I was in the stands for Wednesday night’s game, and it was such a cool experience to be a part of the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative. For those of you out there Still Standing, we stand with you.
On the ice, the Dallas Stars managed to avoid the second trap game this week and walk away with a much needed win against the San Jose Sharks. It wasn’t always pretty, but a win’s a win. While you don’t capture a Stanley Cup in the Fall, it’s hard not to feel like this team isn’t quite hitting its peak yet. Robert Tiffin agrees…
The Stars are 12-6-0, and there’s a sense around the team the record should be even better. But considering Pete DeBoer has led Dallas to the fourth-best record in the NHL since his hiring in 2022, there’s good reason to believe that, come April, the Stars will be preparing for another promising playoff run.
The goaltending is solid, but what’s going on with the offense (and especially the power play)??
What hasn’t been business as usual is what’s happening at the other end of the ice. Uncharacteristically for the DeBoer era, the Stars are just barely inside the top 10 in the NHL in scoring, and that’s even after seven-goal outbursts last week against Pittsburgh and Boston.
In fact, the Stars would be far lower in all of the offensive categories were it not for one of the most dominant forward lines in the league. It’s just not the line everyone expected would be especially productive.
Read more from Robert over at D Magazine.
Dallas Stars Stuff
We’re gonna be Wiley heavy in this links post. I make no apologies.
We had one more surprise in store for Wiley:
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 21, 2024
Reading the starting lineup! 👏@DS_Foundation | #StarsFightCancer pic.twitter.com/f35YhIhrvr
Mush continuing to get it done this season.
With his assist on Dutchy's goal last game, Mush picked up his 100th assist! Congrats, 27!@JackDaniels_US | #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/J3dMHXABpU
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 21, 2024
Otter had a pretty solid outing Wednesday, doing generally Otter things. But let’s give a shoutout to another in the line of great Stars goalies in wishing Ben Bishop a happy birthday!
Happy birthday (11/21/1986) to former Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop. He had 74 wins for Dallas in 143 games between 2017-2020.#TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/S909c7peGU
— Dallas Stars History (@dalstarshistory) November 21, 2024
And because I like a little spice in my coffee – I can’t wait to go listen to this one.
Great interview with @DallasStars defenseman Matt Dumba @dfwticket postgame show.
— Bruce LeVine (@BruceLeVinePuck) November 21, 2024
The defenseman addressed why his hit on Joe Pavelski is in the past, talking with Pavs to mend fences and why the person he hated most is his best buddy on the team (Mason Marchment).
Elsewhere in the Central
The Central Division has been busy the last couple of days…
- Nashville lost 3-0 to the Kraken Wednesday. That’s fine, but what’s weird is the most random (and avoidable) penalty of all time for submitting the wrong starting lineup. Fun times. [LINK]
- Utah lost a close one to the Montgomery-less Bruins. [LINK]
- The Avs edged out the Caps – who suddenly find themselves without their talisman. Ovechkin’s out for 4-6 weeks, putting a damper on those record-breaking plans. [LINK]
- The Sharks followed up a loss to the Stars with a heartbreaker of a shootout loss, after scoring to tie it with just 9 seconds left in the third. [LINK]
- The Blackhawks did what we couldn’t in Finland and shocked the Panthers, winning 3-1. [LINK]
- Despite Fleury’s howler of a goal allowed, the Wild still came away with the win against the Oilers. I’ll spare you the details on Mats Zuccarello’s injury…but let’s say it involved a dented cup. [LINK]
Around the NHL
That guy in Winnipeg continues to be very, very good.
Goalie appreciation post. #NHLAwards
— NHL (@NHL) November 21, 2024
Who do you think will win the Vezina Trophy this season? 👇
Read more from @NHLdotcom: https://t.co/Xd6TU6hgCr pic.twitter.com/A1iiOfO2WT
I mean, what else is there?
Nikita Grebenki has the lingo down after making his NHL debut 🤣 pic.twitter.com/65vvzJvF1R
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 21, 2024
Pretty solid…
History is woven into the design of this year’s Winter Classic uniforms for the @NHLBlackhawks and @StLouisBlues #NHL #Blackhawks #Blues #WinterClassic pic.twitter.com/55RApOdBq9
— Fanatics (@Fanatics) November 20, 2024
Finally…
Wiley was right next to me in the stands. When they showed him up on the monitors, he could not have been more proud to show off his Stars sweater. ALL. THE. FEELS.
The moment Jamie surprised Wiley with his jersey will give you all the feels 💜@jamiebenn14 | @DS_Foundation | #StarsFightCancer pic.twitter.com/1Ztpx4C9d3
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 21, 2024