Dallas Stars Shine in 3-0 Victory Over Penguins
The Dallas Stars came out with two points in their 2015-2016 debut at the American Airlines Center defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 3-0.
Recap
First Period
The Stars started their campaign with a goal by rookie Mattias Janmark 1:39 into the period with Ales Hemsky and goalie Antti Niemi getting the assists to give them the early 1-0 lead. From there Dallas found some issues defensively, but Niemi stood strong and provided the coverage where the Stars fell short. The Stars penalty kill was one-for-one in the frame killing a questionable interference call against defenseman Jason Demers and went into the locker room with a 1-0 advantage.
Second Period
The second twenty minutes of the matchup had a slower start than the first. Dallas, however, took advantage of their first power play of the game as Hemsky skated in and shot the puck rather perfectly high blocker on Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury. Other than a few close calls by Pittsburgh’s Phil Kessel, though, the Stars weren’t challenged too much. Dallas went into the intermission having a 15-23 shots disadvantage, but they had the advantage where it really counts with a 2-0 lead.
Third Period
The third period was the time of special teams. Dallas had back-to-back power plays until captain Jamie Benn was called for a bizarre goaltender interference call that saw the negation of what would’ve been Patrick Sharp’s first goal as a Star. Then after the Penguin’s penalty expired and Pittsburgh had a brief power play from Benn’s penalty Evgeni Malkin was called for high sticking to make it four-on-four. When all was said and done neither team converted on their chances and even strength play continued.
That is until Tyler Seguin was high-sticked with about 7:30 remaining in the game. Dallas took all of seven seconds to score on that man advantage as Jamie Benn masterfully tipped in a shot from Jason Spezza to put the Stars up 3-0. With effort from every position in the line-up the Stars came out victorious in a 3-0 decision that showcased just what Niemi has to offer.
Thoughts and Observations
Janmark and Line Proving Their Worth
As one-third of the Stars’ third line, center Mattias Janmark scored his first NHL goal in his NHL debut alongside Ales Hemsky and Antoine Roussel. Despite the rather interesting makeup of this third trio for Dallas, they seem to be a good fit together.
Janmark is a quick, talented player with the ability to make a difference on a nightly basis, Hemsky is adjusting to his sophomore season as a Star, while also coming off of hip surgery, and to round out the line Roussel adds the grit a third line in the NHL needs.
Their efforts in the first period alone proved their worth as well as their chemistry together on a line and it could be indicative of what’s to come.
Power Play Moving in Right Direction
Special teams are unbelievably important in today’s NHL and the Stars reaped the benefits as Hemsky netted a goal with the man advantage to put Dallas up 2-0 in the second. All in all the power play looked more together than it had in seasons past, likely in part because of the line combinations.
Last season Dallas merely put their top line on the ice with either another forward or two defenders. Tonight they displayed a few different line combinations in their power play minutes, including the trio of Patrick Sharp with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, which makes for more creativity and a greater sense of having a true advantage.
Niemi is a Duel Threat
Interestingly enough netminder Antti Niemi finished the night with a shutout win and two assists. While not the most abnormal thing to happen in a hockey game it is rather notable that Niemi had a better offensive game than the other skaters having their own respective Stars debuts.
No. 31 also managed to stop every shot against tonight despite facing shots of players to the likes of Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Not an easy feat in the slightest. Tonight’s effort by Niemi will almost surely earn him the starting role in the next game and make him the temporary goalie to beat in the battle of the crease.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check back for the preview and post game analysis on Saturday as the Stars take on the Colorado Avalanche in their first road game of the season!