game in Traverse City and then Training Camp, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see White finding a regular slot on the Texas Stars blue line.
I’d never seen Ben Zloty play before, and he has his rough spots – but he has potential as a puck mover/offensive defender. I wouldn’t mind seeing him stick with the organization, even if it is in a Dawson Barteaux type role with the Idaho Steelheads.
Chase Wheatcroft leads the team in goals, which is perhaps what you need to know about the forward group. Right now, we have four goals off the rush and one empty netter. Game one may have been fools gold and with the exception of a handful of high end prospects, what you see is what we brought.
One the other hand, you can’t help but pull for Keaton Mastrodonato, who at the bottom of the lineup showed speed and tenacity – and a willingness to bury his head to get back on defense when needed.
The team has Saturday off – at least as far as game action goes.
Next game is Sunday at 10:00 am CDT against a talented Columbus Blue Jackets squad.