| The Dallas Stars' power play finally broke through
and among those leading the charge was defenseman
Stephane Robidas.
Robidas, who had seen only a total of 3:14 of
power play time in the first three games, logged 5:02 of
PP time Saturday night and delivered.
He had three power play assists, all of them primary
helpers and all of them coming off putting shots towards
the net.
"He's been shooting the puck and getting it past
guys, and that's a little easier said than done," Stars
goalie Marty Turco told the AP. "But Stephane's always
been a warrior and a heart-and-soul guy for us. We're
happy for him that he is getting points, but we know
what he means to us nightly. And that's the most
important thing."
Stars captain Brenden Morrow scored two goals off
Robidas' shots - one of a deflection and another off a
rebound. Mike Ribeiro had a Robidas shot go off this
skate and into the net. Ribeiro also had two power play
assist.
The penalty kill was good against an out of sync
Kings power play. Part of that had to do with the Stars
aggressive play, which frustrated the Kings in both
games. The Stars allowed a late power play goal
Saturday, but was 7-8 on the night and 15-16 in the
two-game series against the Kings.
"That's a big credit to our defensemen. They're
getting in a lot of lanes and blocking shots and
clearing the pucks that do get through to Marty," center
Steve Ott said. "But our best penalty killer is Marty
Turco. When that guy stands on his head night in and
night out, you're going to be 4-0."
Stu Barnes was particularly strong on the PK,
coming up with several nice plays in the defensive zone
to thwart the Kings attack.
The Stars depth was evident on this night. Mike
Modano and Eric Lindros were quiet. So was Sergei Zubov,
who still is looking for his first point of the season.
But other players like Robidas and Ribeiro filled the
void. And Morrow continued chugging along, pushing his
team-leading goal total to four.
"Our depth is incredible. We're probably one of the
deepest teams in the league," Ott said. "We roll four
lines nightly, and every guy can score, can hit and can
fight. We've got a good competitive lineup that pushes
each of the other lines."
The two wins over the Kings were impressive. The next
two games on the trip should provide better tests.
First up will be Sunday evening's game in Anaheim.
The Stars should be in good shape despite playing on
successive nights.
Stars coach Dave Tippett did a nice job balancing out
the playing time of his players. He could afford to do
that when you build an early lead and then are able to
expand it a little bit past the midway point in the
game.
You can also do that when everybody you throw out
there is doing his job. And right now that is what the
Stars are getting. A total team effort from Turco on
out. That's why the 4-0-0 start. Take away that first
two periods in the first game against Colorado, and this
team has outscored its opponents 14-3 over the last 13
periods of hockey. That's impressive.
And that should make Sunday's game in Anaheim
and Tuesday's tilt in San Jose intriguing contests since
both the Ducks and Sharks are off to solid starts as
well. |