Dallas Stars Daily Links: Special Teams on Fire
The Stars have put a focus on special teams in practice, and it’s paying off big time. Plus, highlights from last night’s win, Dubois and Laine get swapped in a blockbuster trade, and more.
The Dallas Stars are off to a strong start in 2021, winning both of their games against the Nashville Predators. That’s mostly thanks to a lethal power play, which head coach Rick Bowness couldn’t be happier about:
“They are snapping it around,” Bowness said. “Right now, they are feeling it. They are making great plays — clearly — and the puck is going in, which is certainly beneficial. Right now, you can just feel the confidence that they have. They are moving for each other.”
The penalty kill has also been solid, allowing only one goal in nine kills thus far. The Stars have put an emphasis on special teams ever since the playoff bubble last summer, and the results are paying off dividends:
“We did put time in, both in video sessions and then on the ice. Because going into this shortened season, we knew if we wanted to get off to a good start, the specialty teams needed to be where we need them to be. And fortunately, so far, both of them have done a great job for us.”
You can read more from Mike Heika here.
Stars Stories
Miss the game? Here are the highlights from last night’s win:
Power play 🔥
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 25, 2021
Khudobin 🔥
Weekend sweep 🔥#NSHvsDAL | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/d5DHY8z9ab
Saad Yousuf breaks the game down in his latest 20/20:
The power play remained on fire, Joe Pavelski can't stop scoring, Rick Bowness with high praise for Ty Dellandrea, short goalies, injury shuffling and more!
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) January 25, 2021
All in the latest Stars 20/20 as Dallas moves to 2-0 on the season with a 3-2 win over the Preds👇🏽https://t.co/vtO7AQilBz
Around the League
It was a fairly quiet Sunday in the Central — the only other game was a 6-2 drubbing of the Detroit Red Wings, courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks:
RECAP: Pius Suter’s hat trick leads #Blackhawks to 6-2 rout of Red Wings.
— Second City Hockey (@2ndCityHockey) January 24, 2021
Take a minute to appreciate the amazing photo, too.
Detroit sucks. https://t.co/ZnHOsxqYvf
The biggest news of the weekend was when the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets solved each other’s problem, swapping Pierre-Luc Dubois and Patrik Laine:
IT'S OFFICIAL! All-Star Patrik Laine and Columbus' own Jack Roslovic are coming to town!
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 23, 2021
See how the full trade shakes up ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/KYHO8AHwpM
Of course, you can’t have a blockbuster (or any trade, really) without trying to figure out who “won”:
Who won the Laine-Dubois blockbuster? @CraigCustance @coreypronman @domluszczyszyn grade the tradehttps://t.co/Da6kvh6uvf
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) January 23, 2021
Seems a bit weird in contrast to last night’s loss, but the Detroit Red Wings have looked much better this season:
My Monday NHL notes column leads with Dylan Larkin & the Red Wings. Are they ready to turn things around?
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) January 25, 2021
+@CarBombBoom13’s psychedelic medicine company raises $4 million in funding
+trade takes
+games of the week (Zdeno Chara vs Bruins, round one!)https://t.co/AwBd1syqiH
Finally, Corey Pronman gives his annual retrospective on prospects he misevaluated:
NHL prospects I was wrong about, 2021 edition | @coreypronman ⤵️https://t.co/OG1FYfPb3K
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) January 25, 2021
