Stars-Rangers thoughts
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
So much for my thought that this would be a tight game, eh? Actually it was until late in the second period. The turning point was the Stars killing off that 1:45 five-on-three with the score 3-2 and then Mike Ribeiro scoring a short time later (with some big time help from Steve Ott on the forecheck) to make it a 4-2 game. That was huge and then the rout was on in the third period.
I thought another big turning point was that Scott Gomez turnover in front of the net that led to the Brian Sutherby goal right after Nikolai Zherdev put the Rangers up 1-0.
But overall, the Stars were just the better team from start to finish in this one. It was a good bounce back win after the loss in Denver and they picked up two crucial points. Those points moved them into 5th place in the West.
I felt bad for Rangers backup goalie Stephen Valiquette there in the third period. It was just goal after goal after goal. He wasn’t getting a ton of help out there. I’ve seen him enough to know that he’s a pretty good goalie and usually plays well when called upon by the Rangers. It was rough one for him.
The Stars practice tomorrow in Frisco and then it’s Nashville on Sunday. The Predators are playing well. They beat Minnesota 2-0 Friday night to make it four straight wins and five of six. So they are making a push right now.
Anyway, the highlights of the 10-2 rout from NHL.com. Watch Brunnstrom on that last Neal goal, the 10th one, he gets a little tangled up. He was hobbling going off the ice but I don’t know how serious it is. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if there’s anything to it:
