Final

Dallas Stars 0 - Minnesota Wild 1

Both teams came into this game off of big offensive nights and were each starting backup goaltenders so the prevailing thought was that a high scoring affair would happen. Unfortunately, Minnesota Wild-style of hockey took over and the game bogged down after the Wild took a 1-0 lead early in the first period.

There were very few things of note in this game.

The Positives:

• The biggest positive in this game (and probably only one) was the play of Cristopher Nilstorp. In his NHL debut, the youngster stopped 31 of 32 shots and was the only reason why Dallas was even close in this game. The one goal he allowed was when the Wild had a four-on-three power play and Stephane Robidas had a broken stick. The WIld cycled the puck around on what was basically a four-on-two and Zach Parise was able to zing it past Nilstorp. Nilstorp looks like a solid keeper though.

• Derek Roy was solid again on face-offs, winning 17 of 25. He was the only player on the team to take double digit face-offs and he didn't disappoint. The team lost the overall face-off total but he was great. It looks like he'll be taking all of the important one from here on out.

• The fourth line for Dallas was good again. They provided an energy that was lacking from the team and really hounded the Wild in the offensive zone.

• Not really a positive for Dallas but good for Josh Harding getting the win tonight. It's his first game since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and it's just nice to see him able to play.

Dallas Stars (1-0-0, 2pts) @ Minnesota Wild (1-0-0, 2 pts)

7:00 PM CT

Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota

(Delving) Into the Wild:

Minnesota made the biggest splash in free agency last summer (and was probably a huge reason why the lockout had to happen) with their gigantic signings of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.

Parise paid off immediately last night as he had two assists to help the Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 while Suter provided some good defense (but not much offensively).

The Wild’s top line of Parise-Mikko Koivu-Dany Heatley should be one of the most dangerous in the league and the Stars have to be extremely careful of them tonight. Considering what happened to Dallas’ defense last night, whoever starts in goalie tonight will be very busy.

Past that top line, Mikael Granlund is one of the more heralded rookies this season and he also had a goal in his NHL debut against Colorado.

It looks like the Wild will be starting backup goalie Josh Harding in tonight’s game.

They have one injury of note. Defenseman Marco Scandella is out with a groin injury.

Possible line combos:

Parise-Koivu-Heatley

Setoguchi-Cullen-Granlund

Clutterbuck-Brodziak-Bouchard

Powe-Konopka-Mitchell

D-Pairings:

Suter–Spurgeon

Gilbert-Stoner

Falk-Prosser

Final

Dallas Stars 4 – Phoenix Coyotes 3

The Stars started their brand new season with a fantastic win over the Phoenix Coyotes. Jaromir Jagr carried the team on his (old) back with two goals and two assists and the other new guys played great as well. It looks like Jagr already has fine chemistry with Loui Eriksson and Derek Roy and that line was incredible throughout the game.

The Positives:

• Obviously Jagr was the biggest plus in this game. He was all over the ice and it wasn’t just his points that were huge for the team. He drew the defense towards him wherever he went and cleared space for the other forwards. Ray Whitney and Loui Eriksson were able to score goals as a result of this and great vision from Jagr.

• Most of the new guys on the team played excellent today. Whitney had a goal and an assist and Roy managed an assist as well. Roy was also an excellent 16 of 23 on face-offs to really help the Stars. Vernon Fiddler was also good in the face-off dot, winning 11 of 15.

• The fourth line for Dallas was just a bundle of energy on the ice. Reilly Smith, Ryan Garbutt and Cody Eakin wrecked havoc on the ice and showed great pressure on the puck. Smith got time on both special teams units as well before leaving the game after he took a shot to the face.

• Kari Lehtonen was very good despite allowing three goals. He was under fire the entire night due to the shaky defense and faced 40 shots. He made big saves in the third period and really had no chance on two of the three goals that he allowed.

• The power play was pretty much amazing for Dallas. Whitney and Jagr brought the Stars dead power play to life and they looked dangerous on it all night and scored two goals as a result. If it looks like that every night, this team will is in good hands.

• Brenden Dillon was pretty much the only defenseman that was solid throughout the night. He led the team in hits, had a couple of shots and played solid defense. He needs to take over Jordie Benn’s spot.

