Sign in Subscribe
Front Page

Dallas Stars Daily Links: Starsing, In The Good Way

The Stars advance to the second round, thanks to SWAG (and Denis Gurianov’s Joe Thornton hat trick). Plus, another Barry Trotz team advances, another brick in the wall for the Kraken, and more.

The Dallas Stars had a chance to finish it, and they did. A comeback win that became a blowout gave fans a take-charge performance from Miro Heiskanen and a 38-stop effort from Anton Khudobin that was good for a .927 save percentage.

Oh, and did you see the part where Denis Gurianov scored four goals in a total of 13:27 time on ice? That was wild.

The Victory Green Gang’s advance to a date with the Colorado Avalanche came in a uniquely Starsian fashion, writes The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks:

They did it the only way this Stars team would do it: the hard way, by throwing it in the grill of hardship and playing so well that a poor stretch is forgotten, replaced by memories of exalt and victory.

They did it with their best player (Miro Heiskanen) posting a four-point night, and they did it with their leading goal-scorer (Denis Gurianov) submitting a historic four-goal, one-assist performance. They did it with Anton Khudobin stopping the final 32 shots he faced.

Remember when the Stars were down 3-0? Was there ever any doubt that Heiskanen could turn the tide?

“The mood wasn’t good,” Joe Pavelski said. “We hadn’t played our game yet. It was one of those moments where I think everyone understood he haven’t played our game, we’re seeing their best game and pucks are exploding off our sticks at that moment. We’re in a hole. It was a good timeout as far as catch our breath, let’s try to get back to our game.”

Bowness added: “It was just a mess to start. There comes a point where ‘Okay, that’s enough. We need the next goal. We get the next goal, we’re back in the game.’ Fortunately, that’s what happened. It takes a special player like Miro to step up and ‘Okay, we need a goal? I’m going to step up here and show up.’”

Matt has more. [SportsDayDFW]

Stars Stuff

Sean Shapiro has so much to discuss with you in his latest 20/20. So, so much.

You want to watch those again, don’t you? You go right ahead.

Here’s another factoid you might enjoy: Guri has now joined a club of two.

It’s a rollercoaster that only goes up (except when it doesn’t).

Aaaaaaaand I’ll just leave this here.

Around The League(s)

The Stars were the only thing on the menu in the #MurderDeathKill Division last night, so let’s get down to the rest of the news....

Here’s the NHL.com preview-at-a-glance for the Stars-Avs series.

Barry Trotz is advancing to Round 2 again – except it’s 2020, so he’s going with the New York Islanders, who knocked off the Washington Capitals team he went with in 2019.

What will be the impact of a frozen cap on the next contracts of some of the NHL’s biggest young stars? Pierre LeBrun examines the trends.

Water is wet, the Pope is Catholic, and NBC’s Mike Milbury is taking fire for another of his scorching-hot takes. Is normal.

It’s not so much printing the legend as not really remembering it all that well. Sean McIndoe   brings a friendly reminder that things were never what they used to be.

Hey, remember the Seattle Kraken? They’re actually going to be a real hockey team.

Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park

Nobody, but nobody, is prouder of Guri right now than Texas Stars fans.

Finally

So let it be written. So let it be done.

Read next