NHL - Stars Round Up - December 15-23, 2016

NY Rangers @ Stars 2-0 - Thursday, December 15, 2016



Henrik Lundqvist returned to the New York Rangers net and made 27 saves in a 2-0 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. Rick Nash scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 7:08 of the third period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Lundqvist was playing for the first time since Dec. 6. Antti Raanta started the past four games for New York (21-10-1). Lundqvist did not get his second shutout of the season because Raanta replaced him for 5:31 of the first period after Cody Eakin crashed into him behind the net at 9:19. Eakin was given a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. It was the first shared shutout in Rangers history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Raanta did not face any shots. Nash took advantage of a turnover by Jamie Benn and beat goalie Antti Niemi with a wrist shot over his left shoulder for the game-winner. Mats Zuccarello scored into an empty net with 1:04 remaining to make it 2-0. His eighth goal of the season ended a 14-game drought. Lundqvist was at his best on the penalty kill, when he made nine saves to help the Rangers kill five Stars power plays. In the second period, he made point-blank pad saves on Benn and Devin Shore. Niemi made 28 saves for Dallas (12-14-6).

* Nash stole Benn's pass for Jason Spezza along the Rangers blue line, skated the length of the ice and beat Niemi from between the circles above the hash marks. "I made a pretty early [decision] just after watching Chris [Kreider] try it on his breakaway. I thought [Niemi] was kind of cheating the deke and thought I could catch him a quick shot and kind of catch him off guard," said Nash, who returned to the lineup after missing the past four games with a groin injury.

* Lundqvist got his right pad on Benn's one-timer from the top of the crease off Spezza's no-look, between-the-legs backhand pass from behind the net at 10:31 of the second period with Dallas on its second power play.

* Lundqvist made a left-pad save against Shore from the slot with 3:24 left in the second period with New York shorthanded. "He's our best player and one of the best goalies in the world. He's been a leader on this team for 12, 13 years. He's a reason why this team has had so much success. I'm not really surprised that he comes back with that effort," Nash said.
* The Rangers limited the Stars to three shots in the third period after allowing 18 in the second. "We talked about getting a little bit greasier and getting through that neutral zone, which we did in the third and obviously took away their transition game, which hurt us in the second period," New York coach Alain Vigneault said.
* New York defenseman Ryan McDonagh was back in the lineup after missing a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday with the flu. … Dallas defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was eligible to play after serving a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Philadelphia Flyers forward Chris VandeVelde on Saturday, but he was a healthy scratch.


"That's a stupid play on that. When you play a good team like that, you've got to make them make the first mistake. It was my fault. I'll take the blame for this one." Benn said.
"I was coming in pretty fast, I was trying to create some energy and my intention was to go for the puck and not make contact with [Lundqvist] or his head. It's a collision that my momentum carried me a little bit off my feet." Cody Eakin

Philadelphia Flyers @ Stars 1-3 - Saturday, December 17, 2016


The Dallas Stars ended the Philadelphia Flyers' 10-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory at American Airlines Center. Adam Cracknell scored the game-winning goal early in the third period and Antti Niemi made 31 saves for the Stars (13-14-6). The Flyers (19-11-3) lost for the first time since Nov. 25 against the New York Rangers. Taylor Leier scored his first NHL goal at 16:44 of the first period on a rebound to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead. Nick Cousins took the initial shot before Leier beat Stars defenseman John Klingberg to the rebound. Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov nearly tied the game at 3-3 when his wrist shot at 10:08 of the third period hit the crossbar. Philadelphia's potent power play (23.5 percent before Saturday) had one opportunity in the game when Jordie Benn was called for hooking with 2:58 remaining. Dallas killed the penalty and Benn scored into the empty net with 18 seconds remaining to make it 3-1. Flyers goalie Steve Mason made 25 saves.

* Cracknell gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 2:27 of the third period on a rebound after a point shot by Klingberg for his fourth goal of the season. "We created a lot chances off rebounds," Cracknell said. "If we keep putting pucks on net, and it's so cliché, but they're going to keep going in. We have to be there and keep going there to get pucks through."

