The Dallas Stars are set to host Game 3 tonight against the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. With the series tied up 1-1, the Stars have a great chance to take the series by the horns tonight and again on Wednesday at home.
Of course, the Stars probably wouldn’t be in this position if it were not for one very important player: goaltender Ben Bishop.
“We knew Bish would be great,” said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. “He’s been great for us all year, and he’s Vezina finalist because of it. He’s our brick wall back there.”
The Stars’ netminder has been great all year, but he’s been on fire for the past couple of months. But Bishop himself doesn’t feel as if anything has changed:
“I honestly don’t feel any different than I have all year,” he said when asked about a 17-game hot streak dating back to the regular season in which he has a .954 save percentage. “I stick to my program, and it’s worked. There really hasn’t been a time when I’ve felt more in a zone or not in a zone. I honestly feel pretty much the same all of the time, and I think that’s a good thing.”
You can read more from Mike Heika here.
Stars Stories
As mentioned, the Stars take on the Blues tonight at the American Airlines Center. Hopefully their top line bounces back from a subpar performance on Saturday:
Stars looking for more from top line vs. Blues, but second line proving to be productivehttps://t.co/UEBNyHRI9N
— Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) April 28, 2019
Jim Nill gets his fair share of criticism, but the Dallas General Manager also deserves credit for putting together this postseason squad:
Jim Nill has made his share of missteps as Stars GM. But his fingerprints are all over the team’s playoff run, and @SaadYousuf126 says it’s time to give him his due.https://t.co/7gPqPpMPkF
— The Athletic (@TheAthleticDFW) April 28, 2019
Around the League
Could the New York Islanders be on the other side of a sweep this time? The Carolina Hurricanes won 2-1 yesterday, and will hold a 2-0 series lead heading back to Raleigh tomorrow:
Things went from bad to worse to farcical for the Hurricanes in their Game 2 win over the Islanders. Trevor van Riemsdyk might be done for the playoffs, two more players fell victim to the injury bug, yet the Canes somehow found a way. @bdleblanc ➡️ https://t.co/dLhYPAscHW
— x – Canes Country (@CanesCountry) April 28, 2019
Meanwhile, the Colorado Avalanche tied up their series against the San Jose Sharks with a 4-3 win:
The Avalanche are the Arya Stark of the NHL playoffs#GoAvsGo https://t.co/udEkIS2KNo
— x – Mile High Hockey (@MileHighHockey) April 29, 2019
Nikita Kucherov is winning the Hart without a doubt, but the other finalists are, erhm, interesting:
Sidney Crosby (@penguins), Nikita Kucherov (@TBLightning) and Connor McDavid (@EdmontonOilers) are the three finalists for the 2018-19 Hart Memorial Trophy. https://t.co/rP3tuilCoT #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/0sbv8M8sLF
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 28, 2019
Sweden ended up taking the gold at the U18 World Championship. Here’s a roundup of everything you might have missed from the tournament:
Sweden came away with its first gold medal at the U-18 World Championship with an overtime victory over Russia.
That, and more, in today’s tournament roundup.https://t.co/ZWsS5NqRzx
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) April 29, 2019
Meanwhile, Team USA defeated Canada for the bronze medal, as Jack Hughes broke Alex Ovechkin’s record for most career points at the U18 Tournament by just a single point:
#U18Worlds | The all-time leading scorer at the IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship.
Take a bow, @jackhughes43. pic.twitter.com/h67BAwJBQl
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) April 28, 2019
Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen are just two of several rookies making an impact this postseason:
(ICYMI) #NHL Playoff Rookies: Who’s left and how are they doing? @SamMcCaig22 files: https://t.co/8VjdM87WMb pic.twitter.com/7cI2GXkMME
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) April 28, 2019