• The place was sold-out in this game which was great for the team. The product on-ice was also great so hopefully the fans return.

Phoenix Coyotes @ Dallas Stars

7:00 PM CT

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

Phoenix (low)down:

The Coyotes are coming off their franchise’s best season ever. They won the Pacific Division for the first time in their history and made it all the way to the Conference finals where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings.

They had a relatively quiet offseason with more players leaving (most notably Ray Whitney) than coming in. Their most significant additions this season are Steve Sullivan, Zbynek Michalek and the just-traded-for Matthew Lombardi. Sullivan should be the top line winger and Lombardi could eventually be the top line center. Michalek is a top-four defenseman for the team and will split time between the first and second pairings.

Other than those guys, it’ll be more of the same from Phoenix. They’ll rely heavily on Mike Smith in goal and their strong defense led by Keith Yandle and up-and-coming star Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Shane Doan is still around (no Jamie Benn to elbow this time around though) and still extremely hated and punchable.

Raffi Torres is suspended due to his rocket-skated head shot of Marian Hossa in last year’s playoffs.

Possible line combos:

Sullivan-Hanzal-Doan

Boedker-Vermette-Vrbata

Korpikoski-Lombardi-Moss

Bissonnette-Gordon-Chipchura

D-Pairings:

Ekman-Larsson – Michalek

Yandle-Morris

Klesla-Schlemko

Dallas:

There’s a lot of storylines buzzing around this Stars team but the biggest storyline for Dallas is obviously the Jamie Benn situation. It looks like he won’t be signed until the middle of next week so that means Tom Wandell gets another shot to show some kind of offensive capability for the team (though I’m hoping Cody Eakin gets some time there as well) and Derek Roy gets top billing on the first line.

Moving on from that though, there’s a lot to be excited about from this offense as fans get to see Jaromir Jagr, Ray Whitney, Roy and a few of the young kids for the first time in a Stars jersey.

Whitney will have something to prove against his former team so hopefully he comes out and dominates.  It’ll be fascinating to watch what happens when the Stars get a power play.

Kari Lehtonen obviously gets the nod and hopefully he’s not too rusty with the extended layoff.

The Stars won three of these matchups last season, but they were all in a shootout so expect another close game tonight.

On the injury front, Aaron Rome has a groin injury and is questionable. His loss would just be another big blow to an already shaky defensive corps. Brenden Morrow gave everyone a scare yesterday when he went down during practice but he’s alright with just a cut on his face. Antoine Roussel isn’t injured but he was sent back down to the AHL to give the Texas Stars another healthy body to play.

Probable lines:

Eriksson-Roy-Jagr

Whitney-Wandell-Ryder

Morrow-Fiddler-Nystrom

Garbutt-Eakin-Smith

D-Pairs:

Goligoski-Robidas

Rome(if healthy, Jordie Benn if not)-Daley

Dillon-Larsen

1) Can the team find their chemistry quickly enough with the shortened season?

There’s a lot of roster turnover on the team and the lack of a real training camp really hurts, but I’m going to say yes. Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney have been around long enough that they should be able to pick up the system quickly. Jagr’s been sort of a mercenary for the past decade so he’s more than used to change.

The youngsters on the team are AHL buddies so they should be fine on the depth lines and the defense only has one real change.

The biggest question mark will be Derek Roy. He was off ice for a while before training camp due to surgery and has to find a way to click with his teammates. The lack of Jamie Benn in the shortened training camp puts some more uncertainty for him (at least for a short while) as the wings keep fluctuating around him. With his down season last year and the fact that he’s playing for a contract, there’s a lot of motivation for him this year. If he can get into the swing of things within the first few weeks of the season, it’ll be a huge boost for the Stars.

2) Can the power-play even look slightly capable this year?  

The biggest reason for the Jagr and Whitney signings was for this part of the team. With the addition of players that actually look like they belong on the power-play, there’s no way this team can be worse than last season right? Alex Goligoski should be more comfortable as much of the pressure is off of him and the snipers should have more chances to snipe. Honestly, if this team can just have around the 20th best power play in the NHL, it’ll be a success.

3) Who needs to really up their game this season?

