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Dallas Stars Daily Links: The Stars Win Game of Risk During “Wild and Crazy” Victory Over Jets

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

The Dallas Stars came back from the All-Star break with a pretty good start to the rest of their season – a road win against a divisional opponent. They beat Dustin Byfuglien, a physical-as-ever Winnipeg Jets squad and (arguably) the referees during a 5-3 win that showcased much of the fast and occasionally frantic play that delivered the goods so convincingly in the season’s first half.

The game included the rare three-on-none goal, a shot from Tyler Seguin that was so fast that officials didn’t at first see it go in, and a 21-save performance by Antti Niemi that might have been one of his best performances of the season.

All in all, it was sort of the Stars that we got used to in the first three months of the season. Yes, they were risky, but they fell on the right side of the risk.

Seguin got his game back in a big way, cooking up two delicious donuts for the hungry Stars – including his 100th in Victory Green.

That goal was important for a lot of reasons. One, it showed that the Stars power play could be effective. While it wasn’t officially a power play goal, the man advantage moved the puck and scored. Two, it clearly was a huge weight off the back of Seguin, who came on later and scored on the power play for what would prove to be the game-winner.

“It’s real important,” Ruff said. “We talked this morning about starting fresh. I thought his one-on-one play, his battle, was better. I thought he had some really good looks on the power play.”

There’s always more at Heika’s place. Go have a look. [SportsDayDFW]

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Even the NHL needs a snow day every now and then: The league has extended the regular season by one day to make up the games postponed by the recent East Coast blizzard.

Jamie Oleksiak returned to the lineup in Winnipeg and talked to Mike Heika about the tough competition for the Stars’ defensive slots. [SportsDayDFW]

The Stars will play nearly half of their remaining 30-plus games over the next four weeks. Josh Bogorad takes a look at what they have to do to survive and thrive in the second half. [On the Radar]

Last night in All Death, All the Time:

If you forgot about hockey during the All-Star break, you can catch last weekend’s “Stars Sunday” broadcast online.

Connor McDavid notched a goal and two assists in his first game since November as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1. [Sportsnet]

Sidney Crosby snapped his own scoring drought with a natural hat trick in the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 6-5 win over the Ottawa Senators. [CBC]

Calgary Flames star Johnny Gaudreau has some advice for the little kids who want to play hockey in the latest great Players’ Tribune piece.

After beating the Boston Bruins 4-3 in overtime, the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrated by revealing a new logo.

In anticipation of the reveal, Steve Dangle posted this brief yet informative video on the history of all those earlier logos you just saw.

Damien Cox offers a contrarian opinion on the Dennis Wideman suspension. [Sportsnet]

And a Colorado jury has awarded Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov $126,608 in a civil suit stemming from domestic violence charges filed by his former girlfriend. [Puck Daddy]

Terrible news from the Russian U18 league: 16-year-old Metallurg Novokuznetsk captain Alexander Orekhov has died of injuries he sustained after being hit in the neck with a puck during a January 14 game against Sibir Novosibirsk.

Finally: Unlikely All-Star John Scott is looking at offers ranging from endorsements to a movie bio (and even has his own cheeky casting ideas). But in the meantime, enjoy this John Scott celly snowman,

Talking Points