I was going to title this post ‘Daily Links: The Eastern Conference Blows.’ But then I realized that might imply some slight of the Dallas Stars, and there was certainly none intended. The Bruins might have claimed that they lost because they ‘played down’ to the Stars level, but the Red Wings can’t make that claim. The Stars simply won. In Detroit. Much as they won in Boston, and before that in Ottawa.
Call it a successful road trip.
Heck, call it a successful November, small sample size be damned. I’ll take 7 of 8 possible points. But what I’ll really take is a Stars team playing like they are. The Stars out-possessed the Red Wings last night, in Joe Louis Arena, no less. And while they may not be the puck-possessing gods of old, the Wings still aren’t slouches in that department. More than that though were the intangibles last night. The Stars were playing solidly but still found themselves in a 2-0 hole in the second period, and then some great effort by Alex Chiasson led to Shawn Horcoff of all people scoring a pretty goal with 20 seconds left. And suddenly the Stars had some momentum going into the break. And then in the third, Jamie Benn did something truly mind-blowing. Which was followed not long after by a gaffe that led to a Detroit goal being scored against the run of play, and a certain sense of inevitability set in. But here’s the peculiar thing. Maybe I was the only one that felt it, but the inevitability was that the Stars would score. Blame it on the recent success.
Sure enough Cody Eakin netted one, then Rich Peverley netted one, and I was up and down out of my seat in the bar like a mad thing. There’s nothing sweeter than late goals scored in the second period, at the end of the game, and at the end of overtime. Provided it’s one’s own team that scores them.
Last thought before I turn you over to other people’s thoughts. You know what really annoys me? The seeming default headline for many writers after an overtime win: ‘Stars Slip Past Red Wings.’ My left shoe they slipped past them! The only Star that slipped past Red Wings last night was Jamie Benn. And then look at this headline from Sunday: ‘Stars Slip Past Senators.’
*David shakes his head in disgust*
* * *
Yep. The Stars won. [Sports Day DFW]
And here’s the game, as seen from the other side. [Winging It In Motown]
The best part of this recap was the tag line celebrating Peverley’s game winner on the NHL.com home page: ‘Filthy Rich’ [NHL.com]
The Marek v Wyshynski (did I spell that right?) podcast, with special guest Jim Nill. A national podcast, talking about the Stars! [Puck Daddy]
More national love for the Stars, in this article from Craig Custance on Kari Lehtonen’s importance to the team. [ESPN Insider]
I should really save this next link for if the Stars ever lose again. For it would hark back to happier times, like the Stars handing the Sharks their first loss of the season. Tuba’s been hard at work gif’ing the game, breaking it down to good, bad, and unpretty, if not downright ugly. [Graham’s Week in Sports]
I still check in on Power Rankings. Just waiting to see when the Stars’ current 5-1-2 run will garner them some attention. Well, they scored a number 17 ranking on this website anyway, before last night’s game. [New York Post]
If you can’t get enough of DBD writers here on DBD, you can always catch Derek’s posts elsewhere. Traitor. (But it’s still a good article) [The Hockey Writers]
Yahoo Sports with a roundup of trending topics this week. [Three Periods]
So this is totally random, but I keep seeing the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condor’s pop up in the news with some increasingly bizarre promotion, like fans having the chance to win their own gravesite. Say what? But this time, their promotion is actually pretty cool. Or maybe I’m just a really big nerd. [Puck Daddy]