Well, this is a bit late; especially considering I was actually at the game – but here it is none the less.
Dallas came out and Turco let a bad goal pop over his pad. I immediately worried that the lack of a presence in front the net might be a problem since they decided to put Fistric on the healthy scratch list along with Sutherby. It was so early in the game my heart sunk immediately. But after that I felt like Dallas dominated the play for the rest of the first period as they built a decent lead in shots on goal and punished the Predators in the neutral zone with heavy back checking and smart plays by the defense. The second period was pretty even and near the end Dallas let up and they nearly caught up in shots on goal. We also got to see good ol’ Marty simply… fall over… and they scored their second of the night. Even so James Neal and the rest of the Richards/Eriksson/Neal line seemed to dominate and produced the first goal of the game for the Stars on a nice rebound conversion. Neal would come out and score again on a big mistake on Ellis’ part as he passed it right to him. The Stars obliterated the Preds in this period and they went into OT tied 2-2. The Stars had a few solid chances in the over-time period as well and controlled play throughout but Ellis saved the day as he had all night long. The shootout came and Ellis officially proved he was the better goalie; at least for the night – as he only allowed a nice backhand from Ribeiro to get past him.
So the assessment?
The new system seems to have clicked a lot better than it was during the pre-season. The Ribeiro/Morrow/Benn line didn’t produce a goal but they were firing on all cylinders as they nearly scored quite a few times including a nice pass to Benn who missed the open net on the other side of Ellis. The defense was immaculate considering all of the doubt we fans have had during the off-season. I was impressed with Woywitka’s poise in the offensive zone and Skrastins diving play to knock the puck loose from a Nashville players stick. Daley was using speed to break in and Niskanen looked like he belonged on the powerplay. I’ll reserve my long term faith for the end of this Canadian road trip we’re about to enter, but for now I am impressed and surprised. I think by the end of said trip, Morrow will have gained his legs and hands back – which is a good thing. As far as the goal race goes, I think Neal is in the runnings against Eriksson for the leading scorer for the team this year easily. I mean he scored 24 his rookie season, so save a sophmore slump, he could easily go past the 30 goal mark this season.
They deserved to win, easily – and that’s what I took away from it. We will see how they handle Calgary’s stacked lineup and Edmonton’s speed in the coming week.
The Dallas Stars Assertion 