NHL - Stars Round Up - December 27-31, 2016

Stars @ Phoenix Coyotes 3-2 - Tuesday, December 27, 2016


Maybe the Dallas Stars should show up two hours before all their road games.
After mechanical problems delayed their flight from Texas, the Stars got 35 saves from Kari Lehtonen in a 3-2 win against the Coyotes at Gila River Arena.
Jason Spezza, Jamie Benn and John Klingberg scored for Dallas (15-14-7), which is 4-1-1 in its past six games and 5-9-4 on the road. Klingberg's empty-net goal to put the Stars up 3-1 with 1:08 remaining turned out to be the game-winner after Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata scored on a penalty shot with 6.6 seconds left to make it 3-2. Anthony Duclair ended a 22-game goal drought for the Coyotes (11-19-5), who have lost five games in a row and scored 27 goals in their past 15 games (3-9-3). Mike Smith made 26 saves.

Spezza scored shorthanded 2:48 into the second period, slipping past Vrbata and flipping a shot over Smith's shoulder to put Dallas up 1-0. Duclair scored his second goal of the season to tie it 1-1 at 3:37 of the second. Lehtonen made the save on Martin Hanzal's shot, but the puck sat in the crease. Tobias Rieder took two swings at it before Duclair finally pushed it over the goal line. Duclair, who scored 20 goals last season as a rookie, had not scored since Nov. 3 against the Nashville Predators. Benn scored his 10th goal, sixth on the power play, at 12:03 of the second to make it 2-1. Tyler Seguin's pass missed Benn's stick but deflected off his skate and behind Smith, who appeared to kick the puck into his net.

* Recognizing he was skating against a backpedaling forward, Spezza caught Vrbata flat-footed and swooped to the net before dumping a shot over Smith for his shorthanded goal.

* Klingberg not only scored what proved to be the game-winner, he made a huge save in the first period. With the puck heading toward the goal line, Klingberg swept it away during a big scrum in front of the Dallas net with less than 13 minutes left in the first period.

* After their scheduled 8:30 a.m. CT flight to Phoenix was delayed, the Stars went back to their practice facility in Frisco, Texas, to get in a morning skate before returning to the airport. They reached the hotel across the street from Gila River Arena a little more than two hours before the opening faceoff, and then went out and got the two points.
* Vrbata has scored 43 NHL shootout goals, and he used his patented move to beat Lehtonen on a penalty shot, ending with a high flip off the backhand.
* Hanzal's assist on Duclair's goal was his 299th NHL point. … Lehtonen is 13-4-4 in 22 career games against the Coyotes.

"It was a trying day and one where we could have gotten frustrated and made excuses. We just wrapped our head around the fact that it is what it was and we had to find a way to win a game. I think the guys did a great job staying focused." Spezza said.

"I tried to get my head up and I knew it was him. It's tough. I play the point on the power play, and it's tricky when you aren't used to gapping up. It's harder for us forwards to pivot; we're not as good as defensemen. … I just tried to take advantage of the forward being back there." -- Stars forward Jason Spezza on getting around Radim Vrbata for his shorthanded goal in the second period.

Colorado Avalanche @ Stars 2-4 - Thursday, December 29, 2016

Tyler Seguin had two goals and an assist to lift the Dallas Stars to a 4-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at American Airlines Center. Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak scored the game-winning goal early in the second period for the Stars (16-14-7), who have won three games in a row for the first time this season and are 4-0-1 in their past five. Dallas starting goalie Kari Lehtonen made 13 saves on 14 shots before leaving the game at 4:56 of the third period following a collision with Colorado forward Jarome Iginla, who was called for goaltender interference. Antti Niemi made four saves on five shots in relief. Devin Shore scored his sixth goal to give the Stars a 1-0 lead at 5:11 of the first period when he went to the net and finished off a pass from Lauri Korpikoski. Seguin gave Dallas a 2-0 lead at 11:26 of the period after some sharp puck movement by Jason Spezza and Benn. Spezza passed the puck into the slot for Benn, who made a backhand pass to Seguin for a one-timer past goalie Calvin Pickard.

Matt Duchene got his 400th NHL point when he scored to pull the Avalanche to within 2-1 at 15:48 of the first. Lehtonen made the initial save on Duchene with his left pad but couldn't corral the rebound as he slid out of the crease, and Duchene put the puck into an empty net. Oleksiak gave Dallas a 3-1 lead at 4:52 of the second period when he beat Pickard with a wrist shot. Mikhail Grigorenko scored on a rebound at 7:27 of the third period to cut the Dallas lead to 3-2. It was the second shot Niemi faced after he entered the game. Seguin scored into the empty net with 26 seconds remaining to make it 4-2. Pickard made 30 saves.

