Let’s face it, the Dallas Stars have needed some rescuing this season – especially from themselves. And they’ve found a team of reliable heroes in the Avengers.
The Stars’ super-line of Joe “Captain America” Pavelski, Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz has come through again, and again, and yet again as the rest of the team tries to sort itself out. Stars senior staff writer Mike Heika took a moment to appreciate their work after the team’s Saturday win:
The Stars were trailing 2-0 in the second period when the trio whipped up some beautiful passing and manufactured a goal. Then, two minutes later, Robertson found Hintz open in transition, and the score was tied. It was the epitome of clutch scoring.
Of course, the top line has found ways to do that all stages of the game. Earlier in the season, they’d open games with quick goals to give the Stars early leads. They’ve scored goals to force overtime. They’ve scored goals to win overtimes. More recently, they’ve just scored in bunches. They have 13 of the team’s past 18 goals and continue to allow their teammates to work through terrible goal-scoring droughts.
But can the Avengers Line keep it going if the Stars make the Stanley Cup playoffs? Well, there’s reason to believe they’re built for big contests:
…[It’s] no surprise the trio continues to click. Pavelski said he appreciates the savvy of both Hintz and Robertson, noting that Hintz gives the line a two-way element that allows them to play in any situation.
“What I really like about him is he’s a complete player,” Pavelski said. “Defensively, he’s very responsible. Off the rush, he’s good. Forecheck, there’s no problems. He’s got a great head on him, wants to work, do it the right way and makes it easy on his linemates.”
There’s more at Mike’s place. [Dallas Stars]
Stars Stuff
It’s official: Tyler Seguin’s battle back from two potentially career-ending surgeries has made him a Masterton nominee.
“He had to realize, he’s human”: Tyler Seguin’s journey back to form this season has required acceptance and persistence
Seguin is the 2021-22 Dallas nominee for the Masterton Trophy 🏆https://t.co/8Z0aqrrfpy
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) April 25, 2022
Also official: Everyone’s watching what happens tomorrow night.
Weekend rankings: The final week all comes down to the Knights, Stars and Predators. Plus a rant about that scoring “boom”, power rankings and lots more…
$1/monthhttps://t.co/sK4BBZEdgb
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) April 25, 2022
Around The Leagues
#Murder Was The Case
- The Winnipeg Jets, playing for pride, dealt a rare 4-1 thrashing to the Colorado Avalanche, who are clearly in standby mode now. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
- The Minnesota Wild helped the Stars stay within striking distance of the first wildcard spot by defeating the Nashville Predators in overtime, 5-4. [Hockey Wilderness]
- And in Ryan Getzlaf’s final game, the St. Louis Blues continued their quest for home-ice advantage in the playoffs by downing the Anaheim Ducks, 6-3. [NHL]/
Wildcard update: The Vegas Golden Knights blew a lead, Timo Meier took it to OT, and 20-year-old Thomas Bordeleau won it for the San Jose Sharks in the shootout. [NHL]
Sharks Territory tonight >>> pic.twitter.com/1ISrspn5Xe
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 25, 2022
So is the Eastern Conference stacked, or just ridiculously top-heavy, or what…?
NHL history was made when the Washington Capitals reached 100 points in their 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. It’s the first time eight teams in the same conference reached 100 points in the same season.https://t.co/FGwp6NsrVD
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) April 25, 2022
With Habs fans chanting his name, the late Guy Lafleur got a sendoff for the ages in Montreal last night.
The Montreal Canadiens pay tribute to Guy Lafleur at The Bell Centre. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/E588sEqCVu
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 24, 2022
Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park
The Texas Stars are in a tight playoffs race of their own, and they took one more step toward a Calder Cup berth with a 5-3 win over the Iowa Wild on Saturday.
Kero picks up his 5th goal of the season ✅
Petrovic gets the game-winner ✅
Murray stops 33 of 34 ✅
Stars complete the sweep of the Wild ✅Check out the highlights presented by @texasorthopedic 👇 pic.twitter.com/eR5wYj24ck
— Texas Stars (@TexasStars) April 24, 2022
How close are they to punching their ticket?…
After being last place and left for dead in January, the #txstars can clinch a playoff spot either today with an Iowa loss or on Tuesday with a win of their own against Manitoba. What a comeback.#txstars fans are @goicehogs fans starting at 5pm today.
— 100 Degree Hockey (@100degreehockey) April 24, 2022
Let’s just say that Tuesday night could be huge for both Dallas and Austin Metro.
Iowa beats Rockford 5-3, and the fate of #txstars postseason is entirely in their own hands on Tuesday against Manitoba.
— 100 Degree Hockey (@100degreehockey) April 25, 2022
Finally
Why does everyone hate the Golden Knights?… Oh, yeah, that. Enjoy.
Thank you @SanJoseSharks, now on to the next @DallasStars pic.twitter.com/1WmdTwLIE0
— Davo_na (@na_davo) April 25, 2022