A new season begins for Dallas Stars hockey.
Through a summer filled with change, growth, and development, the Stars were ready to begin the next chapter. They would open up against the defending Eastern Conference Champs, the Boston Bruins.
Let’s recap last night’s thrilling matchup.
1st Period
A Familiar Face for the Stars Strikes First
Last season, Brett Ritchie was struggling to make the Stars’ roster night after night. Last night, he would suit up for the first time in a Bruins’ sweater, and he came into the game hungry.
Ritchie would strike just 1:09 into the hockey season. The Stars failed to clear the zone, due to a good forecheck by Charlie Coyle, and that led to a turnover. Ritchie would take the loose puck, get a quick shot off, and score between the legs of an unsuspecting Ben Bishop.
Penalty Trouble Put the Stars in a 2-0 Hole Early
Alexander Radulov committed a holding penalty not long after the goal by Ritchie. This gave the dangerous Bruins powerplay the opportunity that they needed.
Some good puck movement all around the Stars’ defensive end kept the play alive. Finally the puck made its way from McAvoy to Grzelcyk to Heinen who takes a perfect shot top shelf on Bishop, just 5:59 into the game.
The Bruins would take this 2-0 lead into the first intermission with shots on goal kept to only 6-4 in favor of Boston.
Injuries Began to Pile Up for Dallas
Blake Comeau went down in this period when he took a puck to the face. Later, it was announced that he also suffered a lower body injury. No official word as to how long he will be out for yet.
Jason Dickinson also went down in this period with an apparent upper body injury. He is not expected to miss too much time as of right now.
2nd Period
Scary Incident with Roman Polak
As he was heading back into the defensive end to hold off a Bruins’ forward, Polak slipped as he tried to turn to stop him. He crashed head first into the board and laid there, seemingly motionless for a little while. The Stars’ staff moved quickly to get him onto the stretcher and carry him off. No word yet about his timetable for return.
Roope Hintz Has an Answer
The Stars needed a spark to get them going in this hockey game. That spark came in the form of Roope Hintz.
Newcomer to Dallas, Joe Pavelski, passed up to Mattias Janmark in the neutral zone to begin the play. Hintz started sprinting towards the other end between the two Bruin defensemen. Hintz caught the pass from Janmark and was sprung free for a breakaway. He then put his shot top shelf, putting the Stars back within 1 goal.
After the 2nd period, shots on goal were 13 a piece and the score was 2-1 in favor of Boston.
3rd Period
The 3rd period came around, and the Stars began to gather some steam to try to even up the score.
The Stars would go on to get 16 shots on net in the 3rd, but they could not break through the wall known as Tuukka Rask. The Bruins would only add 7 more shots on Ben Bishop in the third.
The game would end with the Bruins on top 2-1 over the Stars.
Next game for the Stars is on Saturday in St. Louis against the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues at 7:00pm.
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