Dallas Stars Quotes After Stellar 4-0 Win Over Blackhawks
The Dallas Stars strung together a dominating performance and knocked off the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0 on Tuesday night at home. Postgame quotes from players and coaches can be found below.
It is perfectly alright if you are still recovering from the Dallas Stars stellar win last night. After starting the third period with only a narrow 1-0 lead in hand, the Stars put together a powerful surge in the final frame and downed the Blackhawks 4-0. The Stars will now head into Christmas break with a record of 26-7-2 with 54 points, which is good enough for first place in the NHL.
Postgame quotes from Jason Spezza, Antti Niemi, Patrick Sharp, and Lindy Ruff can be found below.
Jason Spezza
On the momentum the Stars will take into Christmas:
I think it was important to get some points heading into the break. Now we have three days off to enjoy our families and Christmastime, then we come back to two really tough games. But those were two huge wins for us.
If it’s important to play in the playoff atmosphere like they did against Chicago:
Yeah. It’s all part of the growing process for our team. Everybody seems to bring their best to us every night and we’re going to see the best from teams. Chicago is Chicago. They bring fans with them, they bring an intense atmosphere, and it’s always an exciting game.
I thought we handled ourselves pretty well tonight. It’s all just learning through the regular season, getting better as a team, getting ourselves in situations, up goals, down goals, and just getting comfortable with it.
What he saw on his goal:
I kind of messed up the first breakout a little bit but then I picked up a little more speed. They had a tight gap on me but I got by them. I was trying to get the goalie to move off the post and he didn’t want to move so I just snuck it in there.
What the game told him about the team:
I think we know we’re a good team. It’s important for us to stick with it. When you get in these games, special teams become very important. I think our penalty kill had some huge kills and Nemo [Niemi] had some big saves that enabled us to get out of the first.
I thought we just played a solid and consistent game. Throughout the year, there’s going to be different tests against different teams and it will be a learning experience for us. Tonight was a good atmosphere and I thought we handled ourselves well.
On scoring three goals in the third period back-to-back nights:
I think if you can play with the lead in this league, it forces teams to take chances. I think our last few goals were a product of that. They’re trying to wind it up and tie the game up, and because of it they’re forced to open up a little bit. We had some good plays happen and I think that game went well for us. Now we move on.
If back-to-back wins against Central Division teams puts them on a different level:
No, I don’t think so. We feel like we’re a good team. We have a lot of division games coming up and it’s going to get tougher and teams are going to pay more attention to us. We just have to continue to grow as a group. There’s going to be highs and lows in the season and it’s just a matter of managing that. We know we’re a good team and we know we have to learn to play in different situations. We’re trying to do that.
Antti Niemi
If he still looks forward to playing Chicago:
Yeah. There is something still special, even if it’s been a while.
The playoff atmosphere:
Yeah, everything. Even the fans. Loved how both teams played. We played really hard and didn’t give them anything free. Didn’t give them too many rush chances and we played under the puck.
If it’s important to play and win in these playoff-caliber games:
Yeah. Especially these games against our division. It’s huge. That’s how we want to play every day, but especially in these kinds of games.
Where the confidence level is:
It’s high. Coming back from 2-0 yesterday, we’ve done it a few times this year. It gives us lots of momentum.
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Patrick Sharp
On his goal and celebration:
It felt good. Not a whole lot of offensive chances for both sides in the first 40 minutes. Pretty evenly matched game and good checking on both sides from two good teams. I didn’t think I would get a really good chance at scoring so I wanted to make sure I got a good shot off.
His emotions facing his old team:
It really wasn’t that fun of a game, to be honest with you. It’s tough to play against your friends over there. Hockey is a game where you can play your best with intensity, but it’s kind of tough when you have your buddies on the other side. Lots of emotion, but I think our team played really well. That’s one of our better efforts all season long from the goaltender on out.
The playoff atmosphere and it’s importance:
All season long, there’s been a lot of games in the third period where it’s a one goal situation, down one, tied, or up one. For the most part, we’ve managed to play well in the third and come away with victories. That was a huge test right there on the back-to-back with six periods in two nights, and we had our best period of the week.
Where the team’s confidence level is at:
The confidence is high and it’s been there all year. I think we believe in each other in this room and I’m lucky to come to a team that is such a close group on and off the ice. Right from day one, I could tell that these guys really care about each other in here and Johnny [Oduya] and I are just really happy to fit in.
