In NHL preseason games, the rule has always been that a minimum of 10 veteran players have to be dressed on any given game night. Presumably this was partly due to the fact that preseason games cost the same as regular season tickets and nobody wants to watch a bunch of players they don’t recognize, and also to help entice people to actually attend preseason games (if the lure of hockey being back in your city wasn’t a big enough draw, of course).
With the World Cup of Hockey tournament going on right now, the NHL lifted that rule. It’s led to opportunities for teams to put together rosters that look almost nothing like what they’ll have in the regular season.
That’s how the Dallas Stars ended up with Antoine Roussel as the most tenured forward playing tonight. (If that is the case during the regular season, something catastrophic has happened to the depth the Dallas Stars are so envied for on the front end.)
First Period
In the first period, Curtis McKenzie and Brett Ritchie were the two names most mentioned by the Colorado Avalanche radio broadcast team. It seemed that the Stars and Avs traded chances, with the Stars taking a 13-8 lead in shots on goal in the first period. While the Stars had a goal waived off due to goaltender interference, the Avalanche made theirs stick and took a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard after the first period.
What stood out the most in the first period was the praise the Avalanche broadcasters heaped on the Dallas Stars. They noted how scary good the offense on this team is, the depth they have up front, the youth coming up on the blueline, and (of course) the questions in goal the Stars will face this season. At one point they commented on how fast the Stars can move the puck and how speedy the team is.
Second Period
Seven seconds into the period, Radek Faksa made his presence known.
Not to be outshone, Antoine Roussel hacked at Jarome Iginla on the ensuing faceoff. Iginla did not take kindly to the action, and the two exchanged pleasantries in the form of Mr. Lefty and Mr. Righty.
The remainder of the second period was a fairly chippy affair.
Faksa would score a second time after a breakaway play led to a rebound shot that Ritchie shot back at Calvin Pickard, who then shot it out front and off of Faksa’s noggin to give the Stars a 2-1 lead in just about six minutes of play in the second period.
The Avalanche and Stars players traded crosschecks and face washes after the play was whistled down in the middle frame. A second fight would occur after Andrew Bodnarchuk was flattened with a big hit and Cody McLeod answers the bell rung by Adam Cracknell in response.
Impressively, the Stars put together a second game in a row in which they limited the opposing team to 15 or less shots on goal through two periods while putting up 23 or more shots on goal themselves. That’s worth watching to see if this is a system change made by the coaching staff for the coming season – and if the Stars can continue that trend.
Third Period
Noted Stars killer Francois Beauchemin scored 16 seconds into the third period to tie the game at 2-2.
Cody McLeod may have earned the “Most Wanted Enemy” label early in the contest with his hard charge on Bodnarchuk, but Gabriel Bourque gave him a run for his money with a boarding of Gemel Smith in the third period.
The more experienced lineup of the Avalanche ultimately overpowered the younger, greener Stars lineup to beat them 4-2, including an empty net goal scored when Phillippe Desrosiers was pulled.
For the second game in a row, the Stars managed to keep themselves fairly disciplined and drew nearly twice as many penalties as they committed. It’s another trend to keep an eye on. The negative to that is that they aren’t clicking on the power play yet (not completely unexpected considering most of the top power play threats of the Stars have yet to play a preseason game together). As well, the team reverted back to their bad habits developed towards the end of last season with several dangerous shorthanded chances against – highlighted by one forgettable 3-on-1 chance for the Avalanche early in the game.
The Stars are now 1-1 in the (very young) preseason.