The Dallas Stars threw a few scares into their fans on Halloween, but as it turned out, that was just part of the fun as they took down the San Jose Sharks 5-3. The takeaway: As well as the Stars have been playing, there’s even more room at the top.
Yesterday afternoon’s alternately hair-raising and exhilarating win “was nothing like any other game this season, and yet it was a lot like most of them,” as Mike Heika writes.
“I think we’re more resilient,” said Stars defenseman Jason Demers, who had a goal and an assist. “We’ve really done a great job in third periods. We made some mistakes in the first two periods, but we really seemed to clamp down hard, so that’s a huge thing to be doing at the start of the year. It’s good that we have this third-period resilience right now.”
Vernon Fiddler gave his own perspective after a great night in which he and Antoine Roussel each racked up a goal and two assists and were named second and first Stars of the Game, respectively:
“Last year, when we got scored on, the whole bench was shoulders down to their knees,” Fiddler said. “That’s one thing I think the guys have done a good job on; whatever happens, you just regroup on the bench after the goal. You go forward whether we scored or they scored. We came out in the third and capitalized on our opportunities.”
Read the rest at Heika’s blog. [SportsDayDFW]
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The Stars will leave for their upcoming road trip without injured forwards Patrick Eaves, Travis Moen and Curtis McKenzie. [DMN]
Razor posted a new Emporium last night, and OMG what a Halloweener. This is awesome.
And Antti Niemi loves the smell of Shark in the afternoon: “[I]t tastes a little better than a normal win.” [DMN]
Do you love Antoine Roussel? So do his French people. If you read the language (or at least have Google Translate), here’s a nice article on Rooster’s career-high three-point game. [L’Equipe]
As of this morning, the Stars are alone in first place at the top of the toughest division in hockey. Allan Muir says it’s because they’ve stopped finding ways to lose and started creating ways to win. [Sports Illustrated]
What are the three biggest surprises of the Stars’ fast start? Ed Sarno offers his take. [The Hockey Writers]
Phil Kessel was his former team’s worst nightmare yesterday as the Pittsburgh Penguins shut out the Toronto Maple Leafs in their own house. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
Stay classy, Toronto: The Leafs didn’t bother with a tribute video for their erstwhile leading scorer, apparently as part of a brand-new policy they just came up with. Kris Letang took exception.
Kris Letang was not impressed by the lack of a tribute for Phil Kessel in Toronto. https://t.co/41pmtYLm44 pic.twitter.com/Her7TN5bt3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 1, 2015
Meanwhile, what are we to make of the slow start by Sidney Crosby and a few other superstars? NHL Fantasy Insider Matt Cubeta talks about it. [NHL]
Elsewhere, Henrik Zetterberg hit some big milestones – 500 career assists, 800 career points – in the Detroit Red Wings‘ Halloween victory over the Ottawa Senators. [Detroit Free Press]
Auston Matthews has suffered an upper-body injury that could keep him from playing for the United States in the upcoming Deutschland Cup. [NHL]
Is it too early in the season to wonder if it’s already too late for these teams? Ryan Dadoun discusses.
How much trouble are the Ducks, Flames, Jackets in? https://t.co/5ANzvHnlRM pic.twitter.com/spC7xvjCNT
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) October 31, 2015
But before you start clucking your tongue over the Flames, remember that they just won the Battle of Alberta on the back of a Michael Frolik hat trick. (The Oilers, as it turns out, are still pretty bad.) [FOX Sports]
On the other hand, Calgary have also lost netminder Jonas Hiller for at least a week. Lower-body injury is no joke, kids. [NHL]
Speaking of the Battle of Alberta, which I just was, it has a long and fractious history, and Sportsnet will be happy to elaborate.
#GottaSeeIt – The Battle of Alberta has been going on for 35 years, and history just keeps getting added to it: https://t.co/QqHZlI9Rfs
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 1, 2015
Climate change is poised to wreck any number of nice things, and hockey could be one of them. Fortunately, the sport can also be part of the solution, and here’s how. [The Hockey News]
On a lighter note, THN has also put together a list of 10 hockey teams whose everyday jerseys are in a constant state of Halloween-readiness. Please note their warning that this post contains “nightmare fuel” and proceed at your own risk. [THN]
Finally: One last look at #HockeyHalloween, as several NHL’ers (including Tyler Seguin) talk about the things that scare them most. I’m not saying sharks are a recurring theme, but I’m not saying they aren’t.