STARS WIN!
With the help of the Matt Duchene line and an upgraded power play, the Dallas Stars got back on track with a much-needed win in a Central Division clash with the Colorado Avalanche. There’s no love lost between these teams, and they provided the spectacle that the folks at TNT were hoping for in this “Thanksgiving Showdown”
First period.
“Oh boy, I can’t wait to wipe Wednesday’s game from my mind!” was my thought process upon turning this game on. Within the first minute, Logan O’Conner dispossessed Esa Lindell directly in front of Jake Oettinger as the puck fluttered to the stick of Nathan MacKinnon (gulp). MacKinnon rifled a shot off the right post and immediately shot his own rebound into the stomach of Jake Oettinger. So it’s gonna be like THAT then. The 4th line had a really nice few cycles in the minutes following, which resulted in Colin Blackwell getting a look in the high slot, which was fired off Sam Malinski’s stick.
On back-to-back possessions, MacKinnon skated down the slot to fire at Jake’s glove and Cale Makar skated his way past Robo to get a backhand look at Jake’s blocker, which was immediately parried by the right hand of the Minnesotan tendy. Lots of action in the first four minutes, which looked to be continuing when Nikolai Kovalenko was called for a hold and the Stars received their first power play of the game.
I was not as excited as I should have been in this moment, mainly because of the way that Colorado likes to sell out of short-handed rushes on the PK – something Dallas has been extremely susceptible to in the early part of this year. The first line couldn’t establish possession, and the Duchene PP came on with 40ish seconds left. What originally looked to be a lost puck in the middle of Colorado’s zone was possessed by an outstretched Mason Marchment. Mush shoveled the puck over to Tyler Seguin, who one-timed the pass while going down to a knee in the low slot. MAN it felt good to see a Tyler Seguin power play one-timer again (specifically down on a knee made me feel something). Stars lead 1-0.
The Duchene line continues to look like the consistently most dangerous group on the ice for the stars, as Mason Marchment rifled a cross-zone pass to Duchene, who almost put it under the glove of Georgiev.
Gotta love the way Jamie Benn wins faceoffs. Random, but not appreciated enough.
Wyatt Johnston called for a trip in the Avs zone as the loaded PP group for colorado gets their first look of the game. Mikko Rantanen fired a shot directly in Jake’s glove, but got a very similar shot after a won faceoff that he clanked off the left post. The puck came off the post high in the air, when Rantanen hit it in between jake’s pads, and Valeri Nichushkin slotted the bouncing puck into the net to level the score at 1. Gotta hand it to Rantanen, the coordination to get that puck through Jake’s 5 hole while in midair was impressive to say the least.
Mush and Miro manufactured an odd-man rush minutes later, where Miro had his first attempt parried, but fired a rebound off the back of Alexander Georgiev’s left leg to regain the lead. Miro looked like he was shot out of a CANNON on this rush, and Marchment continues to put himself in the middle of positive plays.
Stars got on the power play again, and Pete put the Duchene group out to begin. But they couldn’t reproduce the same magic as earlier, with some failed zone entries.
Rantanen let go of his stick in between the arms of Blackwell and drew a holding penalty … sigh. Dallas did a great job of leaving forwards pretty high to cut off zone entries for the first minute of the PK, limiting possession for the majority.
Score: DAL 2, COL 1
Second Period.
Stars started the second period with a chance created by a puck win on the half wall and a great cut from the point by Nils Lundkvist. Up until this point in the game I’ve seen Nils out with Esa and Miro with Lyubushkin – although they were rolling 5 for a good chunk of the game, with Alex Petrovic taking the least amount of shifts. Signing Nils in the offseason was puzzling to many with the way he was utilized (or not utilized) in last year’s playoffs, but its been great seeing the progress that he has made in the offseason as he looks to be gaining trust from the coaching staff.
Almost halfway through the period, a blocked shot in the Stars’ defensive zone led to a fast break the other way by Sam Steel. Jamie Benn was just ahead of him, and reached his left skate all the way back to stay onside. Steel passed to a trailing Miro across the zone, who had a shot blocked with the rebound bouncing directly to Benn, who feathered the puck into the empty net. PUCK. LUCK. BABY.
The Avs have been getting their fair share of shots in this game, but the majority of the high danger chances have been for the Stars.
A little over halfway through the period, Ivan Ivan (lol) tripped Miro and gave the sputtering Dallas PowerPlay another look, until Jamie Benn decided to play chess instead of checkers and hooked Cale Makar 20 seconds into the PP. Can’t give up a shorty if you’re 4v4! Wyatt, Roope, and Miro immediately generated a rush on the 4v4.
Seconds after the 4v4 and subsequest Avs PowerPlay ended, Alexander Petrovic was called for Tripping. The stars PK stood tall and ceded possesion but not many high danger scoring chances – very well done by the unit.
ANOTHER penalty, my word – Devon Toews stumbled and let his stick come upwards, hitting former Oscar winner Mason Marchment in the face.
THIS is exactly what I want to see from the Stars powerplay! Jason Robertson skated the puck upwards into the high slot and did not pass when defenders didn’t commit to playing the body. He kept possession long enough for the Avs defenders to respect him, and then immediately moved the puck down to Jamie Benn, who immediately sent a pass over to Wyatt Johnston. The defense over-rotated to Waytt, so he moved it to an open Roope Hintz staring directly at the front of goal who slotted it home. THIS is what we have been wanting and hoping from this group. The days of running everything via the point need to yield so that plays like this can be run. Well done from the first unit.
Score: DAL 4, COL 1
Third Period.
In the first minute of the third period, Samuel Girard connected on a deflected stretch pass to MacKinnon. MacKinnon sent a fluttered saucer pass to Artturi Lehkonen, who shot the puck under Jake’s right leg as his pads weren’t down in butterfly.
The Stars sustained some pressure throughout the period until Makar skated into the zone and drew most of the defense. He skated and turned and skated and turned again before rifling a cross-zone pass to Rantanen, who elevated the puck past Jake’s left shoulder. 4-3.
A few minutes later the Stars were called for tripping and escaped a nervy PK with the lead intact.
The Stars were mostly content to dump and chase for the rest of the third period to protect their lead, even though it was slightly frustrating to watch us cede possession to a team with this kind of offensive firepower.
Jared Bednar pulled Georgiev for a faceoff in the Dallas zone with 2:50 left. And what line was on the ice for the Stars? Nice. Mush dispossessed Cale Makar after he mishandled a point to point pass and fired the puck into the empty net from behind the midline. 5-3.
Colorado won the ensuing faceoff and pulled Georgiev again, hoping to score two and level the game. The Stars stayed compact and cleared the puck when needed to secure the victory.
Takeaways:
– Tyler Seguin, Matt Duchene, and Mason Marchment should never be split up
– More of this power play please
– I continue to be impressed by this version of Nils Lundqvist
– Somebody play Pantera!