Stars fall in Game 7, 4-1, Offseason Starts Today
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by user UNT66
Monday Night at GM Place, The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Dallas Stars in game 7, 4-1. With the win, the Canucks won the best of seven series four games to three games, ending the Dallas Stars season.
The Canucks will start their second round series later this week with the Anaheim Ducks.
In Game 7, The Stars started the scoring as Joel Lundqvist scored his second goal of the playoffs in the 1st period.
Vancouver responded in the 2nd period with a power play goal from Henrik Sedin, tying the score at 1-1.
In the third period, the hosts took the lead on the power play, as Trevor Linden redirected a slap shot just past the goal line, giving the Canucks a 2-1 lead.
In the late stages of the 3rd period, Dallas pulled their goaltender looking to tie the game, but only saw Mike Modano hit the crossbar on a wide open net.
The Canucks then added two empty net goals and pushed the game out of reach for the visitors, clinching a 4-1 victory and the series.
Notes:
Turco sharp, but not sharp enough...
After getting three shutouts in the series, Marty Turco forced a Game 7 with outstanding play from a netminder that was prone to playoff failures.
Yet, the cure for the Canucks was going on the power play, as they scored their first two goals of the contest with the extra man.
Thus, the special teams battle proved to be enough for the Canucks to advance to the second round.
Stars Offense Needs a Jump...
Once Again, the first team to two goals in this series won the contest, as the Stars only mustered one goal in the first period.
Thus, the Stars must improve their offense production as they were unable to score goals when it mattered most and could not break out during the regular season, scoring the fewest goals of any team that qualified for the NHL Playoffs.
Cap Room Might Be A Problem:
Currently, the Stars Cap Room is Only $367,000 and could be limited thanks to decision in free agency. For more on the Stars cap situation, go to this website: http://www.nhlnumbers.com/dal.html
-Ribeiro, Jokinen and Miettinen are restricted free agents
-Lindros, Barnes, Nagy, Barnaby, Klemm and Sydor are unrestricted free agents
-Plus, factor in possible retirement talk for Modano and Zubov and this roster could be reworked in September. Serious decision will be made to keep veterans, or to go to the kids in the minors that helped the Stars in December and January when the injury bug was it's peak.
Think about this: It could be a rebuilding year if the young players are given a shot to play on the NHL Level and if that's the case, the Stars may look and play how the Kings and Coyotes (Stars were 15-1-0 versus LA and PHX) did this past season.
JG