How they “dominated” the third period tonight:
I don’t know. It’s tough to dominate a team like Chicago. I wouldn’t use that word. I think you just have to really capitalize on your opportunities because they play so well defensively that there isn’t a whole lot of chances up there.
Once it’s two or three to nothing, they start to open up and create some offense. But they’re a difficult team to score against and you always have to be aware of their weapons because they can put the puck in with ease.
Niemi’s performance on the night, shutting out Chicago for the third time in his career:
He’s been great for us all season long and gives us confidence from the back end out. He makes those big saves. Whether he’s going for the shutout or it’s a 5-5 game, he’s going to continue to battle in there and make the big save when we need it. I’m really happy he got the shutout tonight.
Lindy Ruff:
How he saw the game tonight:
Excellent. I’m proud of the way we played. Played hard, played the right way. They were going to be happy to win the game 1-0, but we got on top of them and started to create some turnovers and get a couple of bounces. All of a sudden, we opened the game up.
The playoff atmosphere:
The atmosphere in the building was playoff-like. I think both teams, the way they started, made it look like it was going to be a really tight game. I thought we played a great first period coming off of a really late night. That’s the way you need to play to win games like that.
Antti Niemi’s performance in net:
He was good. I thought he made a couple big saves. I thought the defensive group we had in front of him was fabulous. Not to take away from Antti [Niemi], but I think it’s probably a single-digit chance night where I don’t think they had a scoring chance in the third period. For me, that’s impressive how hard we worked.
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On how important it is to be a skilled defensive team:
You have to realize in one goal games that you may not get a good look to expand that lead. But you have to be able to play really well away from the puck to be able to keep that lead. The more the opposition tries to gamble, the better your chances are at getting that second and third opportunity. They started to press a little bit, and we got some looks on the rush.
I thought Patrick’s [Sharp] shot at the start of the third period was one that really put a knife in them right off the bat.
What they did different in the third to truly finish the game off:
I worried about our energy going into the third and I didn’t know where we were going to be at. But we dug in and found another level. Like I said, I was really proud of the effort that these guys put out tonight.
Last night was a late night, and I decided not to bring them in at all. They had to stay home and their preparation had to be good. I thought everything these guys did was good. I said the leadership and character of this team is excellent. When I made the decision last night not to bring anyone in today, they paid me back in dividends.
Where to go from this win and how to build on it:
We’ll try to bottle this performance and move forward, one game at a time. St. Louis is one hell of a team. We may have to beat them, if we can beat them, 1-0 or 2-1 because that’s the type of game they play. They’re a hard team to play against. I feel that at the start of the year, they were one of my favorites to come out of this division.
If we play like we did tonight, make the plays that we make, and defend like we defended tonight. We defended with a lot of passion tonight and that is a winning recipe.
The first period penalty kills:
Fabulous. We stopped them on the rush when they were in the zone and we had people in the right places. We didn’t give them a real good look. We gave them a couple of opportunities but we didn’t give them one of those real good looks. The penalty killing really gave us momentum off of that and I think it really hurt their team.
If he thinks the Stars are capable of depth scoring:
I do. You can flip a piece here or there. You look at Matty [Mattias] Janmark playing with Fidds [Vernon Fiddler] and [Patrick] Eaves, and that line was very effective. Then you look at Scevs [Colton Sceviour] playing with [Cody] Eakin and [Antoine] Roussel.
I thought Roussel had a great night. He had more energy than anyone else on the ice. He was giving some of the Chicago defensemen the fits getting in on the forecheck and getting in with speed. When you look at that and look at the opportunities they’re creating, it was a big goal for us at that time in the game.
How big of a deal it is that some players are really helping the depth scoring:
I think you pretty well summed it up. You anticipate players getting to a certain level, and if you get them to exceed that level, it’s special. From day one, you kind of have a picture of where you can get a player to. We’ve had some guys who were a little low in the first 10 games and now they’ve picked it up.
It’s really important because the further you get down the schedule, the history says the tighter it’s going to get. The more games you’re going to play and you’re going to pack it in. Typically, the scoring goes down a little bit and if you can get some depth of scoring, you’ll win a lot of games.
Next: Stars Come Alive In Third Period, Dismantle Blackhawks 4-0
The Dallas Stars will now break for the Christmas holidays cherishing a three-game winning streak. They will return to action on December 26th when they travel to St. Louis to take on the Blues.