Last Night In Texas Hockey: The Stars Score 5 Goals to Win!

Last Night In Texas Hockey: The Stars Score 5 Goals to Win! In a tough matchup against Columbus, the Stars found a way to win 5 straight. In the first game since Nils Lundkvist and Tyler Seguin went on LTIR and the trade for Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci the Stars looked like a Cup contender more than I’ve seen this season.

First Period Thoughts

The game started off super well in comparison to a lot of games this season. The Stars gave up a wide open net to the Blue Jackets, but they missed the net. Otherwise the first six and a half minutes of the game were primarily spent in their offensive zone.

The Stars recorded six shots on net and had a handful of really, really good looks. Unfortunately, no goals were scored and Columbus turned the game on its head immediately with another wide open net.

After going down 1-0 and not converting on a power play, the offense went back to work.

Thursday while I was at practice in Frisco, Lian Bischel was working by himself with a coach shooting wristers and slap shots from the point. The giant man is looking to secure himself in the defensive rotation for the rest of the season and the foreseeable future with the Stars. He has a heavy shot, that’s for sure.

Bischel gathered the puck from the exact place he was practicing Thursday and fired one towards the net. The puck was coincidentally tipped by none other than… Mason Marchment!

Mush has been on the shelf since December and Stars fans have been clamoring for the guy to get back in the lineup. He got a LOUD pop from the crowd when he first touched the puck Sunday night, and the crowd got even louder when his tip when in the net.

The game got back to level at 1, and the rest of the period was fine. Jason Robertson drew a tripping penalty at the net and nearly scored himself with 1:10 left on the clock in the first period. No great chances were had in the first portion of the power play, but they started the second period with 50 seconds left to remedy that.

Second Period Thoughts

The Second period was a wonky one. Columbus killed off the penalty to start the period, and then got the lead back.

Another strange goal where the Stars couldn’t get out of the zone and DeSmith didn’t know truly where the puck was gave the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead.

Later, my favorite play of the game happened. The Stars were buzzing in the offensive zone, and eventually the puck went to Columbus. Thomas Harley decided to stay in the zone and forecheck a bit and knocked the puck loose.

Newly acquired Mikael Granlund scooped the puck up and sent a sweet saucer pass over to Logan Stankoven for his first goal in what seems like a lifetime.

That pass is something we saw a ton from the Marchment/Duchene/Seguin line the first few months of the season. I’ve been missing the crispy passes that lead to an open net, and Granlund delivered last night.

Columbus unfortunately kept the puck in their offensive zone after a handful of puck clearing attempts from the Stars for what seemed like several minutes. CBJ took advantage and created a bunch of great looks until they got the goal to retake the lead.

The Stars went back on the power play and had what seemed like an extra minute of man advantage with the empty net. They got plenty of dangerous looks at the net, but the penalty gave them another chance.

I’ve been begging for Thomas Harley to get more power play time all season. He’s dangerously aggressive, but that’s sort of what you want on a power play. Harley carefully, this time, skated towards the middle of the ice to set up a beautiful tip play to Wyatt Johnston.

Two tip goals in the same game? What is Joe Pavelski here or something?

The game was knotted up at 3 headed into the third period.

Third Period Thoughts

Last night in Texas Hockey, the Dallas Stars had a tough game due to Columbus’ easier goals and control of the puck in their offensive zone. Somehow, it didn’t matter.

Over 11 minutes had passed in the third period and the Stars or Blue Jackets had failed to take the lead. I’ve been waiting for an offensive explosion type of game since the Pittsburgh game earlier in the season where they scored seven goals. Dallas got a little closer to that last night.

Thomas Harley once again initiated offense from the point and sent a wrister towards the net. My initial thought was that he got the goal, but Evgenii Dadonov got a suspicious tip on the puck and it went in the net as the Stars took the lead.

Daddy’s stick seemed a bit too high. The refs reviewed the goal, and since it was called a goal on the ice the goal remained good. Head Coach Pete DeBoer said after the game that he guessed the refs didn’t get conclusive evidence that Dadonov’s stick was above the top of the goal, so they stood with the call on the ice.

Dallas continued to pressure after getting the lead, and guess who scored the next goal for the Stars? Yep, you guessed it, Evgenii Dadonov.

Causing chaos around the net was something the Stars were exceptional at last season, but that style of play started to pick up in January before the trade for Granlund and Ceci.

Puck control and chaos caused that goal. High danger chances and persistence of continuing to put the puck towards the net worked.

In the third period, the Stars did lose Mavrik Bourque, who was moved from the second line to the fourth line that period, to a puck to the face. Stars fans get Marchment back from the same injury, and Bourque unfortunately wore one on the face later on.

DeBoer said after the game that they believe there was no structural damage to Bourque’s face, and it looked more like a huge, deep cut. Stars fans can seemingly relax now because of the extra depth they have with the trade, and that it doesn’t seem like that injury will keep Bourque out long, if at all.

More Thoughts

The trade over the weekend gave this team some extra depth, and juice. Granlund was awesome last night in Texas Hockey. He switched around lines in the third period after starting with Jamie Benn and Dadonov. In the third he was with Matt Duchene (former teammate in Nashville) and Marchment. I thought he was great with both lines.

Cody Ceci was a defender that a lot of Stars fans were unsure of after the trade happened. Ceci looked comfortable, and added an element to his pairing that we haven’t seen too much from defenders on the third pairing this season. He took calculated risks in the offensive zone, and seemed wildly comfortable in the defensive zone. I really enjoyed watching them both play last night.

Last Night In Texas Hockey: The Stars Score 5 Goals to Win! In a tough matchup against Columbus, the Stars found a way to win 5 straight.