Someone forgot to tell the St. Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars that this was only preseason. At the end of the third period, the Dallas Stars were tied with the St. Louis Blues -1. With the preseason being an opportunity for many players to prove they belong on a team, three periods and an overtime period weren’t enough playing time for these two teams. They continued playing, tied through the end of overtime, resulting in the first shootout of this preseason.
For the shootout, the Dallas Stars chose Antoine Bibeau as their goalie. After playing the third period and all of overtime, it was clear the coaching staff was comfortable with him defending the net for the shootout. After all, this is preseason, let’s see what these players bring to the ice. The Blues’ goalie was Colton Ellis.
The St. Louis Blues had the first shot on goal, and they gave it to Dalibor Dvorsky. After skating to the left side and some wobbly puck motion, the puck went high and was deflected by Bibeau.
Sam Steel was up next for the Dallas Stars. His name was a common name mentioned during this game. For his shootout opportunity, he picked up the puck at center ice and speedily skated to the right side of the net. Then, what seemed like in the blink of an eye, they effortlessly put the puck into the back of the net, resulting in a goal.
Next up for the Blues was Justin Carbonneau. Hoping to get one past the goalie, he went with a lot of hand movement but not much puck movement. Another quick deflection from the Stars found him skating back to the bench, disappointed.
Last up for the Stars was Mavrik Bourque. Bourque had scored the only goal for the Stars earlier in the game. He also used his speed to take off straight towards the front of the net, then, dropping his left heel to slow himself down, he took a shot on goal. Unfortunately, Ellis‘s glove was there to meet it and deflected the puck off to the side.
Lastly, the St. Louis Blues attempted to respond by having Dylan Holloway take a shot similar to his teammates. After switching to his backhand several times, the puck flipped up into the air, a short distance, and after an attempt to make a shot, the puck was kicked away by Bibeau’s skate.
It was clear that the Blues players who took the shots employed one type of strategy, while the Dallas Stars players employed another. All three of the Blues players took the puck out wide, had lots of stick movement, and fired a shot that was deflected. The Stars, on the other hand, used their speed and efficiency to take their shots, one of which resulted in a goal.
Sam Steel’s goal gave the Stars the lead of 2-1. The Stars are now 1-0 for their preseason record. If anything, this game showed us that hockey is back in a big way. The Stars face the Minnesota Wild for their next preseason game. It may only be preseason, but with games like this going into overtime and a shootout, fans love these early-season games and hope this was a preview of what we can expect to see this season.