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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Stars Keep It Together, Win Possible Playoffs Preview

Roope Hintz solves Andrei Vasilevskiy, and the Stars take away two points. Plus, updates on the wildcard race, an ugly game in St. Paul, and more.

Are the Dallas Stars ready for primetime? In what may be their best Stanley Cup playoffs preview yet, the Victory Green Gang kept their chill and blanked the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 at home last night.

Certainly, there was a playoffs-level display of mutual hatred, as The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks pointed out:

All night, the game between the former Stanley Cup Final combatants carried an aura of disgust.

Jamie Benn fought former Stars prospect Nick Paul in the first period. Cal Foote had post-whistle run-ins with Jacob Peterson and [Roope] Hintz. Hintz got under the skin of Erik Cernak at the end of the second period. Anthony Cirelli slashed John Klingberg behind the play in the final three minutes of the third period.

So was this a legitimate taste of things to come?

The two teams both fancy themselves as ones built for the playoffs. Both are heavy on the forecheck with strong structure and varying degrees of decent goaltending (the Lightning employ perhaps the best goalie in the world, and the Stars’ No. 1 goalie hasn’t played a postseason game). The Lightning have the hardware to back it up, with their two Stanley Cups. The Stars do not.

“I think it was going to take one [goal] to win that game, just the way structure was all night,” Wedgewood said. “They get a chance, we get a stick on it. We get a chance, they get a stick on it. Kudos to both teams on their defensive structure. They’re both built to go pretty far in the playoffs.”

Matt has more. [SportsDayDFW]

Stars Stuff

The Stars needed a win, and they got one. The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf discusses how they do it.

Meanwhile, Friend o’ DBD David Castillo says what you were thinking.

Around The Leagues

#Murder Was The Case

  • The St. Louis Blues stayed in the race for second in the Central with a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. [Stanley Cup Of Chowder]
  • The Minnesota Wild kicked the Edmonton Oilers where it counts with a 5-1 thrashing at home. [Hockey Wilderness]
  • The Nashville Predators maintained a single-point standoff for the first wildcard spot with a 1-0 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks. [On The Forecheck]
  • The Chicago Blackhawks’ season of woe continues with a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in United Center. [Second City Hockey]
  • And the Arizona Coyotes started fast but ended with four unanswered goals in a 6-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. [Five For Howling]/

As it turns out, the Oilers’ loss to the Wild was even uglier than the final score.

This is actually kind of awesome. Why doesn’t everyone do it?

If you’ve ever made a comment about millionaires playing for billionaires, here’s an amazing thread from one of the greats about what “millions” actually mean for many players.

Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park

It’s Texas Stars game day, and you – yeah, you – can watch as they take on the Chicago Wolves.

Finally

Jason Robertson spoke for all of us, but one of the real joys of this post is the tweetbacks. Enjoy.

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