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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Yes, The Stars Really Did Give Away A Home Game To The Habs

What happens when the Dallas Stars fire 51 shots at a third-string goalie? Trick question: The answer is always that the Victory Green Gang makes the backup look like a Vezina candidate.

And last night, that third-stringer was a member of the worst team in the NHL, and the Stars gave away a game to the Montreal Canadiens on their own ice. With so many soul-destroying moments to choose from, The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks had his postgame work cut out for him:

The Stars were, unbelievably, the better team offensively. If only their finishing had polish…..

They rang four posts, including Radek Faksa’s shot in the first period that bounced off both posts and Ryan Suter’s that clanged off the iron with a chance to trim the lead to one in the third period. In the second period, Roope Hintz and Michael Raffl were each wide open in the slot, but the puck bounced off Hintz’s skate and over Raffl’s stick.

But if you think Rick Bowness is going to blame the system, well, you haven’t been paying attention:

“The mistakes we made ended up in the back of our net because just bad puck management, it’s as simple as that,” Bowness said. “They capitalized on every chance they had and we didn’t. It could have been 7-5 very easily. The kid in the net was outstanding. We’ll go from there.”

The Stars finished with 51 shots on goal. It was the first time all season that Dallas fired at least 40 shots on goal, which can be either an indictment of the team’s ability to produce scoring chances across the last three months, or a verdict on its shooting skill Tuesday night.

Matt has more. [SportsDayDFW]


Stars Stuff

With Braden Holtby and Denis Gurianov back on the ice, players are on the move again.

Around The Leagues

#Death Notes

  • Cole Perfetti got his first NHL goal, but the Winnipeg Jets fell to the Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
  • And the Nashville Predators lost a 3-1 slugfest to the Vancouver Canucks on Juuse Saros’ night off. [On The Forecheck]/

It was a long time coming, but last night the Boston Bruins finally retired No. 22 in honor of Willie O’Ree.

All of Boston got in on the celebration, from City Hall…

…to Fenway Park.

The San Diego Gulls found an amazing way to honor O’Ree, too.

With everything else going on, you can be forgiven for missing this.

Jason Robertson didn’t make the NHL All-Star Game’s Last Man In roster, but clearly he needs to be protected at all cost anyway.

Greetings From Beautiful Boise

It seems like a good time to catch up with the Idaho Steelheads, currently ranked No. 2 in the ECHL’s Mountain Division.

Finally

How about “go to hell”? Is that an option?

Talking Points