Most of the big guns took a break, but the Dallas Stars showed some welcome depth in their second preseason victory last night. Young pros and Cedar Park regulars brought home a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild in Xcel Energy Center.
Head coach Jim Montgomery was delighted with the effort, as Sean Shapiro reports at The Athletic DFW:
“For our lineup tonight, a lot of guys played like they want to earn a job or they want to earn more ice time during the season. Everybody through all four lines, even Dowling and (Denis) Gurianov were excellent on the fourth line with (Erik) Condra. So everybody contributed. It was a good feeling. It was fun to watch these guys work and be relentless.”
Even better, Anton Khudobin and Colton Point continued the team’s good run of goaltending – raising hopes that the Stars’ woes in net may be over:
Anton Khudobin stopped all 14 shots he faced in just over 30 minutes on Thursday, including a couple of sharp saves in the first period. This came two days after Ben Bishop was the Stars’ best player and stopped all 16 shots against the St. Louis Blues.
…
Point made 12 saves on 13 shots, and you couldn’t really fault him for the goal against. It might not have been the cleanest-looking performance, but Point made a couple of key saves on the penalty kill in the third period when it was still a tie score.
Sean has much more under the paywall. [The Athletic DFW]
Stars Stories
Plenty of video from last night: Miro Heiskanen got his first preseason goal courtesy of the Wild, and it’s a beauty.
Here’s Justin Dowling’s game-winner.
And Radek Faksa won empty-net roulette to put the game out of reach. Gravy = licked.
Around the League(s)
Last night, in #MurderDeathKill the Preseason:
- Evgeny Svechnikov netted the game-winner as the Chicago Blackhawks lost 4-2 to the Detroit Red Wings. [Second City Hockey]
- The Winnipeg Jets couldn’t get off the ground in a 7-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, featuring a four-point showing by Connor McDavid. [NHL]/
The Montreal Canadiens have played three preseason games, and Max Domi is already in trouble.
Montreal’s Max Domi suspended for the remainder of the preseason for roughing Florida’s Aaron Ekblad. https://t.co/OoZ1wP0Sv5
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) September 20, 2018
Down Goes Brown couldn’t resist. (Imaginary regular-season points if you’re old enough to remember the PSA.)
I LEARNED IT BY WATCHING YOU DAD! https://t.co/35dIie0SaA
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) September 20, 2018
Wondering whether to pick up Jason Spezza for your fantasy team? NHL.com’s David Satriano has put him on the bounce-back candidate list. [NHL]
“There is almost no correlation between a player’s cap hit and the rate at which he stops shots.” TSN’s Travis Yost has done the sums.
If I told you how much an NHL goaltender made, you would know very little about how well he stopped shots.
Quite the challenge for front offices around the league. https://t.co/N9n8WiiQ7C
— Travis Yost (@travisyost) July 12, 2018
Speaking of DGB, Tyler Seguin says hey from the latest installment.
Will the Senators nightmare draft scenario come true? @DownGoesBrown
looks at teams that were in the same boat as Ottawa and how those deals turned out. https://t.co/7x0IIlhsct— The Athletic (@TheAthleticOTT) September 20, 2018
Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park
The Texas Stars heading into October like:
Walking into the #txstars 10th anniversary season with style 😎
It’s not too late to get a jersey.
Renew / purchase season tickets to get yours! pic.twitter.com/WmXNUMn7NN
— Texas Stars (@TexasStars) September 20, 2018
The T-Stars’ season opens October 5, and you can nominate a veteran or active-duty military member for their Military Salute before each home game. [Texas Stars]
Finally
Presumptive 2019 No. 1 overall Jack Hughes shows you what the fuss is about. Enjoy.
Watch @jackhughes43 completely take over the game at USA Hockey’s All-American Prospects Game. VIDEO @ https://t.co/aGWTERC7oa pic.twitter.com/eIOfHq7k0L
— BarDown (@BarDown) September 21, 2018