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Dallas Stars Daily Links: John Klingberg Steps Up For The Stars

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

And just like that, John Klingberg marks another milestone on his way to becoming one the Dallas Stars’ all-time franchise greats.

After the Stars’ overtime victory against the Montreal Canadiens, The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks devoted much of his coverage to the veteran blueliner, who was easily the hero of the hour:

The goal capped an excellent night for Klingberg, who tied the game with 4:46 left in the third period, before winning it with just 9.7 seconds left in overtime. He led all skaters with 29:06 of ice time and became the franchise leader in most game-winning goals by a defenseman by scoring his 21st winner.

“He was amazing,” Stars forward Radek Faksa said. “He’s confident with the puck. He’s making plays. He doesn’t throw the puck away. He basically decided the game for us today.”

Klingberg is pretty comfortable with pressure, and that matters more than ever during Miro Heiskanen’s sojourn into LTIR territory:

Heiskanen’s absence has forced some players into roles they’ve never held (like Jani Hakanpää and Thomas Harley). But it’s also left Klingberg as the biggest difference maker on the back end.

“I try to play the same way every night,” Klingberg said. “With a player out of that caliber, you have to step up a little bit more. That’s from the whole D corps. I think we’ve done a good job most of the time. There’s some hiccups today from the D and from myself especially, too, we’re not happy with. Obviously, it’s just a great finish to get out with two points and win a game like that.”

Matt has more. [SportsDayDFW]

Stars Stuff

Is the line blender actually effective? Has Jacob Peterson really been overworked? Saad Yousuf takes on these questions and more in a new article at The Athletic.

Will the Stars make any moves before the NHL trade deadline? Razor speculates (spoiler alert: goalie depth).

How much do you want to read into this?

Around The Leagues

St. Patrick’s Day #Murder

  • The Nashville Predators gave the Stars a little unintended assistance in the playoffs race by dropping two points to the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4. [On The Forecheck]
  • And the St. Louis Blues took it to the shootout but couldn’t get past the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-2 loss. [Pensburgh]/

Have you ever wished for an entire game that was nothing but 3-on-3 overtime? The 3ICE Hockey League just read your mind.

Former Stars Nick Paul and Brenden Dillon made Frank Seravalli’s list of the top 50 TDL targets.

And speaking of No. 1 trade target Claude Giroux….

Meanwhile, here’s your occasional reminder that COVID-19 is 1) still around and 2) still doesn’t care.

Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park

The Texas Stars eked out a consolation point, but the Grand Rapids Griffins took the game last night.

Meanwhile, Ringo made an appearance at South By Southwest, and why wasn’t I told?…

Finally

Enjoy Klinger’s franchise-record game winner, over and over again.

Talking Points