The main (and really only) target here is the aforementioned Goligoski. The trade with Pittsburgh has looked progressively worse by the year and there’s even more pressure on him this season now that he has a shiny new contract. He showed a short flash of how important he could be last season in February but he trailed off quickly at the end of the season.

His future is locked in with this team so he needs to show some prolonged consistency in his play and provide some scoring from the point. If he can’t do that, the flood of tears from Stars fans every time they see James Neal will just increase.

Texas Stars

January has been very kind to the Texas Stars as they ran their winning streak to a season high six games. It’s even more impressive when you consider that the Stars had their roster gutted for their final game of the week as good chunk of the roster went up to Dallas for training camp and they were playing three games in three days.

Goaltending was the story of the week for Texas as Cristopher Nilstorp stopped 37 of 39 shots in the two games he played and Jack Campbell had a great shutout of the OKC Barons in which he stopped 36 shots.

It was Campbell’s first shutout of the year and he should see a lot more time as Nilstorp is in training camp and could stay in Dallas for a while.

On the offensive side of the ice, Matt Fraser was the hero of the week as he had three goals and an assist to carry the Stars. Jordie Benn had two goals and an assist (in two games) and Colton Sceviour had a goal and two assists as well during the week.

The Stars will be without Nilstorp, Benn, Brenden Dillon, Reilly Smith, Cody Eakin and Antoine Roussel this week as they participate in the Dallas Stars training camp. They’ll be in the midst of a six-game road trip this week.

Jan. 16 – Texas Stars @ Chicago Wolves

Jan. 18 – Texas Stars @ Chicago Wolves (again)

Jan. 19 – Texas Stars @ Peoria Rivermen 

It’s been a loooooong time since free agency started for this NHL season and I’m sure fans have forgotten a few moves here and there. I thought I’d take a look back at what the teams in the Pacific Division did (besides the Stars) during the offseason just to remind Stars fans on the situation and what the division is going to be like this year.

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks were very busy during the offseason and took on some significant contracts.

Major signings included defensemen Sheldon Souray and Bryan Allen and forward Daniel Winnik. They also got a boost when Teemu Selanne decided he would return for at least one more season.

While they did make a few big moves, the Ducks lost a couple of key pieces in free agency as well. Highly coveted defenseman Justin Schultz decided to jump ship and landed in Edmonton while Sheldon Brookbank left for Chicago.

The Ducks also traded Stars killer Lubomir Visnovsky to the New York Islanders for a 2nd-round pick.

Additions: F Daniel Winnik (2yrs/$3.6M), F Brad Staubitz (2yrs/$1.275M), D Sheldon Souray (3yrs/$11M), D Bryan Allen (3yrs/$10.5M)

Subtractions: F Jean-Francois Jacques (Florida, 1yr/$750K), F George Parros (Florida, 2yrs/$1.85M), D Sheldon Brookbank (Chicago, 2yrs/$5M), D Justin Schultz (Edmonton, 2yrs/$1.85M), D Lubomir Visnovsky (trade to NYI)

Re-signed: Teemu Selanne (1yr/$4.5M)

LA Kings

Very little happened in the land of the Cup champions as they mostly just kept their team the way it was. They lost scarcely used forward Ethan Moreau to retirement, depth goaltender Jeff Zatkoff to the Pittsburgh Penguins and minor leaguer Patrick Millen to the Vancouver Canucks.
On the additions front, the Kings added basically no one expect for some meaningless minor leaguers. They mostly just kept their own guys.

 They re-signed Dustin Penner, Colin Fraser and Jarret Stoll and gave contract extensions to Dwight King and Jonathan Quick. They could make one more move before the season starts (and after the CBA is ratified) in trading away backup Jonathan Bernier but they can’t find any takers for him.

Additions: No one of note

Subtractions: F Ethan Moreau (retired), D Patrick Mullen (Vancouver, 1yr/$600K), G Jeff Zatkoff (Pittsburgh, 2yrs/$1.05M)

Re-signed: C Colin Fraser (2yrs/$1.75M), C Jarret Stoll (3yrs/$9.75M), LW Dustin Penner (1yr/$3.25M).  

