The fact that the Dallas Stars bounced back from a roller-coaster second period to dominate the third in Monday’s 5-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks was no fluke.
The Stars have started the third period tied 13 times this season and are now 9-3-1 in those games.
While it was still a little too close for comfort sometimes on Monday, the Stars managed that ninth win by virtue of outshooting a cranky Ducks squad 16-9 in the third period and severely limiting the truly dangerous chances.
The sadly-mustacheless Eric Nystrom put the game away after a terrific shift late in the period, and he said the team was confident the entire time despite allowing the Ducks to come back from down 3-0. Being good in close third periods will do that for you.
“We knew if we stuck to our game plan we could eventually wear them down, and that’s exactly what happened. We stuck to it, played our game, kept getting it in, and eventually wore them down and got our breaks.”
On the other side of the coin, the Ducks lost their 36th game in a row when trailing by at least 3 goals at one point and still only have two road wins this season.
After the jump, more on the Stars win over the Ducks, fun with opposing fan jerseys and hockey-themed Christmas ornaments to put you in a festive mood.
- Were the Stars still struck with a little bit of road-trip hangover? Maybe early, Mark Stepneski speculates. [ESPN Dallas]
- I know some people are sick of the “pesky” stuff, though I certainly am not one of them. And I loved the lede to this paywalled game story. I’m a sucker for alliteration. [DallasNews.com]
- Joining the ranks of the very unhappy in the Pacific Division are our friends at Anaheim Calling, even with the annoyingly consistent greatness that is Teemu Selanne. Check out their game thread if you have time. They meant their little rhyme on top as a joke, but I got a kick out of it. [Anaheim Calling]
- I’m not sure if the Los Angeles Times travels with the Ducks regularly anymore because of budget cutbacks because here’s what they had up as of my bedtime. East Coast Christmas FTW. [Los Angeles Times]
- The fun of a nationally televised game is everyone in the hockey world gets to see opposing fans acting like morons. [Puck Daddy]
- The attendance numbers might not look great on paper, but new-again president and CEO Jim Lites was quite pleased with the first night of the $9 promotion. [DallasNews.com]
- Whenever I need a reminder that people are crazy, I simply turn to the separatists in Quebec, where they’ve created an atmosphere where hiring a coach for the Montreal Canadiens who doesn’t speak French is ‘a gesture of contempt.’ Mark Fistric-style eye roll commencing… now. [Montreal Gazette]
- Meet the enemy: The Philadelphia Flyers and their crew of HBO cameramen earned a point with a very late game-tying goal but couldn’t stop the magic that is the Colorado Avalanche shootout machine in a 3-2 loss. [NHL.com]
- Speaking of the Flyers, I thought this was an interesting take on the oft-cited Ilya Bryzgalov and his musings. He’s Grade A television and extremely amusing as a fan, but I can see where being his teammate might wear on a person. [Backhand Shelf]
- Around the Pacific Division: The other very unhappy team entering Monday’s games was the Los Angeles Kings, who might have finally played well for departing interim coach John Stevens (what a mouthful) with a 3-2 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stars fans will not be pleased with the player who scored the shootout winner. [Los Angeles Times]
- Oh internet hockey peoples. I wish I were half as clever or crafty as you when it comes to creating hockey-themed Christmas ornaments my cat would promptly commandeer if they were not merely Photoshop. [Puck Daddy]
- Yay! Fresh Stars video!