Stars do the Wild Thing, defeat Minnesota in a shootout
| 10
|
by user UNT66
Saturday Night at American Airlines Center, the Dallas Stars snapped a three game losing streak, beating the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in a Shootout Victory.
After both teams managed on three goals in regulation and failed to mark the scoresheet in the overtime period, Dallas scored on all three attempts in the shootout and Marty Turco made one save, giving Dallas a 3-1 shootout win and a 4-3 overall victory.
With the win, the Stars start the 4 game homestand with a victory and look to carry some momentum into Monday Night's titanic clash with the San Jose Sharks.
Notes:
Injury Bug:
The Stars are dealing with some injury issues at the moment. Here are the list of players who were out of the game on Saturday Night:
Brenden Morrow (Groin Strain), Projected to be back versus San Jose on Monday
Steve Ott (Ankle), Scheduled back by Christmas
Mathias Tjarnqvist, Healthy Scratch
Antti Miettinen (Lower Body Injury), Status Uncertain
Jaroslav Modry , Scratched
Due to the injuries, players have been called up from Iowa (AHL) to fill the void. Defenseman Niklas Grossman and Forward Vojtech Polak played their first NHL games of the season and Loui Eriksson scored his first career goal at AAC.
Thus, the Iowa connection helped the Stars break their losing streak and helped fill the void until the regulars come back into the lineup.
Special Teams:
Dallas won 1-0, shutting down one of the best power play units in the NHL and gave their struggling Power Play a jolt, as they marked the scoresheet once.
For the Stars to string a couple wins during this spell with the Injury Bug, their special teams must be outstanding. Saturday Night's 1-0 edge was a step in the right direction, as the Sharks and their 1-2 punch of Thornton and Cheechoo will be lethal on special teams on Monday Night.
Goal or No Goal:
In the 3rd Period when the Wild lead 3-2 during one of their power plays, there was a shot that at first seemed to be stopped by Marty Turco. Yet, if you look at the play in detail, the puck crosses the line and should have counted, giving the visitors a two goal lead.
Yet, no review was called and play continued, giving the visitors no shot to contest that call.
I give credit to Wild Head Coach Jacques LeMaire for leading his team to nearly defeating the Stars on the second of back-to-back nights...... But, if he calls timeout before the puck is dropped after that play, the video replay crew might want to stop play and look at it again, giving his team reason to hope for a two goal lead.
Philippe Boucher:
As he is dealing with a sick father who could pass away at any moment, Philippe Boucher is able to carry all that emotion on the ice and play some great hockey recently. With the opening goal for the Stars, he scored 4 goals in his last two games at the AAC.
For all the silly things that can happen during hockey games, Boucher's ability to focus on the puck when his family is dealing with health and death is extraordinary.
Shootouts:
Stars are now 2-2 in the shootout this season, scoring on every attempt with a new hero stepping up as Mike Ribeiro schooled Wild Goalie Niklas Backstrom, giving the home team in goal in every round.
If you want to see dominance, stick around for the shootout as the Stars are money nearly every time.
JG
