Happy Friday everyone!
I’m wrapping this one up a bit on the late side tonight, so I’m going to pull a Fox Sports and pivot to video for most of the game wrap up. Have a great weekend!
Kevin Connauton opened the scoring early in the 1st to give the Coyotes a 1-0:
The Stars couldn’t put the puck in the net during a lackluster opening period, but things changed in the middle frame. Devin Shore scored on the hockey version of an alley oop to knot the game at 1:
A couple minutes later, Tyler Seguin put those awesome skills he developed during that stupid All-Star Saturday night thing that he had to do to rip in a wrister and put the Stars up 2-1:
Mattias Janmark didn’t want Shore to score the only goal that could be described with basketball terminology and knocked in a bank shot off of Coyotes goalie Scott Wedgewood to give the Stars a 3-1 lead:
In the 3rd, Esa Lindell used some impressive luck skill to score an empty netter from deep to finish the scoring at 4-1 Stars:
And thus ended the evening. Oh yeah, the Stars had a goal called back because of the offsides review challenge that everyone loves.
Stars Stuff
It’s pretty rare that you see a player get nicked up when they’re not playing:
Hitch said Ben Bishop will be checked tomorrow and we’ll receive an update. Bishop was hit by puck while sitting on bench.
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) February 2, 2018
Counterpoint:
Antti Raanta update: Raanta was involved in a rear-end collision on Loop 101 on his way to Gila River Arena tonight. He was shaken up but is ok. He served as the Coyotes backup goaltender tonight versus Dallas but for precautionary reasons, was not on the bench.
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) February 2, 2018
Mr. Motivation Ken Hitchcock on what changed after the 1st period:
Hitch explains the change in the Stars after the first period that led to a reenergized group coming out for the second period. #GoStars pic.twitter.com/utztmcFczv
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 2, 2018
Kari Lehtonen seems to enjoy his new role:
Kari Lehtonen owns an 1.86 GAA in his last eight starts.
That’s very, very good. #GoStars pic.twitter.com/hoMQc0s0Mf
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) February 2, 2018
Robert has an interesting chart for you:
This is interesting. Honka gets the most ice time on the defense when team is down by three, and the least ice time when team is down by one or two.
(But one must remember that the Stars haven’t trailed by 3 all that often.) pic.twitter.com/0jIeZJJS9f— Robert Tiffin (@RobertTiffin) February 1, 2018
Props to excellent Stars reporter Sean Shapiro on his new gig (the Athletic just announced that it is expanding to Dallas). I know some people don’t like the “pay for content” model, but the lack of ads is pretty nice and the quality of the content is good too. HOWEVER, there is always room in your hearts for DBD. And if you or anyone you know wants to keep reading for FREE, you know where to go:
Announcement: I’m joining The Athletic. Still covering the Dallas Stars and the NHL, just doing it at a new place. @TheAthleticDFW launches Feb. 12.
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) February 1, 2018
Tyler Seguin never plays games guilty and he’s also a really nice guy:
Our team ambassador for #HockeyIsForEveryone Month is @tseguinofficial! As part of his work through Seguin Stars and the @DS_Foundation, Seguin uses his platform to help diverse groups connect to the game. pic.twitter.com/je9zH55krv
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 1, 2018
I’ve never been to Tampa, but it seems like a weird place. Remember when they dyed the ocean blue?
Pirates, puppies and parrots. The 2018 NHL All-Star Game in a nutshell. pic.twitter.com/dny4upEydY
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 1, 2018
Who ya got?
Which photo is your favorite? Vote for the @ATT Photo of the Month for January using the poll below! pic.twitter.com/va8zGLrHGk
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 1, 2018
Around the League
Some unfortunate news for a Central Division foe:
After further evaluation, Nathan MacKinnon will be out 2-4 weeks. pic.twitter.com/ftGuHDqgdt
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 1, 2018
I like Dave Lozo, but it kind of seems to me like the NHL/Commissioner has similar issues with every other sports league, but hockey writers just complain about them more. I think like half of these complaints could be directly attributed to Roger Goodell and the NFL as well:
looking back at Gary Bettman’s 25 years as commissioner, it wasn’t all bad, was it? https://t.co/YPNxGWvg27 pic.twitter.com/YXq05XmNz7
— DL (@davelozo) February 1, 2018
Here’s some more on Bettman, but this one includes a picture with him, Brendan Shanahan, and Gob Bluth!
Having said that, hockey is for everyone!:
All 31 NHL teams will host #HockeyIsForEveryone Awareness Nights throughout the month of February. Details: https://t.co/bhDGSSpUUB pic.twitter.com/HbVA7Tl8nI
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 1, 2018
Nothing gets the hockey media more excited than beer-league/emergency goalie stories:
‘You can smell the burning rubber’: Beer-league goalie suits up, faces shots at Jets practice https://t.co/6FUJLyzPI7 pic.twitter.com/MKz3eq6BLL
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) February 1, 2018
Future Star John Tavares is completely focused on the present:
The questions won’t stop for John Tavares. He gets that and he refuses to let it affect his play or his timeline to make a decision. My blog. https://t.co/OBZx00OpYi
— Ken Campbell (@THNKenCampbell) February 1, 2018
Phil Kessel seems like a pretty hilarious dude (some of the comments on this are fantastic):
Chilling 🙂 @PKessel81 #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/N9nIqSPTPA
— Evgeni Malkin (@emalkin71geno) February 1, 2018