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Dallas Stars Daily Links: When Your Team Is Just That Good

Mike Heika ponders how the Stars got so far so fast. Plus, John Klingberg is back, Anton Khudobin makes an interesting best-of list, and more.

The Dallas Stars are a good team playing good hockey. That’s it. That’s the story.

And if you’re still shaking off the whiplash of going from that dire October to this bountiful November, just remember you’re not alone.

Even those close to the organization are still trying to parse it all, including Stars senior staff writer Mike Heika:

...[W]hen the team started the year at 1-7-1, there was much concern that the players might not be that good. But in the process of turning things around, the Stars have shown they have the depth to overcome injuries, the depth to roll four lines, and the depth to rely on different players at any given moment.

Alexander Radulov, John Klingberg, Tyler Seguin and Jason Dickinson took turns being the hero Monday, while Esa Lindell, Mattias Janmark and Andrew Cogliano showed flashes of great skill to make needed big plays at huge moments in the game.

“It’s not a secret, everybody is working in all of the games,” said Radulov, who had two goals and an assist. “Different guys are stepping up. It’s good that different lines are stepping up and we get that result. Everybody played a good, solid game.”

Now comes the challenge of extending what could become a historic streak:

They are pushing up toward the top of the league and sit just two points behind the Blues for first place in the Central Division. They are the hottest team in the league right now and are in the middle of one of the best stretches in franchise history.

”It’s fun, but, I mean, we still think there’s stuff to work on,” said Klingberg. “We keep rolling, we have good confidence, we play the right way -- we feel like we get results from that. So, we’ve got to keep doing the right thing here and keep building.”

Mike has more. [Dallas Stars]

Stars Stuff

I’ll just leave this here.

Sean Shapiro and Owen Newkirk had their own after-party on the Carcast.

And Matthew DeFranks celebrated the resurgence of the Stars’ other franchise defenseman.

Around The League(s)

#Death Notes

  • The Minnesota Wild blew a late lead and ended up losing a 3-2 game in overtime to the New York Rangers. [Hockey Wilderness]
  • Daniel Carr and the Nashville Predators came up big in extra minutes, defeating the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in the shootout. [On The Forecheck]/

At least Mats Zuccarello got a warm welcome back to Broadway.

Kevin Shattenkirk is having a ball with the Tampa Bay Lightning after a buyout ended his tenure in New York City.

Paging Robin Lehner: Anton Khudobin makes a list of “shootout studs” in Jared Clinton’s latest roundup.

Should Alexander Kerfoot have gotten more than two games for sending Erik Johnson head-first into the boards (and onto the Avs’ long IR list)?

If you think four games wasn’t enough for Robert Bortuzzo, Viktor Arvidsson might agree with you.

Calgary Flames bench boss Bill Peters is under fire for a series of incidents involving Akim Aliu during his days with the Rockford IceHogs.

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