Dallas Stars Daily Links: New Schedule Released
Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday at 5 PM and Game 5 for Monday at 8:45 PM. Plus, what comes next after play resumes, highlighting some of NHL history’s premier playoff performers, and more.
As previously reported, the NHLPA and NHLhave postponed all playoff games until Saturday, including the Game 4 matchup between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche originally scheduled for tonight.
Instead, the Stars will be squaring off this Sunday at 5:00 PM CDT:
Stars-Avs Game 4 is now Sunday at 5 pm CT
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) August 28, 2020
Game 5 is Monday at 8:45.
Game 6 is Wednesday time TBD
Game 7 is Friday time TBD
As can be seen above, the game will be the first in a back-to-back, with Game 5 taking place on Monday at 8:45 PM. It’ll be interesting to see how it affects each team, as both are missing their starting goaltender in Ben Bishop and Philipp Grubaeur due to injury.
The expectation is that Anton Khudobin and Pavel Francouz will simply start both games, but playing tired could further open up scoring in what has already been a high-scoring series. If the Stars want to eliminate the Avalanche in five (or at least not face a Game 6 elimination), they’ll have to keep up the offense.
On the Protests
Here is what Jason Dickinson had to say on behalf of the Stars in yesterday’s press conference:
Bigger than the game pic.twitter.com/pXPeDCNqKM
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) August 28, 2020
Of course, Dickinson wasn’t the only Stars player there — heck, I’m not sure there was a single player in the Western bubble missing:
What we all saw on Zoom in the Western Bubble yesterday was just part of the story. The line of Western players standing together, in fact, stretched across the entire media room out of frame.
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) August 28, 2020
Image posted to Instagram by NHL videographer Rob Newman (who has a locked account): pic.twitter.com/3sLzQzQ4Yw
So what are the next steps after the protests? Matt Larkin breaks it down:
The NHL players took their stand. But what happens after play resumes?
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) August 28, 2020
Here's @THNMattLarkin on what comes next for hockey in the fight against racial injustice:https://t.co/6DcUcdX567
Around the League
The Stanley Cup playoffs have a tendency to bring out the best in players, even those who aren’t superstars. Down Goes Brown puts together a team of some of the biggest postseason producers:
New post: My picks for the playoff performer Hall of Fame (for non-Hall-of-Famers) https://t.co/Z9XdVVUsI5 pic.twitter.com/QgzbwWn5Fy
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) August 27, 2020
From an on-ice perspective, the Vegas Golden Knights going with Robin Lehner in net over Marc-Andre Fleury was (arguably) the right call. But it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth:
Along with the Marc-Andre Fleury thing, we've got a remembrance of Mike Green's unique career and winners/losers that cover last night's decision to play those games, in the column this week. #NHL https://t.co/lPe31uGpyV
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) August 27, 2020
Finally, a blast from the (not so distant) past — Matthew Tkachuk, who missed most of the series, opens up about the Calgary Flames’ first round exit to the Stars:
“It makes me sick, and it really upsets me, and pisses me off."
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 27, 2020
Matthew Tkachuk came to the defence of his Flames teammates after another disappointing playoff exit.
(@EricFrancis)https://t.co/v3OqDia5Qv