Dallas Stars Hold On, Dethrone Kings 5-4; Post-Game Quotes

The Dallas Stars did not completely fall into their former ways Saturday night and managed to pull off a win against the Los Angeles Kings, 5-4. The Stars were very successful throughout the first 38 minutes, capitalizing on scoring chances and playing sharp on the penalty kill. A rally was attempted by the Kings towards the end of the game, but Kari Lehtonen managed to keep the Stars hopes alive. The Stars are now 2-1-0 so far on their five game homestand, snapping a seven game losing stand at the AAC last Thursday.

There were a few momentum SHAKERS (if you don’t understand this pun, you will later) that really shifted the game for the Stars. Here are the two key plays:

First off, welcome to Dallas Jason Demers! He laid on a big hit against his former rival team last night when he hip-checked Jarrett Stoll at the Dallas blue line. Here’s the monster hit:

Kari Lehtonen also showed his offensive savvy side last night, planting a beautiful assist to Tyler Seguin 3/4 of the way down the ice where Seguin was breaking away:

All in all, it was quite the entertaining game to watch. Here are some quotes from Dallas Stars players and Lindy Ruff regarding tonight’s performance:

Jamie Benn:

On the 3.3 magnitude earthquake that hit early in the third period:

“For real? Well, it was probably when they were coming onto us in the third there, haha.”

On their early lead and late struggles:

“We got off to a lead and that’s obviously what we wanted. But they took advantage of a couple of mistakes and snagged a goal, but we were able to pull one more and then Kari shut the door from there.”

On the three penalty kills in the first ten minutes they faced:

“Yeah, it was huge. Those guys did a great job and they actually changed the game.”

On their problems with third period leads and how big it was to hold out to win:

“It was huge. I think we sat back a little too much in the third, and those guys (Kings) were good near the end. But, like I said, our goalie played great and our defense did a great job. We’re fortunate enough to be done with it.”

On Demers first game:

“I thought he played great. Big hits like that always get momentum and he scored the game-winning goal. He did a good job tonight and we’re happy to have him.”

On how the win changes the homestand:

“Obviously we haven’t been the greatest at home here, but we can turn it around here over the next couple of games and turn this homestand into something good.”

Jason Demers:

On his first game against LA:

“I think it was a good game, I mean any time you beat LA, especially for me, it’s always fun. I think the guys gave a great effort tonight, we were a little inconsistent at times, but we liked the result and the guys did great, and to get the two points, that’s huge for us going forward.”

On the three penalty kills they faced early:

“Yeah, they held us in there, but Kari played great the whole game. He faced a lot of tough shots but held the door there for us early and gave the PK some momentum, and our talent up front took over from there.”

On his hit to Stoll:

“It was nice to get that out of the way right away. It lined up perfectly and that kind of shocks the game.”

On his first goal as a Star:

“I just moved it to Daley and he made a great play breaking in, and that drive opened up the middle for me and I just hit it as hard as I could. I tried to pick a corner up high and luckily I picked the right one.”

On his first time playing with the Stars instead of against them:

“I always hated playing against Dallas and in this building, it’s one of the tougher ones in the league. It was fun to be on their side. It’s a team that’s given me headaches over the years so it’s fun to be playing with them and mixing up with them. It happened so quick (the trade), but they welcomed me and made me feel at home quick, so I couldn’t of asked for any better reception.”

Tyler Seguin:

On the earthquake:

“Excuse me? Really? Maybe, I don’t know. That was probably why they had those two late goals, the ice probably shifted a bit. There’s been an earthquake at a lot of our home games this year, especially in the third.”

On how confident they were going into the third:

“We were confident. I think we’ve had trouble with that going into the third early in the season. We were confident, and we’ve shut down in the third a few times this season, but we found a way to win tonight and it felt pretty good.”

On the early penalty kills:

“It was definitely a big momentum boost, especially at home. Their last games, they’ve been really good on the power play, and it was definitely a key to tonight’s game with our special teams.”

On Demers first game:

“He’s very outgoing, very social, brings good things into our locker room. I knew he was gonna help out and obviously he wanted to make his presence felt early on in the game, and I thought he had a great two-way game and obviously his goal was great.”

On his goal from Kari Lehtonen’s pass:

“Well, I’m playing wing now so obviously I didn’t need to go all the way back and I hopped on the ice and kind of cheated. I don’t know if he actually knew I was there, I think he may have just been throwing it up the ice cause no one was there. But the timing was good, and I told myself before the game if I got a breakaway that I was going to go five hole, so I shot there. I couldn’t see it go in, but it all worked.”

On being outshot 16-2 in the third period:

“Was that what it was? I thought Kari obviously did a great job, but I don’t know how many grade-A chances they actually had. They had a lot of outside shots, and the defense has been doing a great job of boxing guys out. I thought we played a simple third period. Obviously we don’t like giving up that many shots but if they’re all from the outside, we’ll be happy with that.”

Lindy Ruff:

On the game:

“Good first 38 minutes. I didn’t like the goal we gave up late in the second period or our performance in the third.”

On the early penalty kills:

“The penalty killing was fabulous in the first period. I think it generated some energy for us and led to us going the other way. If you get scored on, obviously you’re in trouble, but our guys did a really sound job.”

On being outshot 16-2 in the third period:

“For me, the end of the second there was a missed assignment. We lost some puck battles and had some pucks picked off in our zone, and we got trapped in our zone. It was not good enough.”

On Demers first game:

“I thought a good first game. He lost his guy on the fourth goal but his energy was good and he did some good things. I liked his game.”

On Kari’s 37 save performance:

“Kari was good, Kari was good. I think in the third period, it wasn’t the toughest quality, but he still had to make some good saves for us.”

On the two-game winning streak at home and going forward on the homestand:

“I think we can win the rest of them, but we have to be better. It’s really hard to stand here and talk about how we played so well for the first almost 40 minutes. We’ve got some guys who have to grab moments in the game and change it. That shift at the end of the second period was pretty disappointing when we take the 5-2 lead and have the momentum. It was a disappointing part of the game for me and I think that led to the disappointing type of third period we had. It’s great to win two games, we won’t continue to win if that’s the way we’re going to operate. We’ve seen it too many times.”

What did you think of the game last night?

Leave your comments and questions below, and as always, thanks for reading! Go Stars.