Before last night, the Dallas Stars had been embarrassed in several games in which they had a massive amount of goals scored against them. They weren’t doing enough scoring of their own, and head coach Lindy Ruff called on his leaders in the room to get some kind of response.
And respond they did.
While some Stars fans cringe at the idea of injury every time Jamie Benn drops the gloves, Ruff was a huge fan of his captain’s fight last night. “I liked it. It sends a message to the team. The fight is still on; you’ve got to win games and play hard.”
We’ll wait to see if Benn will be able to play tonight after sustaining an upper body injury last night. Ruff indicated it could have been from an earlier game, so fans of the “no Jamie Benn fighting” can rest assured that Benn’s taking on of the 6’7” giant of a man Nikita Tryamkin did not cause it.
If he cannot go, it’s likely that Jiri Hudler will draw back into the lineup. He’s been the healthy scratch at forward for a few games now and is a healthy option for the Stars on the second night of their back-to-back when they take on the Calgary Flames.
Luckily for Dallas, the Flames lost to the Bruins a few nights ago, ending their 10 game win streak. Unluckily for Dallas, the Flames are just one point behind the Edmonton Oilers for 3rd in the Pacific division standings, and therefore have a lot to play for.
So Dallas can look to be spoiler to another team down the stretch in some way and continue building a good stretch of hockey in which to end the season on — and give a more positive vibe to build off of next year.
Puck drop is at 8:00 PM tonight, so another late one. Make sure to sneak in a nap between your green beverages. Also be sure to check your guides for FSSW+ as that is what channel the Stars will be on tonight.