Ben Bishop has been one of the best goalies in the NHL this season, ranking near the top in terms of save percentage. Yet the Dallas Stars netminder has been pulled in two of his last five starts, though head coach Jim Montgomery says it’s nothing to worry about:
“Sometimes, it’s you’re trying to change the momentum of the game, like the Minnesota game,” Montgomery said. “Bish has been great for us. His three previous games were incredible. Didn’t want to make a change, but felt that was the right thing to do for the team. Ultimately, that’s the decisions we make: what’s best for the Dallas Stars. Spoke with Bish, and Bish is happy the team won and Bish is starting [Tuesday] night. He’s our guy.”
For what it’s worth, the Stars ended up winning both games where Bishop was pulled. The goalie himself feels that they still would have won had he stayed in, but he has no issue with the decisions:
“Obviously, the coach has the authority to do what he did and we won the game, so that’s really all that matters,” Bishop said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got two goalies that can play. If Monty feels like that was the right decision, if we win the game, can’t disagree with him.”
You can read more from Matthew DeFranks here.
Stars Stories
Like Bishop, Denis Gurianov has been one of the Stars’ best players recently. Now get to know him a bit more off the ice:
Denis Gurianov beatboxing.
His former AHL teammates have heard it a ton.
Now The D.O.C., Jah Born, and 80Fitz have too. https://t.co/7qyc1diOAa
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) November 19, 2019
Hall of Fame inductions were last night — here’s Sergei Zubov getting his plaque from an old friend:
Sergei Zubov receives his Honoured Members plaque from Brett Hull during the 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. #HHOF2019 | #HHOF pic.twitter.com/VRj6RJsRUg
— Hockey Hall of Fame (@HockeyHallFame) November 19, 2019
And here’s Guy Carbonneau receiving his as well:
Guy Carbonneau receives his Honoured Members plaque from Bob Gainey during the 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. #HHOF2019 | #HHOF pic.twitter.com/7pt7LKhpPQ
— Hockey Hall of Fame (@HockeyHallFame) November 19, 2019
Speaking of Carbonneau, did you know Jim Montgomery was traded for him once upon a time?
Stars head coach Jim Montgomery reflects on the time he was traded for @HockeyHallFame inductee Guy Carbonneau. 😂#HHOF2019 | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/zsP44ui3Ks
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 19, 2019
Around the League
Now that Guy Carbonneau is in the Hall of Fame, can we expect to see Jere Lehtinen in there shortly?
ICYMI: If Hall enshrinement for one player opens the door for another, who was helped by this year’s class? @PierreVLeBrun analyzes the candidacy of several players. https://t.co/BupzVStYoP
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) November 19, 2019
At this point you kind of hope Kyle Okposo hangs the skates up, right?
This marks the fourth consecutive season the 31-year-old player has been sidelined by a concussion.https://t.co/xoZv4nIagM
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) November 18, 2019
I hate this because it’s kind of true:
“I think when you start getting caught up in stats, it starts to go downhill.”
But it’s getting awfully hard to ignore Brad Marchand’s production and transformation into one of the NHL’s elite offensive talents, writes @THNKenCampbellhttps://t.co/KVoCvVQ0Ye
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) November 19, 2019
Finally, ever wonder what happens at the annual General Manager meetings? Wonder no more:
The GMs are meeting today in Toronto. A little glimpse at what it’s like behind closed doors: https://t.co/eTLQs6phrv
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) November 19, 2019