Auto-play video down at the bottom. I normally wouldn’t do this, but A) it’s not a work day for most of us, and B) it’s extremely comical.
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Quick hits today as we gear up for another doozy in Chicago. Hey, speaking of Chicago, didn’t Antoine Roussel score a goal there once? Speaking of, I just have to say that every time I watch that video and hear Pierre talk about “That’s not what you do,” I just sigh. I’m all for class and sportsmanship, but Roussel there is putting energy into the crowd, if that of the highly negative sort, and he’s basically daring the team to beat them. I would never have the guts to do that, but I think the NHL is a more exciting league when raw emotion like that is allowed to prosper. It will self-correct if the player gets out of hand, one suspects.
I think Roussel is a pretty important player for the Stars in a lot of ways this year, and Mike Heika certainly agrees:
Antoine Roussel had one of those shifts the Stars have needed this season.
After Dallas squandered a 3-0 lead against the Washington Capitals on Saturday and lost all momentum, Roussel battled relentlessly to win two puck battles, then drove back to the net to tap in a goal that changed the momentum and helped lead to a 5-4 win.
*snip*
Roussel was a madman on the shift as he fought to win one puck battle behind the net, cycled the puck to the point, and then want back and won another battle. He fell down on the second scrap, but recovered and went hard to the net. Garbutt found him for a tap-in, and the Stars made a statement that they wouldn’t crumble.
*snip*
It gave the Stars an answer, it stopped some very negative thoughts, and it created some momentum heading into a Sunday game at Chicago. Dallas has struggled on the second night of back-to-backs, going 0-4-1 so far this season, so it would be nice to have an answer in that department, as well. [DMN]
There’s a bunch more in there about how Roussel’s play can lead the Stars this season, as well as some good quotes from other players. Check it out.
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Who scored last night? Spezza, Cole, Benn, Seguin and Roussel. Those are the guys you want to see on the sheet.
Here’s a recap of the nine-goal game yesterday. The Stars score a lot. [Stars]
The Washington Post was not impressed with the infrequently used Justin Peters. [Washington Post]
The Stars have a lot of young defensemen around for a reason this season. [DMN]
Daniel Carcillo’s vile cross check that broke did hurtful things to Mathieu Perreault’s arm (right after Perreault’s four-goal game earlier this week) will result in a hearing for Carcillo. He may not be playing tonight, which is good news for any banged-up Stars who don’t need a thug in their rearview mirror. The Blackhawks would probably not miss him either. [Second City Hockey]
Tomas Tatar is one of the best players in the league this season, and he scored two goals as the Wings beat Nashville 5-2. Carter Hutton was scored after allowing three goals on the Wings’ first three shots. Make sure you watch Tatar’s second goal — it’s as pretty a midair shot as you will see this side of Modano’s. [NHL]
Nail Yakupov led the Oilers to their first road victory in roughly a bazillion year last night, defeating Luongo’s Panthers in the shootout. [Pro Hockey Talk]
Rob Blake talked about how great the Kings were and stuff during his jersey retirement last night. [NHL Video]
Here is my favorite LINK OF THE DAY *pause for fanfare trumpets* It’s every NHL goalie goal shot into the net on one page. You even get to hear a young Razor on the Whalers broadcast for entry number three! [The Hockey News]
Justin Sawyer proposed to his girlfriend last night during an ECHL game. As if those jerk guys weren’t already raising the bar impossibly high by doing it on the Jumbotron, now the actual players are doing it on the ice. Oh well, it’s nice that she said yes. [Puck Daddy]
Finally, what is the most Sabres thing the Sabres could do? This has to be a finalist, at least (via PHT):