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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Pavelski’s Playoff Payoff

From vocal leadership to big-game moments, Pavelski has been finding his form this postseason. Plus, observations from the series so far, on-ice chirps from inside the NHL bubble, and more.

Joe Pavelski had a rather disappointing 2019-20 regular season. But as cliche as it sounds, one of the main reasons he was brought in was to elevate the Dallas Stars in the playoffs, and so far he’s delivered:

“He’s been around for a while. He knows the ins and outs,” Jason Dickinson said after Game 4. “These are the games he lives for. He elevates for these kinds of moments. You hear him on the bench. He wants to be out there. He wants to make the big play and have a big impact.”

Most notably, he scored his first career postseason hat trick last game against the Calgary Flames, the third goal sending the game into overtime and perhaps saving the Stars’ season. Jay Woodcroft, a former coach of his, said that moments like that are proof of just how much work Pavelski has put into his career:

“As a coach when I was around him on a daily basis I saw the work part that goes into that payoff … When you see him have those types of successes you know it wasn’t just that play in that moment, it was the culmination of all the work he put in to have that success at that moment.”

You can read more from Sean Shapiro here.

Stars Stories

Also from Shapiro, another look into the Stars’ lives inside the NHL bubble:

Matthew DeFranks takes a look at the Stars’ performance over the past four games and how they’ve fared against the Flames:

Oh, and in case you forgot, it’s game day!

Around the League

Monday was the day of Game Fours, apparently:

  • The Tampa Bay Lighting are one win away from revenge after beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1.
  • Meanwhile the Colorado Avalanche pummeled the Arizona Coyotes 7-1 to take their third win. At least they didn’t hit a grand slam on top of that.
  • The Boston Bruins are also up 3-1 in the series after a 4-3 comeback victory against the Carolina Hurricanes.
  • And finally, the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks were tied at 1-1 until I started watching, and the Blues ended up winning 3-1 to even the series. Sorry./

Back to the Avalanche — that Nathan MacKinnon sure is something, huh?

Four weeks in, and the NHL still has zero COVID-19 positive test. Knock on wood:

It complicates the bubble, but the NHL is still planning to have families join players once we reach the Conference Finals:

It might be too late for the Washington Capitals to avoid getting swept, let alone coming back to win their series against the New York Islanders:

Finally, what’s it really like inside the empty arenas? Thomas Drance has you covered with some less than kid-friendly quotes:

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