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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin Get Sat Down in “Embarrassing” Loss to the Rangers

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

After a mostly glorious first half-season, the Dallas Stars have come down to earth during a brutal road trip to the Tri-State area.

The team is riding a three-game losing streak after dropping a 6-2 decision to the New York Rangers last night in Manhattan. Perhaps worse, they must play two more games in the next four days before they can take five days to rest and regroup.

One enlightening result of the Beatdown in Midtown: Coach Lindy Ruff has demonstrated he will sit anybody, including his two biggest sparkplugs, if he believes they’re not performing the way they should.

“It’s myself not leading the way,” said captain Jamie Benn, who was benched after Viktor Stalberg’s goal at 7:50 of the third period. “It was pretty much embarrassing, and I let my teammates down.”

After being held off the score sheet in losses to the Devils and Islanders, linemates Benn and Tyler Seguin said they were hoping to lead a strong performance against the Rangers. Instead, both went minus-3 while pushing their scoreless streak to three games.

“They had a tough night, there’s no getting around it,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “They had a lot of opportunities against, and by the end of the night, I just didn’t play them anymore. They’ve had a tough trip, and we need those guys. They’re going through a tough spell.”

A chastened Seguin describes the Stars’ troubles this way:

“We’re not playing how we need to play,” Seguin said. “It starts with our leaders when we’re winning and definitely when we’re losing. It starts with our line. We’re cheating offensively and leaving our goaltender out to dry.”

And when the top line did that for the third time on Stalberg’s goal, Ruff put Benn and Seguin on the bench for the first time this season.

“We really totally embarrassed ourselves,” Ruff said. “We gave the puck away on a few of the goals, gave the puck away late in the period. We got behind the eight-ball again.”

Read more at Heika’s Dallas Morning News blog. [SportsDayDFW]

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ICYMI, the Stars have announced Pevs Protects Night, Saturday, March 12, to honor a new charitable initiative by our beloved #RaptorJesus, Player Development Coordinator Rich Peverley. And in case you missed FOX Southwest’s three-hanky mini-doc “Playing for Pevs,” Erin has embedded the Stars’ online video of the entire program. Go! Watch!

Lindy was pretty ruffled in the Stars-Rangers postgame video.

Razor wanted the latest Emporium to reflect his current mood even more than it usually does, so he shot it inside the commode on a moving bus. This is the kind of thing you get with Razor, and at no extra charge.

At least one bit of glad news came out of Manhattan last night.

Cal Clutterbuck feels dissed by Lindy, but Jason Demers got absolved by the NHL, so…we’re even, or something. [SportsDayDFW]

Today’s the day for the 2016 All-Star roster announcement, but the controversy has already begun.

The dogs bark, but the #MurderDeathKill caravan moves on:

By the way, the Wild helped tie an NHL record last night.

Unfortunately, Wild captain Mikko Koivu was taken to the hospital after a hard slide into the boards in which he may have hit his head. He was expected to fly home with the team last night. [ESPN]

The Florida Panthers and Jaromir Jagr are officially on a tear: No. 68 scored again as the Cats grabbed their 10th straight victory in last night’s contest against the Buffalo Sabres. [NHL]

Is Jagr the greatest 43-year-old athlete in any sport, ever? Matt Larkin makes some comparisons. (Bonus video: Nolan Ryan famously teaching a beating to Robin Ventura.) [The Hockey News]

Also in The Hockey News: Shane Doan and Jarome Iginla were the glittering prizes of the 1995 NHL draft, and they’re still going strong 20 years later. [THN]

Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin are among the great goal scorers of their generation. They’re also much, much tougher than they get credit for being, says Thomas Drance.

Calgary Flames goalie Karri Ramo is roaring back from a rough start to the season and extended his shutout streak to a personal-best 152 minutes, 55 seconds in last night’s victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. [CBC]

In 2013, Steve Yzerman drafted Jonathan Drouin with visions of playing him on a line with Steven Stamkos. Now, the Lightning are in danger of losing both. But Elliotte Friedman warns other GMs not to get cocky about their chances of scooping up Drouin on the cheap. (Two words: Tyler Seguin.) [Sportsnet]

Meanwhile, Drouin has reported to the Bolts’ AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, and held a “brief and seemingly painful” media availability yesterday – his first since his request for a trade was announced. [Syracuse Post-Standard]

The World Junior Championships got real, y’all. Check out Derek’s recap of the medal rounds, and this stunning morsel of information from Russian hockey blogger Slava Malamud.

Meanwhile, the Agonizing Reappraisal has begun after Canada’s early exit from the field. Gare Joyce points to a lack of accountability among the teenagers charged with carrying the Maple Leaf to glory, although you may find yourself side-eyeing his absolution of the national sports media and their role in building expectations. [Sportsnet]

Team USA ended up with bronze after defeating Sweden 8-3, and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Zach Werenski ended up with tournament honors.

And Sweden’s superstar William Nylander talked to the media about the ugly play (and apparent concussion) that took him out of the tournament.

In AHL action, the Texas Stars drove the Ontario Reign to overtime, but dropped the game in extra minutes, 3-2. [Texas Stars]

Finally: Veteran NHL linesman Mike Cvik ended his 29-year career last night with the Flames-Lightning match in the Saddledome. Global News Calgary sports reporter Lisa MacGregor captured this video of the standing ovation he received. Enjoy. [Calgary Sun]

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