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Dallas Stars Daily Links: New Forward Lines Fall Flat in Ottawa

Posted on by Tyler Mair

Last Saturday, head coach Jim Montgomery changed up the forward lines after the first period against the Anaheim Ducks. What followed was a historic second period in which the Dallas Stars had 30 shots on goal and came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the game 5-3.

Eager to keep that magic going, Montgomery stuck with the same lineup heading into last night’s matchup against the Ottawa Senators, but no such luck was found as the Stars dropped a 4-1 decision:

“They were good in the first, but we’re not generating enough Grade-A scoring chances,” Montgomery said. “I think someone said we had 15 in the game. Probably four came on the power play and three with the pulled goalie situation. So we’re not generating enough.”

Still, it’s not as if everything was bad. For instance, the Stars’ second scoring line of Valeri Nichushkin, Jason Spezza, and Alexander Radulov looked pretty good despite staying off the scoresheet:

In about five minutes of ice time Saturday night, Nichushkin and Radulov helped the Stars produce nine scoring chances.

…

“I think that’s just Mother love of Russia is why there’s a little chemistry there,” Montgomery said. “Hope to keep it going.”

You can read more in Matthew DeFranks’ piece here.

More From the Game

Going along with the theme of new forward lines:

Here’s the tribute video the Senators showed for Ray Emery last night:

Not strictly related to last night’s game, but Wayne Scanlan put together an excellent piece on Jason Spezza: [Sportsnet]

Jim Montgomery put out the extra attacker with about seven minutes left. Here’s a look at what was probably going through his head at the time:

Shapiro discusses the goalie pull, the mistakes that led up to the goals against, and more in his 20/20: [The Athletic]

Look on the bright side, everyone; John Klingberg is on pace for about a million goals (give or take):

Central Census

The only other Central action from last night came courtesy of the Nashville Predators and the Minnesota Wild, which resulted in a 4-2 victory for the Predators: [On the Forecheck]

Speaking of Nashville…

The Winnipeg Jets aren’t scoring that much so far, but should we expect that to continue? [Sportsnet]

Once again, for your viewing pleasure:

Around the League

Bad news for the Vancouver Canucks, who will be without rookie sensation Elias Pettersson for the near future:

On that note, Mike Matheson, the skater responsible for Pettersson’s concussion, has been suspended two games by the NHL: [NBC Sports]

We’re not even a tenth of the way into the season, but Down Goes Brown is still trying to project Stanley Cup contenders and bottom feeders nonetheless:

Bad news for the Vegas Golden Knights: acclaimed free agent signing Paul Stastny could be out for the next two months or so: [NBC Sports]

Finally…

Technically it isn’t Kenya’s only ice hockey team (they have a women’s squad as well), but still marvelous either way:

Talking Points