Today we preview what the goalie situation is going to look like this season in Dallas. In other words: Kari Lehtonen, Kari Lehtonen and Kari Lehtonen.

The Stars have always been a strong goalie development team and this year is certainly no different with the addition of Christopher Nihlstorp to the organization to the already fantastic crop of guys.

Kari Lehtonen

Everyone knows just how important Lehtonen is and the shortened 48-game season just boosts his importance level up 200%. Kari was the sole reason why the team was even in the playoff hunt at the end of the year. He dealt with a groin injury and looked slightly overworked at the end of last season so the extended break should be great for him. He’s had injury issues throughout his career so that short schedule will help.

Lehtonen is obviously going to start as many games as he possibly can but Dallas has to be careful not to overwork him this year with what could be a rough travel schedule. I have him starting 42 of the 48 games this year with him sitting out a few back-to-backs. He’s working with pretty much the exact same defense as last year (probably a little worse) so the shots will be coming quick succession again this season.

Lehtonen was absolutely fantastic last season and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be just as good this year. If he can repeat what he did last year, this team will be in the playoffs.

2013 Prediction: 23 W, 17 L, 2 OTL, 2 SO, 2.37 GAA, .918 SV%

Richard Bachman

The man behind some of the best masks in the NHL was a very pleasant surprise last year. He filled in when Lehtonen was out with a groin injury and Andrew Raycroft was benched after showing off his terrible Andrew Raycroft goaltending. Bachman had an 8-5-1 record, won some tough games on the road and had a shutout in his limited time.

It looks like he’ll have some competition during training camp with the red-hot Christopher Nihlstorp for the backup job and it looks like he might start out this season with the Texas Stars. Whatever the case, he’ll be fine wherever he ends up. He could fill in here and there for Dallas or get some extended playing time down in Austin.

2013 Prediction: 3 W, 2 L, 0 OTL, 0 SO, 2.92 GAA, .903 SV%

Christopher Nihlstorp

Nihlstorp has been another great find for the Stars. He came into this season as an unknown as has grabbed the starting job with the Texas Stars away from Jack Campbell. He’s put up back-to-back shutouts twice this year and has started nearly every game since the start of December.

He’ll get a shot during training camp to get the backup spot at the beginning of the year for Dallas. If he gets the job, I think he’ll only be here for a short while so that Bachman can get some work with Texas so that he stays in game shape. He’s still been great this season and it would be fine seeing him get a game during the early season to get Kari some rest.

If a worst case scenario happens and either Bachman or Kari gets injured, Nihlstorp will find himself with a lot of time with Dallas.

2013 Prediction: 0 W, 1 L, 0 OTL, 0 SO, 4.00 GAA, .877 SV%

Today’s post on the Stars is over the defensive side of the ice for the team. Last season, Dallas was a mediocre (maybe even a poor) team defensively. Missed assignments were abundant and any team with some speedy forwards gave Dallas a lot of trouble. Their defensive numbers would have been much worse if not for the stellar play of Kari Lehtonen and at times, Richard Bachman.

This year could be a crapshoot for the Stars blue liners. A big part of it last season, Sheldon Souray, went to the Anaheim Ducks in free agency for a rather ridiculous contract. The laughably bad Adam Pardy was somehow snuck into a trade over to Buffalo and Nicklas Grossman was shuttled to Philadelphia midway through the season last year.

Stepping into those starting shoes will be a bunch of kids and a hopefully competent Aaron Rome. The parts will be much of the same though.

Alex Goligoski

It’s been a rather tough start to Goligoski’s Stars career. While he was pretty effective during the season that he was brought in, last season was very rough. Goose was brought in to be a dynamic playmaker from the blue line, on both even strength and the power play, but did very little last season aside from February. He disappeared during the last critical 18 games of the year (only four total points).

His struggles on the power play also killed the Stars (only nine total points on the PP). A significant hand injury that kept him out a month also did little to ease his troubles. He was alright on the defensive side of the ice. He blocked a ton of shots (93) and didn’t become a human pylon too often.

With all that said though, Goose should be better this season. The signings at forward should alleviate some of his concerns on the power play and he’s had plenty of time to get fully comfortable with the team’s system. He also never has to worry about being paired with Adam Pardy ever again so that’s a thousand pound gorilla off his back. I just want an above average season from him this year.

