Stars start 2007 with a loss, fall to the Canucks 2-1
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by user UNT66
After getting humbled in their last game of 2006, the Dallas Stars started 2007 on the road looking to change any negative momentum.
Yet, the Stars lost a game in an unlikely fashion, via the shootout. Canucks Goaltender Roberto Loungo made 5 of 6 saves in the shootout and Canucks forwards Brenden Morrison and Ryan Kesler scored on Stars goaltender Marty Turco, giving the Stars their first loss past regulation this season. Only Stars forward Jussi Jokinen scored on Roberto Loungo in the shootout, scoring on a move that made Loungo look silly. Yet, Jokinen was the only Stars shooter to score, giving Dallas only one point in the standings on Wednesday Night.....
After a 1-1 tie through 60 minutes of play, the Stars and Canucks could not mark the scoresheet in the 5 minute overtime session. Thus, the shootout was required and the hosts pulled it out, winning the shootout and the game 2-1.
In Regulation, Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund scored on the power play two seconds from the end of the 1st period, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead. Ten Minutes into the Second Period, Stars forward Loui Eriksson scored on a breakaway goal, knotting the game at 1-1.
With the Overtime loss, the Stars gained a point in the Standings, but will not look at the result in a favorable manner.
With less then two minutes left in overtime, the Stars had a power play where they could have won the game. Yet, the Canucks defense and Roberto Loungo rose to the challenge, pushing the game to a shootout where they ultimately won the game.
For the Stars, they will look to tonight for their first victory of 2007 as they travel to Edmonton to take on the pesky Oilers at Rexall Place.
Notes:
Injury Bug kills Stars again:
-For all the talk of the offense struggling for the Stars due to players like Modano and Morrow being out of the lineup, their absence killed this team when they could have stepped and taken shots at Roberto Loungo in the shootout.
Last Year, Both Modano and Morrow won games in the shootout, helping the Stars win their division last year.
Last Night, instead of Modano and Morrow stepping up for their team, Loui Eriksson and Stu Barnes were called to win the game when the shootout went to sudden death. Unfortunately, neither player could score, allowing the hosts to win the game....
Special Teams:
The Stars have depended on their power play to help their struggling offense fight through the current Injury Bug. Yet, the Canucks won the special teams battle 1-0, giving the hosts their only goal of the game in regulation.
For the Stars to bounce back at Edmonton, power play goals will have to be scored or else the same fate, a loss or overtime loss, awaits the team when they skate in Alberta later tonight....
JG
Yet, I will say that every game he has been in the lineup, he has been an impact player on the physical side.
The signing has been a positive one overall, as he gives the team a big body that was gone when Jason Arnott bolted for Nashville