Stars Rout Sharks In The Shark Tank

 Our Stars almost always seem to do well there . I am not sure why , but both teams have seemed to own the other in their opponent’s home arena . I guess it may have something to do with being division rivals . 

 Before the game , we found out that Brian Boucher would be given the start because Evgani Nabokov had the flu . I remember the last game that we had been forced to play him and we lost that one . No matter who was in net , we had to play hard to win . Of course we , we also found out that Sean Avery had been brought up and claimed off waivers by the New York Rangers . No surprise with that . The Rangers got what they wanted . Sean Avery for about a million bucks a year . That is why they let him go last time . They did not want to pay him what he thinks he is worth . I do not even care if things work out with him and Tortella – if they do not , he will probably never play hockey in the NHL again . That would be a shame .

This game was a solid all around showing by everybody on our team . Our Stars did everything right in order to win , while the Sharks did everything they could to look like they wanted to lose . Every player on our team did their each individual jobs both with and without the puck . Every player on their team ran at half speed and did not appear to take Our Dallas Stars seriously . This was not the first time that this has happened . The Sharks have not really taken Our Stars seriously all season , the sad thing is that the still beat us . Not in this game , though .

This was a very physical game . There were a total of seventy-three hits that were counted . Out of the eighteen penalties assessed (although they were inconsistently called) five were holds or hooks . The rest were highsticking calls (some of which were intentional) , roughing minors and double minors (even when they could have been called for more) , crosschecking (some of these calls could have been roughing as well) , fighting , unsportsmanlike conduct , game misconducts and even a head butting penalty tossed in on Pavelski in the first period . Everybody put hits on everybody else . Only Marty Turco and Brian Boucher were safe from the body tenderizing . 

 It was Our Stars’ forecheck that helped to kill the Sharks . They had a lot of trouble getting the puck out of their own zone . Every single time they tried to exit their own zone , they were rushed , harried , harassed and pestered to the point that Our Stars forced a mountain of turnovers . According to the scoresheet they had fifteen give-aways while Our Stars only had five . I think the statistics are probably a little off , but I am sure that we forced many more turnovers than the Sharks ever considered trying to do .

 Many of the turnovers that the Sharks had were in the neutral zone as well as in their own zone . Our Stars played the neutral zone very smartly . They kept the Sharks from hitting the line fast and gave them absolutely NO room to get things done . It may have frustrated the Sharks , but they never seemed to try harder to get anything done . Razor pointed it out , so I have to as well , The Sharks rarely connected three passes in a row without a turnover – and that was the whole game . 

 Brian Boucher was the best Sharks player on the ice . Marty may not have been overly challenged , but when he was called upon , he came through . Of course , it did help that it seemed that Our Stars blocked many more shots than they did . Any work you can save your goaltender from doing is an excellent thing .

 There were other positives in this game . 
 POINTS !  Obviously , getting the full two points was very important – especially since it was against a division rival .
 STANDING UP !  They stuck up for each other . Unlike the last time we faced the Ducks , any time one of our players were treated poorly by our opponent or roughed up , a crowd gathered around and quickly . That is what we need . A sense of team and knowing that your teammates have your back .

 Ordinarily , I would pick MY STARS of the game but Dan Rusanowsky chose them correctly (which is shocking for anybody from San Jose) . They were :
 1. James Neal
 2. Mike Modano
 3. Brian Sutherby

 I do have to give honorable mentions to Fabian Brunnstrom and Chris Connor . While neither player played a mountain of time , they did make their presence known when they were out there .

 Razor said it after the game , and I think that he is correct . Our Stars needed this win , against this team , in their arena . If anyting can bolster Our Stars confidence , that win should . we do have some tough games coming up , but they have nowhere near as good of a record as the Sharks did . I think if we can get things back on track , we will definately get back into the playoff picture . And them with The Cap’n , Petersen and Richards back from injuries………………who knows what might happen …..

 I happened to catch a local show here called Stars Live . They showed clips and interviews from The Dallas Stars Foundation’s Casino Night . The highlight was when Anne Marie Morrow interviewed Brenden Morrow . She asked him since she has not seen the trainer in a while , how the rehabilitation was going . He said it was going pretty well , but she kept interrupting him and asking him when he was going on another road trip or any thing to get him out of the house . She did ask him if he enjoyed being at home more . He said he did because now he has time to do the dishes and a few other chores , but as soon as he said that he fed the dog , she cut him off and told him “well , that is a big lie !” He looked shocked when she said that . My wife and I were rolling with laughter at that . If you have FSN , you should do your best to catch it next time it is on . That little bit with those two was worth the time .

~ by Adam on March 4, 2009.