Dallas Stars Shock In First Game At Traverse City Tournament

The Dallas Stars prospects made their trek to Detroit Thursday morning for their annual participation in the Traverse City Prospect Tournament.

Only this year, the Stars roster may have them looking at a spot in the finals. The Dallas Stars took some of their most skilled prospects with them, effectively stringing together a strong team that could do some damage in the eight-man tourney.

With a strong network of forwards in Jason Dickinson, Remi Elie, Radek Faksa, Devin Shore, and others, the offense is set to thrive. With Julius Honka, Stephen Johns, and Esa Lindell helping manage the blue line, the defense is almost a lock. Finally with shining goaltender Philippe Desrosiers in the crease, it will be difficult to get many shots past.

The Dallas Stars played their first game of the tournament Friday night, facing off against the prospects from the Chicago Blackhawks organization.

The game started slow, with neither team being able to find the back of the net in the first period. The Stars offense took charge though, outshooting the Hawks 12-9 through the first 20. The second period came along, and the Blackhawks found a way to put one past Desrosiers on the power play 3:05 in. The Stars would strike back 6:55 later on a man advantage of their own, with Emil Molin grabbing the tally. The Hawks would end up taking the 2-1 lead into the second intermission with a goal scored at 2:59 left.

The Stars would take eight penalties total in the game to the Blackhawks’ six. They would however kill off seven of them.

The Stars led the shot total 24-22 through two periods. The third period saw its fair share of penalties, but neither team could capitalize on any of them. The Stars trailed 2-1 with one minute remaining, and it looked as though the Stars may be done for, officially starting off the tournament on a sour note.

But they would not give in. Former Blackhawks prospect defender Stephen Johns took control with just 42 seconds to go, scoring in a six-on-five situation. All was good with a 2-2 tie until 2013 draft pick Cole Ully scored the game winning goal with just 26 seconds remaining. It looked like it would go down as a 3-2 victory, until the Hawks emptied their net and Jason Dickinson scored an empty netter to officially end it.

The Dallas Stars walked away with an impressive last minute comeback that turned into a 4-2 victory, giving them a starting record of 1-0 for the tournament.

The Stars outshot the Blackhawks 33-28 throughout the game. Desrosiers would have an excellent first game, stopping 26 of 28.

Ludwig Bystrom led the team in points with two, both being assists. Stephen Johns would lead the team in shots, taking a total of six throughout the night, including one that scored.

Texas Stars head coach Derek Laxdal is overseeing the team for the tournament this year and had some words on Johns, who scored the equalizer with just seconds remaining in the game.

“He’s a beast,” Laxdal said. “He logged a lot of ice time for us tonight. He’s a gamer. He plays with passion. He brings a lot of energy. You just watch him, and he looks like a man amongst boys. He’s a special player.”

Johns is one of many prospects at the tournament that are competing for potential starting spots on the Dallas Stars roster, and this is their biggest spotlight yet to prove themselves.

The Stars are scheduled to play the Carolina Hurricanes today at 3:30 PM, and they will play the Detroit Red Wings Monday night at 7:00 PM. The championship will be played Tuesday, with the two divisions plotting each of their placed teams against each other. The Stars will look to be playing in the final game for the championship. After their performance last night, there is certainly cause for hope.

Next: Dallas Stars Bringing Heat To Traverse City Tournament

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