* Niemi made a pad save on Flyers center Claude Giroux with 1:48 remaining in the second period when it was still a 1-1 game.

* Stars forward Radek Faksa tied it 1-1 when he scored his fourth goal of the season 4:48 into the second period on a rebound. "He's just become a big part of the team and big part of what we're trying to get done. The kill was great," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "(He) got the goal and they got it the hard way. It's not an easy game out there. You've got to get to the net; if you don't get there, you don't create the traffic."

* The Stars committed one minor penalty on Saturday, exactly one week after they allowed three-power play goals in a 4-2 loss at Philadelphia.

"Lot of discipline talk before the game and between the periods. We still knew they were probably going to get one (power play) in the game," Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. "But to keep that team to one (power play), that's what won us the game tonight."
* Stars forward Cody Eakin served the first of his four-game suspension for charging New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist on Thursday.

"We've played well and not had results. Tonight was a matter of we were ugly and effective and found a way to get a win. [Cracknell] scored the huge goal for us and we bunkered down and blocked shots. (We) killed a penalty late. We talked about it the other night, the sentimental wins don't go very far."

"That's a tough team to beat. We hope that can kind of help us springboard things." Jason Spezza said.
"It's huge at the end. I think that was a good penalty for Jordie to take. They were pushing hard and you never know if it could have stopped a goal. Our penalty kill was up to the challenge." Cracknell said.

Los Angeles Kings @ Stars 2-3 OT - Friday, December 23, 2016
Rookie Esa Lindell scored at 1:07 of overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at American Airlines Center. The 22-year-old finished off a 2-on-1 chance with Jamie Benn for his third goal. Tyler Seguin and Radek Faksa scored for the Stars (14-14-7), and Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves. It was the second overtime win of the season for Dallas (2-7). Jeff Carter scored two goals for the Kings (17-13-4), and Jeff Zatkoff made 28 saves. Carter scored on the power play to give the Kings a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the first period. Lehtonen couldn't hold on to Tanner Pearson's initial shot, and the puck trickled over to Carter at the top of the crease. Seguin scored his 11th goal 43 seconds into the second period to tie the game 1-1. He one-timed a shot off the rush on a play set up by Spezza and John Klingberg. Faksa gave Dallas a 2-1 lead 3:30 into the third period when he scored on his own rebound. Faksa was stopped by Zatkoff on his initial shot, but he quickly gathered the puck and beat Zatkoff for his fifth goal of the season.

Carter scored on a rebound to tie it 2-2 at 10:51 of the third period. Devin Setoguchi got the assist after Lehtonen made a left-pad save on his initial shot.

It was Carter's 19th goal, tied for second in the NHL with Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins behind Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (24).

* Lindell scored his overtime goal off a pass Benn said almost didn't happen. "I was thinking shoot almost the whole way down the ice," he said. "It was kind of hard not to pass it to him there. He worked so hard to get up the ice and he made a good play in the D zone. You know, he was wide open. So I kind of had to make the pass."

* Lehtonen made a pad save on Alec Martinez at 10:00 of the second period when it was tied 1-1. Martinez's chance came after a pileup in the Stars crease, forcing Lehtonen to fight through traffic to make the save.

* Seguin's goal came off a pretty passing play with Klingberg and Spezza.

* Faksa was dominant on faceoffs, winning 15 of 20 (75 percent), including the opening draw of overtime.

* Kings forward Tyler Toffoli missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Stars left wing Antoine Roussel (upper body) and defenseman Stephen Johns (lower body) each missed the game because of injury. … Dallas forward Cody Eakin served the third of a four-game suspension for charging New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist on Dec. 15. … The Stars dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

"I think it's good. It kind of shows the direction where we are going. It was a bit of a tough start of the season. So it's a huge thing to get some winning streak here, and we're trying to get it."

"Saw they were changing one guy and saw the opportunity to get a 2-on-1. That was pretty easy to put in from that pass." Esa Lindell

"I thought [Faksa] was really good. He was the guy again tonight I tried to double-shift. You need guys that win battles." Lindy Ruff said.