He’s really got to get his act together though on the ice or things could go sour on him quickly. He’s the highest paid defenseman on the team at $4.6 million per year and is here for four more seasons.

2013 Prediction: 4 goals, 17 assists, 21 points, +2 rating, 6 PIM

Trevor Daley

Daley might have been the Stars best defenseman last season, on both sides of the ice. I can’t remember many times last season where he got scorched by an opposing forward and he had a great year offensively. He set a career high in assists with 21 and led the team with 115 blocked shots.

Daley gets a lot of grief from Stars fans but he’s been a solid player the past few seasons and led the team in minutes last year. He plays big minutes on both special teams units and has always been a very durable player.

I’d love to see Daley get a little more physical but unfortunately that’s never been his style of play. He’ll need to be paired with Mark Fistric or a physical defender or opposing forwards are going to be all over Kari Lehtonen and screening the hell out of him.

2013 Prediction: 2 goals, 14 assists, 16 points, +1 rating, 28 PIM

Yesterday we previewed the top-six forwards that will be playing for the Stars this season. Today’s post is about the rest of the forwards that will or might see time with the Stars on the bottom two lines.

Last season we saw guys like Radek Dvorak, Adam Burish and Jake Dowell occupying these spots. They provided some fine defensive work and a lot of these guys played on the penalty kill but expecting offensive production from these fellas was a laughable joke. The only player that really showed that scoring touch was Eric Nystrom, but that was still mostly near the beginning of the season.

This year the Stars should be getting an influx of young talent to fill out the lines to go along with a few of those cagey veterans. The team seems to have finally embraced the future and fans should be getting a good look at some of those kids this year. So without further ado, here’re the rest of the forwards for the Stars.

Brenden Morrow

Morrow is one of the players this season that I’m most interested in watching. He’s been ravaged by injuries here and there the past few seasons and seems to be a shell of his former self. There’s been clamoring from fans to trade the captain while he still has any value. He enter this season a year older (34-years-old when the season starts) so all signs point downward for him.

This year though, I think fans will be okay with what Morrow has to offer on the ice. The extended break should have him as healthy as he’s ever been in the past five years. He’s not going to be 100%, but it’s close enough. He’s just a year removed from a career high 33 goal season so that scoring touch is still there somewhere and he still has someone roadblock value on the power play.

More than anything else though, Morrow finally gets to play in the right spot. He’s been miscast as a top-six forward the past couple of seasons (even if he was scoring goals). Morrow has always been the tough physical grinder type of player and he’ll right at home this year alongside (most likely) Vernon Fiddler and Eric Nystrom.

There’s should be no pressure out there for him to score a bunch of goals so he should more comfortable to just play his game.

The one thing that Morrow has to watch out for though is the penalty situation. Last season, Morrow was continuously getting shepherded into the sin bin. He was second on the team (by a wide margin) with 97 PIM despite just playing in 57 games. That level of disobedience is flat out unacceptable, especially from the captain of the team. Morrow has to be more careful with his play this season as the Stars lost a good chunk of their penalty killing forwards in free agency.

If all this fails and Morrow just doesn’t have it in him, well… at least it’s the last year of his contract.

2013 Prediction: 13 goals, 6 assists, 19 points, -4 rating, 48 PIM

Vernon Fiddler

Fiddler was one of the nice surprises on the team last season.  He was a reliable player that played a ton of penalty killing minutes and was one the team’s best face-off guys. Granted it was just around a 50% winning percentage but sadly that’s now the best on the team with Steve Ott and Adam Burish gone.

There could be numerous times this season when Fiddler is the guy out there taking the pivotal face-off so hopefully he gets a little more effective in the circle.

Out of the face-off dot, Fiddler will still lead the penalty kill team and he gets some better offensive talent beside him in Morrow. His assists should be a little more than expected. Nothing against Radek Dvorak but uhhh… he doesn’t exactly see the puck hit the back of the net much.

Fiddler should be a consistent player again this season and do his usual Fiddler things.

2013 Prediction: 3 goals, 11 assists, 14 points, -8 rating, 26 PIM