First Night in Dallas
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The Dallas Stars hosted the San Jose Sharks last evening. On the surface an early season Pacific Division match up may not be the stuff that one circles and says "I gotta watch that one," but two things drew me in to watch this game. Firstly Mike Modano is chasing the all time points record for an American born player. The current record of 1,232 points is held by Phil Housley who is most remembered as a very skilled offensive defenseman who toiled for teams like the Winnipeg Jets and Buffalo Sabres. Secondly, San Jose Sharks forward Jeremy Roenick is just 1 goal away from the 500 goal plateau. Two American born players on the cusp of some pretty impressive career accomplishments.
The game was quite entertaining with the Sharks scoring 3 goals in a span of 2:51 in the third period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 victory. However, it wasn't the veterans mentioned above who made the evening for me, it was two players each scoring their first NHL goals. Matt Niskanen of the Dallas Stars and Devin Setoguchi of the Sharks were the players who had me smiling from ear to ear.
Niskanen a defenseman who hails from Virginia, MN and was the Stars 1st round pick in the 2005 NHL Draft scored his first ever NHL goal at the 5:14 mark of the second period. Niskanen took a pass from Modano and released a shot from just inside the blue line that deflected off a Sharks player and beat goalie Evgeni Nabokov. That goal gave the Stars a 2-1 lead, a lead that would not last.
Setoguchi, from Taber, AB, is a right wing who was also a 1st round pick in the 2005 draft. The Sharks had Setoguchi playing on a line with Joe Thornton. Setoguchi who did make the Sharks out of the preseason had to be sent down to the AHL because he had rolled his ankle in the Sharks final preseason tune up. The third period last night is when Setoguchi made his breakthrough. Setoguchi scored his first ever NHL goal at 11:53 of the third period that goal evened the score at 2-2. It only took Setoguchi another 2:34 to notch his second as he recieved a pass from Joe Thornton and beat Stars goalie Marty Turco.
What a fantastic evening. A night in which I was hoping to see history from two of the game's great players and ambassadors turned into a celebration of the young players of the game. Stuff like that, for me anyways, makes watching the NHL rewarding and worthwhile.
