Andrew's Dallas Stars Blog

Stars-Hurricanes thoughts

I know on a night when the goalie gets a shutout and makes some big saves at key times he’s the story of the game, but I really thought the man for the Stars tonight was Brenden Morrow. He gets in a fight 25 seconds into the game and that just seemed to pull everybody else along into the game. Even saw Brad Richards engaging in a few shoving matches out there. Morrow was parked in front of the net on both Dallas goals, assisting on one and coming close to scoring on the other. He had seven hits and was just a force out there tonight. That was leadership. He was outstanding.

As for the goalie, he was very good too. Marty Turco came up with some big stops when the game was 1-0 and then a couple of big ones on that five-on-three Carolina power play in the third period. That was a key juncture of the game and he got some help from Loui Eriksson, Mark Fistric, Stephane Robidas and others. That was a big kill.

Both goals came on the power play. It was another game where special teams were key and the Stars were on the right side of the equation on this night. The power play looks good right now and it’s producing. Pucks and people are getting to the net and it’s adding up to goals. Brad Richards’ ability to get pucks through to the net is a big part of it and it was again tonight.

Steve Ott was good tonight too, drew a penalty leading to that first power play goal and had some excellent scoring chances.

On the Ray Whitney goal, my initial reaction was that it wasn’t a goal (and that was before any replay). I thought he kicked it in and I didn’t think it hit his stick. It was a lot closer than I thought on looking at the replay a few times and it was a tough call for the Hurricanes, but I think it was the right one. That was a huge moment in the game too. That goal counts and who knows how it plays out from there.

Anyway, it was a good solid effort following the New Jersey game and it was a second consecutive win, something that’s been a challenge for them this season. Good goaltending and winning the special teams battle is going to add up to wins on most nights and that’s what happened tonight.

No Nicklas Grossman tonight. He’s got a groin injury and is day-to-day. Looks like his status is up in the air for Wednesday. 

Monday morning skate

It looks like the Stars will roll out the same lineup tonight that they used Saturday against New Jersey.

Injuyr update: Both Fabian Brunnstrom (shoulder) and Brian Sutherby (groin) were on the ice for the morning skate and both will go through a full practice tomorrow in Frisco. Marc Crawford said Brunnstrom is the closer of the two and Brunnstrom is hoping he will be available for selection by the next game.

Scoring change: There’s been a scoring change on the first goal from Saturday night. The goal still goes to Warren Peters. The assists are now Stephane Robidas and Tom Wandell. Originally it was Peters from Robidas and Petersen. 

Stars-Devils photos

Shannon Byrne was at Saturday’s Stars-Devils game and took some photos, which you can find here.

The main page of all her photos from home games and practices is located here. 

Stars-Devils thoughts

That was a good win for the Stars. Although they haven’t been able to string wins together, they have been pretty good at bouncing back from losses. They did again tonight. The Stars are now 5-0-1 in games following regulation losses. In other words, they have yet to lose two in a row in regulation. They are resilient and they showed some good resiliency in this game.

That first goal by Brian Rolston 55 seconds could be big trouble against a team like New Jersey, but the Stars bounced back quickly thanks to Warren Peters going to the net and getting his stick on a Stephane Robidas shot to tie the game. After New Jersey tied the game in the third, rallying from a 3-1 deficit, the Stars bounced back again. This time with some good pressure by the top line and then Brad Richards making a spectacular pass to Tom Wandell, who went to the net and scored off the rebound of his own shot.

They did a nice job of creating some quality chances, including some nice ones on their two power play goals in the first period. They chased Yann Danis from the game after the first period, but I don’t think Danis was that bad. He had little chance on the Stars’ chances, which were good ones. Nice move by Jacques Lemaire to bring in Martin Brodeur. He made some big saves and that helped the Devils turn things around and tie the game, but the Stars finally cracked his armor and got the two points.

There were some excellent individual performances. Robidas was big offensively with two goals and two assists, but he was great at the other end too. He did a nice job against Zach Parise, a talented player who had been on a roll offensively.

Richards was outstanding, picking up four points - all assists - in the game. He was a pretty determined player on that shift that resulted in Wandell’s game-winning goal and the shift where Robidas scored his second goal to extend the lead to 5-3.

Mike Ribeiro had a good game as well, scoring a power play goal and making a slick pass to set up Robidas’ first goal, which came on the power play.

Mike Modano had his points streak stopped, but he played another solid game and was dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 10 of 15.

Tom Wandell was a nice fit on the left wing with Richards and Loui Eriksson and scored a big goal.

I thought Peters had a solid game. He got a big goal, won five of seven faceoffs and had four hits. That preseason injury sidetracked Peters but he got up to speed with the Texas Stars and can be a good player to have around when the Dallas Stars need him in the NHL. He’s a good fourth line type guy.

Now that they’ve bounced back and won a game the next step is to follow it up with a win. Carolina comes to town next and despite their lackluster record the Hurricanes have played well lately. They had a big comeback win the other night over Toronto and beat Tampa Bay Saturday night. They are missing Cam Ward and Eric Staal, but they still have some pretty good players in their lineup. There are no easy games in the NHL and this one won’t be any different. 

Friday practice photos

Shannon Bryne was out at Friday’s practice in Frisco and took a few pictures. You can find them here.

What do you think Neal’s suspension?