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Dallas Stars Daily Links: The Stars Are Very Good, Then Very Bad in 7-3 Loss to Boston

For one period, it looked as if the Dallas Stars might repeat their ever-so-satisfying November defeat of the Boston Bruins, in which Tyler Seguin scored what may be the sweetest hat trick of his career.

An exquisite snipe by Ales Hemsky opened the scoring, and Kari Lehtonen allowed only one goal from the streaking Brad Marchand, who’s making a serious run at the Rocket Richard Trophy right now.

Then the second period opened, and it all went pear-shaped pretty quickly.

It was an interesting lesson for the Stars, who were roasted in Arizona Thursday and promised a better defensive effort on Saturday. Dallas finished with 42 shots against by the Coyotes and then allowed 42 against vs. the Bruins, as well.

And in a game where he allowed six goals, Kari Lehtonen made probably seven fantastic saves.

This game had enough reviewed goals for any three normal games, and former Star Loui Eriksson had a doozy of one.

…Eriksson deflected in a shot with his skate that Lehtonen stopped. Eriksson quickly shoved in the rebound, and that goal also went to review. An NHL video review said an official had blown his whistle midway through the play, but the goal needed to stand because Eriksson had scored as the result of a “culmination of a continuous play.”

On the upside, Antoine Roussel met a career milestone we all knew would come eventually. Congratulations, Rous.

There is, of course, more at Heika’s blog. [SportsDayDFW]

*****

If you didn’t attend last night’s season-ticket-holder event, you still have a chance to catch an excerpt of GM Jim Nill‘s State of the Stars address. Hear him talk about hockey trades, the widening sea of green jerseys at every away game and captain Jamie Benn‘s enthusiasm for “one of the best [locker] rooms [he’s] ever been in.”

Tim Cowlishaw says the Bruins’ six unanswered goals in two periods may have presaged a wild ride for the Stars to wrap up their postseason slot. [SportsDayDFW]

The Stars and Bruins kept NHL Hockey Operations busy last night. Here’s how they decided Rooster’s goal was a good one.

Here’s a further breakdown of Loui’s second-period tally.

And StatsCentre provides the grim statistic of the evening.

Last night in the #MurderDeathKill Division:

D Magazine has put together its list of The Biggest Moments in Modern Dallas History, and they asked Norm Green himself to write about the North Stars’ move to Big D.

Mike Modano just played in that weird hybrid alumni game with the Minnesota Wild, the team that wanted to play the Chicago Blackhawks rather than the Dallas Stars in today’s Stadium Series game. Yeah, that was a thing that happened last night. [SportsDayDFW]

Shawn P. Roarke wrote more than 20 paragraphs about the North Stars alumni game and used the word Dallas only once, so some sort of congratulations are in order, I suppose. [NHL]

This too was a thing that happened last night. [NHL]

Jagr celebrated tying, then passing fellow former Star Brett Hull for sole possession of 3rd place on the all-time scoring list in last night’s victory over the Jets (with yet another former Star, Jussi Jokinen, earning assists on both). He also earned the world’s most coveted hoodie.

Can Jagr catch Gordie Howe for second place? Place your bets now.

P.K. Subban brushed off his coach’s recent criticism and got two assists as the Montreal Canadiens broke their most recent slump with a 3-2 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night. [TSN]

This happened even as Flyers blueliner Shayne Gostisbehere is getting harder and harder to stop.

With trade talk hushed for now, Steven Stamkos could focus on scoring his 300th goal as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2. [USA Today]

This was also the game in which the Pens’ Kris Letang provided your oddball penalty of the month, if not year. He got sat down for checking Cedric Paquette and helping himself to his stick. [CBS Sports]

The Coyotes’ loss to the Blues has been compounded by the loss of star defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who left the game favoring his right foot and is listed as “day to day” with a lower-body injury. [Arizona Republic]

It can only help the ‘Yotes that former Stars blueliner Kevin Connauton is starting to find his groove with the team. [Today’s Slapshot]

Elsewhere, Tyson Barrie is poised to become the next RFA to re-sign for major money (and probably term as well).

As hockey fans complain about restricted sight lines, ticket price inflation and “feeling like second-class citizens” in the New York Nets’ building, the Islanders are taking a long, penetrating look at an escape clause that will allow them to break their Barclays Center lease – and possibly move back to Long Island. [New York Post]

Finally: Take a look at this amazing shot from an old trading-card photo shoot, featuring three of the four greatest NHL scorers of all time. Enjoy.

Talking Points