Stars leave St. Louis feeling the Blues
Dallas Stars (4) vs St. Louis Blues (2).........
The WCHL's worst team this season, the Dallas Stars have now won two straight games and four of their last five as they doubled up on the Blues in St.Louis. Oddly enough the Blues have accounted for three of Dallas victories this season or 43% of Dallas' points in the standings.
This was a bit of a rough game as there were four fights in total, and it wasn't who you would expect dropping the mitts (Bieksa or Torres for the Blues) or (Glass or Brookbank for Dallas) rather it was Peverly (twice for St.Louis) and Dubinsky (twice for Dallas) who were the shift disturbers. There was hockey played as well.
After a scoreless first, Dallas scored twice in fifteen seconds to open the second on goals by James Sheppard(3rd) at 0:39 and Nik Antropov(14th) at 0:54 seconds to give the Stars a lead. The Blues replied with goals by Damien Brunner(28th) at 4:10 and Marc Staal(7th) who tied up the affair forty-six seconds before the buzzer to end the middle stanza.
The difference in the game came off the stick of Nick Foligno(20th,21st) in the third as he would score his first on the powerplay then add his second with just over five and a half minutes remaining to put the game on ice. Justin Abdelkader and David Clarkson added a pair of helpers each for Dallas.
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 28 shots for his fifth win of the season. Niklas Backstrom dropped to .500 on the season with the loss stopping 21 of 25.
MOLSON'S 3 STARS:
1 - Nick Foligno (Dal)......... 2 goals, +1, 4 shots
2 - Damien Brunner (St.).... 1 goal, 1 assist, 6 shots
3 - James Sheppard (Dal).... 1 goal, +1, 3 shots
GAME'S GOAT:
Rich Peverly (St.L)........ For a player who's sole job on the team is to provide offense - as the team's leading scorer, Peverly took it upon himself to use his hands to score some punches to the opponent's face instead as he threw down for the only two times this season, spending some very valuable time watching the game from the sidelines.
NEXT UP:
The Blues remain at home and welcome the tough San Jose Sharks to town on Sunday. The Sharks are mirred in an off year this season as they are usually one of the top tier teams but find themselves struggling to stay in the playoff picture, as they have lost three of their last five games. Then it's off to the Canadian Capital to play the Senators on Monday. Ottawa is also struggling of late having won just four times in their past ten games as they try to hold onto fifth place in the East.
Dallas will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. The Flyers have lost just four times in their last fifteen games while juggling their roster as they have dealt with injuries to key players all season long. Then the Stars travel to Buffalo to play the Sabres who have gone 3-7 in their last ten matches and are well into their planning stage for next season. This team has underachieved all season and there is hope that GM Khera can right the ship without having to gut the franchise.
Reporting For The WCHL Network..........
Peter Puck
Dallas Stars (4) vs St. Louis Blues (2).........
The WCHL's worst team this season, the Dallas Stars have now won two straight games and four of their last five as they doubled up on the Blues in St.Louis. Oddly enough the Blues have accounted for three of Dallas victories this season or 43% of Dallas' points in the standings.
This was a bit of a rough game as there were four fights in total, and it wasn't who you would expect dropping the mitts (Bieksa or Torres for the Blues) or (Glass or Brookbank for Dallas) rather it was Peverly (twice for St.Louis) and Dubinsky (twice for Dallas) who were the shift disturbers. There was hockey played as well.
After a scoreless first, Dallas scored twice in fifteen seconds to open the second on goals by James Sheppard(3rd) at 0:39 and Nik Antropov(14th) at 0:54 seconds to give the Stars a lead. The Blues replied with goals by Damien Brunner(28th) at 4:10 and Marc Staal(7th) who tied up the affair forty-six seconds before the buzzer to end the middle stanza.
The difference in the game came off the stick of Nick Foligno(20th,21st) in the third as he would score his first on the powerplay then add his second with just over five and a half minutes remaining to put the game on ice. Justin Abdelkader and David Clarkson added a pair of helpers each for Dallas.
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 28 shots for his fifth win of the season. Niklas Backstrom dropped to .500 on the season with the loss stopping 21 of 25.
MOLSON'S 3 STARS:
1 - Nick Foligno (Dal)......... 2 goals, +1, 4 shots
2 - Damien Brunner (St.).... 1 goal, 1 assist, 6 shots
3 - James Sheppard (Dal).... 1 goal, +1, 3 shots
GAME'S GOAT:
Rich Peverly (St.L)........ For a player who's sole job on the team is to provide offense - as the team's leading scorer, Peverly took it upon himself to use his hands to score some punches to the opponent's face instead as he threw down for the only two times this season, spending some very valuable time watching the game from the sidelines.
NEXT UP:
The Blues remain at home and welcome the tough San Jose Sharks to town on Sunday. The Sharks are mirred in an off year this season as they are usually one of the top tier teams but find themselves struggling to stay in the playoff picture, as they have lost three of their last five games. Then it's off to the Canadian Capital to play the Senators on Monday. Ottawa is also struggling of late having won just four times in their past ten games as they try to hold onto fifth place in the East.
Dallas will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. The Flyers have lost just four times in their last fifteen games while juggling their roster as they have dealt with injuries to key players all season long. Then the Stars travel to Buffalo to play the Sabres who have gone 3-7 in their last ten matches and are well into their planning stage for next season. This team has underachieved all season and there is hope that GM Khera can right the ship without having to gut the franchise.
Reporting For The WCHL Network..........
Peter Puck
