When looking at last night’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s hard not to immediately point to the penalties. The Dallas Stars took eight of them, for a grand total of 23 across just four games this season.
That’s not a good figure, and when you put yourselves on the penalty kill so often, things will inevitably fall apart:
“We’ve got a smart group,” [head coach Pete] DeBoer said. “They know. They know you’re playing with fire. If you put a team on the power play five or six times, you’re playing with fire, regardless of how good your penalty kill is. You’re overtaxing people, people are sitting, watching, good players who don’t kill penalties for extended periods. Not a lot needs to be said. They know that.”
Usually when a team is heavily penalized in a game, fans will point at the referees and blame them for terrible calls. But while there were some questionable ones last night, DeBoer felt that, ultimately, it was his team’s responsibility to avoid them:
“We deserved most of them,” DeBoer said. “There were a couple I was disappointed in… but we can’t put ourselves in position to even have questionable calls go against you.”
You can read more from Saad Yousuf here.
Stars Stories
If you’re looking for a positive takeaway from last night, Kelly Forbes is still the best in the business:
Stars notebook: Video coach Kelly Forbes’ call to challenge was right again https://t.co/cOrBYTz5iK
— Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) October 21, 2022
In off-ice news, the Dallas Stars (and the NHL as a whole) have revealed their new reverse retro jersey:
Back when #TexasHockey began.
Introducing our @adidas Reverse Retro 2022 #reverseretro
Available 11.15#DallasStars x @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/jPBtm1oGJB
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) October 20, 2022
Around the League
Speaking of which, was last night’s game a match between the two teams with the worst new jerseys?
Thoughts on the Maple Leafs’ Reverse Retro jerseys?
Unfortunately, they come in dead last in @MarkLazerus, @seangentille & @alexiniguez‘s power rankings…
Full list ⤵️https://t.co/Ha1d0dzBWe pic.twitter.com/273DAYbbwL
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) October 20, 2022
Greg Wyshynsk takes a look at which early season storylines are overreactions and which ones might have merit:
I’m high on NHL goal scoring, the Rangers and Steven Stamkos. Not so much the idea that Lindy Ruff will be the first coach fired. Judging 10 NHL overreactions in my column this week, plus a Tkachuk Jersey Foul, winners/losers and more!https://t.co/bLNN1BXj8o
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) October 20, 2022
In a similar vein, here’s some early fantasy hockey takeaways for the season:
Gabriel Vilardi’s surprising start, Rasmus Dahlin’s breakout season, Dawson Mercer’s fantasy value and more are covered in the latest Fantasy Mailbag by @amato_mike. https://t.co/KeZiqKilCi
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 21, 2022
Well this is… unexpected:
Hearing Eric Staal and the #FlaPanthers have agreed to terms on a one-year, one-way deal worth $750,000.
Quite a story for Staal, who didn’t play in the NHL last season, to make it back on a good team and to play with his brother Marc.@DailyFaceoff
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 21, 2022
Finally, Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek talks John Klingberg, the rebuild, and more:
The work hasn’t stopped for Pat Verbeek since he became the Ducks GM.
How does Anaheim rebuild into the next phase?@PierreVLeBrun on their plan for John Klingberg and why they kept Dallas Eakinhttps://t.co/cwa94gz3AQ
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) October 20, 2022