By Will Martin
Wednesday was a hot and humid day in North Texas as summer defiantly reminds you why you so welcome the autumn when it arrives on Sunday morning.
Wednesday was also the second exhibition home game for the Dallas Stars as they would meet up with their Opening Night opponent on October 3rd the Florida Panthers..
Hockey is a funny game. This is meant in a good way not demeaning. In baseball the adage used is that no two innings are ever alike.
In hockey no two scores are ever alike. Days after a 6-5 shootout defeat by the Blues last night’s 3-2 victory was one where if you looked away for 44 seconds or so you would have missed four goals made.
We begin with the Stars. The new look Stars at that. A vibrant mix of young and old. Cody Eakin and Jamie Benn would gets scores on the Panthers in the space of 30 seconds late in the second period. Eakins goal at 17:00 was made with assists by Gonchar and Ray Whitney. Benn made his goal at 17:30 aided by Alex Chiasson and Tyler Seguin.
“I think the biggest part is that we want to keep getting better each and every game for these exhibition games that we have,” Benn said. “We definitely cleaned it up a bit this game; we played pretty well. We scored a power-play goal, probably gave up a lead that we shouldn’t have, but we won in the shootout, which is the biggest thing.”
A shootout was required when the Florida Panthers displayed their version of the hurry up offense, scoring two goals in the space of 14 seconds! Drew Shore would nail a wrister at 16:01 assisted by Campbel and Gomez while Scotty Upshall would unleash a snap shot past Backup goalie Cristopher Nilstorp at 16:15 to knot things up at 2-2. Assists to Winchester and Gudbranson.
Even in preseason it’s great to get to enjoy an extra 10 minutes of hockey with the overtime and the shootout. Alex Chiasson and Jamie Benn would successfully light the Stars lamp with goals and give the Stars a well-deserved 3-2 shootout victory over the Panthers. These teams again will meet up on October 3rd in Dallas for Opening Night.
An announcement was made for Thursday afternoon by the Dallas Stars. In all probability it will be to announce that Jamie Benn is going to be the 6th Captain in Dallas Stars history. This will sit very well with the fans for the immediate future.
Kari Lehtonen played the first 31 minutes and was money stopping ten of ten shots. Nilstorp stopped 12 of 14 shots in the next 34. A mere 14 seconds short of perfection this night.
Dallas now takes to the road for more exhibition hockey. Their final home game for the exhibition will be on September 26th with the Colorado Avalanche. Tickets available at the Stars website. Crowds of 7,056 and 6,532 got out of the heat to enjoy a little fire on ice.
October 3rd will be here sooner than you think. If you haven’t been before, make 2013 the year you go watch your first hockey game with a friend! The action is constant and the game will grow on you. A mix of poetry and violence. Where Metallica meets Shakespeare and finesse gets crossed up by an occasional brawl. That’s hockey.
Go Stars!