* Oleksiak beat Pickard high to the short side with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle for his fourth of the season, and it proved to be the game-winning goal.

* Pickard made a toe save on Stars forward Cody Eakin with 3:55 remaining to keep the Avalanche within a goal at 3-2.

* Seguin's first-period goal came on a pretty passing play with Benn and Spezza. The three have had chemistry since being reunited as the Stars' top line.

* Niemi entered the game cold when Lehtonen left to go through concussion protocol. Niemi allowed one goal but preserved the win.

"You don't really have much time (to think) in that spot, in a tight game," Niemi said. "You just focus on the next puck."
* Ruff said Lehtonen was OK after going through the League-mandated concussion protocol. … Eakin returned from his four-game suspension for charging New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist on Dec. 15. … Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov didn't make the trip to Dallas and was getting his injured groin re-evaluated.

"I think we've played pretty sound hockey for a good period of time. Couple disappointing losses inside of that. But we're getting more and more guys on the scoreboard. Our key guys, our big guys are scoring. We said when they score, there is a good chance of winning." Lindy Ruff

"We're just trying to play better hockey and play the way we know we can. Winning is a lot of fun, so we're trying to get this going." Jamie Benn said.
"Their guys were getting a little scrambly there, and I saw an opportunity to jump low. I was actually just trying to look pass but decided to take my chance with a shot, and it worked out." Oleksiak said.

Florida Panthers @ Stars 3-1 - Saturday, December 31, 2016



James Reimer made 35 saves, and Jaromir Jagr and Vincent Trocheck each had a goal and an assist to lift the Florida Panthers to a 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. Reimer had 20 saves in the third period to help the Panthers (16-14-8) end a four-game losing streak (0-1-3). The Stars (16-15-7) had their season-high three-game winning streak come to an end.

Florida scored three goals in the first period. Trocheck gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 3:06 when he corralled the puck after Jagr's shot bounced off Stars goalie Antti Niemi and scored his 11th goal. It was the 1,135 NHL assist for Jagr, tying him with Paul Coffey for fifth on the League's all-time list. Jussi Jokinen scored on the power play at 15:32 to give Florida a 2-0 lead. The Panthers got another power play on the next shift when Lauri Korpikoski was called for delay of game at 15:46, and Jagr beat Niemi through the five-hole for his seventh goal to give Florida a 3-0 lead at 16:40. Niemi was replaced by Kari Lehtonen after Jagr's goal. He made 17 saves on 20 shots. Patrick Eaves scored a power-play goal at 16:32 of the second period to cut Florida's lead to 3-1. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn each extended his point streak to four games with an assist.

* Jokinen took a one-touch feed from Trocheck from below the goal line and beat Niemi with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle on the power play. The goal ended up being the game-winner.

* Reimer made a pad save on Devin Shore with 1:50 remaining after the Stars pulled Lehtonen for an extra attacker. "[Reimer] is a great guy, works real hard. He's come in as a new guy in the organization. Every night he gives us a chance to win just like [Roberto Luongo] does," Rowe said. "I'm real happy for him. It's good way for him to end the old year and start the new."

* Jagr took a cross-ice pass from Jonathan Marchessault, took his time, and picked his spot with a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle past Niemi.

* Panthers defenseman Michael Matheson went down to his knees in the crease to help prevent a goal with Reimer down on his stomach during a scramble at the Florida net at 2:53 of the second period.

* Benn went hard into the boards when Eaves scored. He finished the game, but Ruff said the Stars will evaluate him over the next couple days. … Forward Patrick Sharp returned to the Stars lineup after missing 12 straight games with concussion-like symptoms. … Former Stars forward Colton Sceviour didn't travel to Dallas with the Panthers after sustaining an upper-body injury against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

"Slow start killed us. Obviously collective by our unit from the defense to our forwards to the goaltender. We lost almost every faceoff, chased the puck around. When you do that, you end up taking a couple penalties, which we did. You know, when you get behind, it's hard. But we created our own problems, and the first 20 minutes was tough to recover from."
"I didn't like a couple of goals, but I didn't like our team. We hung [Niemi] out to dry on a couple of the plays. Could he have made the save? Yeah. But it isn't on our goaltender. I threw [Lehtonen] in there to see if he could give us a spark." Lindy Ruff said of the switch to Lehtonen, who made 18 saves.