Loui Eriksson (21) scores his third goal of the night, a hat trick. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

For New Year’s Eve this year Loui Eriksson put on a show for the Dallas Stars fans last night. Loui got great passing from line-mates and one lucky goal that got through to get his second career hat-trick. Loui helped lead Dallas to their first consecutive wins since Nov 21st & 23rd, something Dallas needs to start doing to climb up in the standings and start being considered a playoff caliber team. Dallas won three key stats in the game: shots, takeaways and faceoffs. Normally if you can do better then your opponents in keys areas like those you have a good chance at winning. Dallas may have put up 5 goals, but they had 42 shots and plenty more chances to score. And besides the second Anaheim Ducks goal, Marty Turco played good. The game did have some rough-housing like most Stars vs Ducks games, but in this one their was less of that and more rushes and controlled rushes by Dallas. Dallas looked quick, young but talented, and fired up. Anaheim fought back as they normally do by playing physical and that turned into penalties and chances against for most of the night. And again some familiar names for Dallas chipped in on offense: Richards, Eriksson, Robidas scored and had an assist, and it was nice to see Lehtinen get 2 assists. Dallas may be getting hot at the right time, as we near the half-way point of the season.

Neither Getzlaf or Selanne played for Anaheim, who has 2 more games on the road up next. Dallas next has Vancouver coming in Saturday to play a early afternoon game at 1PM at the AAC. Dallas will enter the game 18-11-11 with 47 points in 40 games, the Canucks 24-16-1 with 49 points in 41 games. Should be another good game, we will see if the early start slows the teams early on. This one could turn into a low scoring affair if both goalies show up.

Now onto the Team USA roster: Today after Boston’s 2-1 OT win in the Winter Classic (which was a fun game to watch overall), Team USA announced the roster for the upcoming Olympics. Not on the roster are any Dallas Stars, noticeably Mike Modano. Team USA overall went with a young roster, filled with guys like Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler, Bobby Ryan, & Zach Parise leading the forwards. In their were a couple of older guys, most noticeably Chris Drury & former Star Jamie Langenbrunner, most the overall feel of the team is the youth and up & coming talent in American hockey. I like that they are taking the talent USA hockey is starting to get, but not taking Modano to me is a mistake. Mike can still skate, as he has shown this year, and although he isn’t a points machine like he once was, he still can chip in and can play in just about any situation. Modano could play on the second line PP unit, take faceoffs, and add grit, leadership and experience to combine with some of these guys. I really don’t like the pick of Drury over Mo. Drury’s stats are worse and since he went over to play in New York he has looked like crap. And Mike Modano is the face of American hockey for the last 15 years, and its not like he is done and retired already. He still plays hard and still is better then half the guys on the ice every night. Team USA, I actually hope someone gets injured before the Olympics so you can add Modano and he can show everyone he can still play and still wants to.

The Dallas Stars have their annual New Year’s Eve game, this year again with the hated Anaheim Ducks coming to visit the AAC. Should be an interesting one tonight. Dallas comes in with a nice 5-4 win over Chicago in their last game and Anaheim is coming off a win at home against Minnesota after losing to San Jose and Phoenix on the road. Dallas sits with 6 points above Anaheim at 45, and only 2 behind LA in the division. After a big home victory, Dallas could now beat one of the worst in the West and go into this weekend’s home game against Vancouver with momentum, and back-to-back victories. Consecutive wins is something Dallas has been fighting for all season as they just can’t seem to string wins together. Last consecutive wins for the Stars were Nov 21&23, and funny enough it was against Carolina and New Jersey (a bottom team, and another top of the league team).

Puck drops at 7pm and I predict a good old fashion Stars vs Ducks game. Should be a physical game, with possibly a fight or two, and for Dallas to dominate this game guys like Ott, Morrow and Neal will have to continue the strong-willed play they have been showing recently and throw the bodies around at times. Good news for Dallas: Mark Fistric is coming off the IR and will play tonight. Fistric should help the defense that has been playing a few fill-in guys recently but now both he and Trevor Daley are both back off IR. Fistric is a plus 6 so far in +/- through the 30 games he has played this year, and could help slow down the high amount of goals going into the Dallas net recently. Also, bad news for the Ducks is that Ryan Getzlaf may not play again after he cut his right leg with his own skate in Saturday’s game and then missed their win over Minnesota. Dallas is 7-1-2 in their last 10 home games, and Anaheim has lost 3 of 4 on the road.

Prediction: Dallas wins a rough and at times grind-it-out game 4-2 to end the decade with a win.

Dallas has to avoid too much of this happening tonight against the Ducks

Quick trade poll: Everyone keeps talking about that Dallas needs to make a move, most (like me) agree that they need to improve the blue-line, while some say Dallas should trade Marty and either get another big player or a young goalie back. What do you think? Leave your thoughts below!

Have a Happy and fun New Years’, Stay safe out there

And GO STARS!