Dallas Stars Take Down New Jersey Devils, 3-2 (SO)

The Dallas Stars won their first game that went past 60 minutes with a 3-2 shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils.  Jason Spezza, Tyler Seguin, and Jamie Benn all extended their point streaks and Patrick Eaves scored his first goal in a Stars uniform.  The Stars improved to 4-1-2 on the season while the Devils lost their fourth straight game and dropped to 3-2-2.

Recap

The first half of the first period completely belonged to the New Jersey Devils.  They were controlling the pace of play and had tons of time in the Stars zone.  Eric Gelinas struck first for the Devils just 5:21 into the game with a blast from the point and past a screened Kari Lehtonen.  Trevor Daley gave the Stars their best chance in the period as he rang one of the pipe behind Cory Schneider just after the Gelinas goal.  Lehtonen really kept the Stars in the game for the next five minutes or so as the Devils continued to dominate the game.  At around the halfway point in the period, the game turned a little bit and the Stars ended up outshooting the Devils in the period 14-9.  Although the Stars controlled the second half of the period, they couldn’t get one by Schneider and the Devils took a 1-0 lead into the locker room after one period of play.

Dallas continued right where they left off and really dominated play in the second period.  They peppered Schneider with scoring chances, including a few really good chances from Ales Hemsky.  Hemsky is still searching for his first goal as a Star and he almost had it a few times in this game.  His quality rush to the net drew a penalty which put the Stars on the first power play of the game.  Just after the power play expired, Tyler Seguin fed Jamie Benn from behind the net and Benn put it in the back of the net to tie the game at 1 just 4:30 into the second period.  Ten minutes later, Patrick Eaves swung one towards the net and it squeezed its way past Schneider to give the Stars their first lead of the game late in the second period.  It was Eaves first goal as a Star and probably one that Schneider is going to want to have back.  Dallas outshot New Jersey 11-6 in the second frame and lead 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.

The third period was back and forth hockey for twenty straight minutes.  If you want speed and tons of scoring chances, just watch this period of play.  Damien Brunner ended up scoring the tying goal after a ton of chances for the Devils at 8:18 of the period.  It appeared that Patrik Elias passed the puck with his glove towards Brunner who ended up slamming it home, but the hand pass isn’t a play that can be reviewed to determine the goal.  The goal stood tall for the rest of the period despite glorious chances for Ales Hemsky and Erik Cole, who almost scored on a breakaway.  The game went into overtime tied at 2.

Overtime was also eventful in both ends, as Jamie Benn nearly scored after stealing a puck in the Devils zone.  Nothing could get by Cory Schneider and Kari Lehtonen in the overtime period, as it flew by and we went into a shootout to decide the game.

Jason Spezza sped towards Schneider on the Stars first shootout attempt and then stopped and dazzled everyone in the building by throwing a backhand off the post and in past the goaltender.  Jaromir Jagr attempted a similar move against Lehtonen but was denied.  Jamie Benn went for his signature  under the blocker move and scored, winning the game for the Dallas Stars and continuing the Devils shootout woes.

Thoughts and Observations

After being on their heels for the first ten minutes of the game, the Stars really turned it on.  Up and down the lineup, scoring chances were bountiful.  Ales Hemsky easily had his best game of the season and the only reason he doesn’t have a goal in this game is because Cory Schneider stood on his head.  Erik Cole had another great game and the Stars are flying high right now on a five game point streak.

Antoine Roussel fought Bryce Salvador in the second period.  Although Salvador probably gets the decision in this one, it was a very energetic bout and really fired up both sides.

The Stars take on the Islanders tomorrow at 6:00pm CT.  Keep reading Blackout Dallas for more game previews and recaps!