For residents of the state of hockey, in a clear sense of parallel irony with the Wild the North Stars was resurrected for the Stadium Series game against the Chicago Blackhawks where names like Mike Modano, Don Beaupre and Brad Maxwell brought the old Met Center back to life again with a 6-2 victory.
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Dallas Stars defenseman Johnny Oduya (47) skates with the puck against Minnesota Wild right wing Jason Pominville (29) during the second period.
The Dallas Stars are preparing to take on the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Look for Dallas to start one of them, but head coach Lindy Ruff will be quick to make a change if things start going downhill for Dallas. I have had really good looks. Backup Antti Raanta surrendered three goals on 19 shots in the first playoff appearance of his career.
However, Seguin is a for sure good go for game 2, the Stars have announced.
Now, the Stars enter the playoffs as contenders to make a deep run into the postseason; a position they have not found themselves in for many years. Maybe that’s easy for me to say in hindsight as the faceoff loss, followed by bad positioning in the defensive end and an obligatory turnover, resulted in a goal allowed on the very first shot. They scored an average of 3.23 goals per game when no one else scored more than 3.02. Skating with Ales Hemsky and Antoine Roussel on what was the best line for either team, he scored the game’s opening goal (and eventual winner) on a wicked wrister that beat Dubnyk high glove midway through the second frame. And Patrick Eaves added a goal and assist while playing beside Spezza.
Dubnyk had 28 saves for Minnesota.
Seguin practiced this week with the Stars for the first time since missing the last 10 games of the regular season with a slight cut of his left Achilles tendon. Ruff said Wednesday that Seguin was available to play, but that a decision for Game 1 wouldn’t be made until Thursday.
Last season it was against the top point-getter in the West in the St. Louis Blues, and the wildcard Wild took them down in six games- Their goals against average in the four wins a sterling 1.00, led by current workhorse goaltender Devan Dubnyk. By winning top seed in the West, Dallas mercifully avoids a first round bloodbath with an established titan, and instead will tussle with a much more manageable Minnesota Wild squad that backed into the playoffs on a losing streak.
The only way a team with the Wild’s talent upsets a team like the Stars is to have a huge advantage in goal and behind the bench. That’s important for a Stars team that hasn’t won a playoff series since 2008 and last left a few ghosts in the American Airlines Center rafters by melting down in a Game 6 playoff loss to Anaheim in 2014. “For us as players, it’s a little different generation for us, we weren’t directly involved in it”.
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Spezza was playing in his 57th playoff game, but first in two seasons with the Stars – and his first overall since 2013 with Ottawa.
