The Dallas Stars defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-0 Tuesday evening in Dallas. On a night with no other DFW sports team playing, this dominant performance was nowhere near the biggest story as a head coach from a Dallas sports team had been fired; Unfortunately for myself and many other Cowboys fans, that Dallas head coach firing wasn’t Jason Garrett.
Instead, this day began with the stunning firing of Jim Montgomery. Less than a year and a half into his reign as Dallas Stars Head Coach, Jim Montgomery was fired for “Unprofessional conduct”; However an exact reason has yet to be given by the team and we will likely not know for a very long time what exactly transpired. It was announced by general manager Jim Nill that bench coach Rick Bowness would become interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The feeling around management and the players was of utter befuddlement as no one could truly comprehend how quickly this situation unfolded. Unfortunately for everyone, there was no time to for adjustment because there was a game to play that night.
If there is anyone in the NHL that can share similar feelings to the Dallas Stars it is the New Jersey Devils. The Devils are in a similar boat as the Stars as they are also on their second head coach of the season. However, the 9-15-5 record of the Devils had more of an impact in that decision than the Stars mystery firing. Considering all the circumstances, the Devils were the perfect opponent for the Stars to play at a time like this.
This was a night of straight dominance from the Dallas Stars. They took full advantage of a team in absolute shambles to regain their footing in Rick Bowness’ first game as head coach of the Dallas Stars. The difference in quality of each team was quite evident from the second the puck dropped. The Stars were first on the puck, held sustained pressure in the offensive zone and that pressure led to two quick goals by Radek Faksa and Joe Pavelski in the 1st period. Once those two goals were scored the Stars continued to bombard Mason Blackwood, but he stood on his head the rest of the game and ended the game only allowing those two early goals on 35 shots. Ben Bishop had a 25 save shutout on a rather calm night for Big Ben, but as always made the big save when he was called upon. This was another all around great team game for the Stars. You saw continued back checks from forwards, guys filling shot lanes, and giving up the body to block shots. Did the 2-0 score line really show how dominant the Stars were? No not really, and that comes back to the Achilles heal of every Stars team these past couple of years and that is finishing. These grade A opportunities cannot continue to be squandered by over passing and waiting for the perfect shot. Another area of needed improvement for this team is their stale power play. It is absolutely bewildering that Tyler Seguin made a living shooting one timers from the left circle, but the staff refuses to put him in his best opportunity to succeed on the Power Play. Despite those minor gripes, it was still a great win and morale booster for this team as they gave Rick Bowness his first win as Dallas Stars head coach.
Lastly, I’d like to end the night (and most likely all nights from here on out) with some Hot Takes and things I personally found interesting in this matchup. This segment will be called “BGO’s Bitching Booth” for the time being.
- Miro Heiskanen is eons better than Nico Hischier. In recent memory, most NHL lottery picks have lived up to the hype that earned them such high draft grade, however it has become abundantly clear that neither Nico Hischier nor Nolan Patrick deserved to be the 1st and 2nd overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. You may even argue that neither would be Top 5 if it was re-drafted.
- PK Subban is still hated in Dallas and deservedly so. The guy is just a jerk who is finally being exposed as a fraud. The guy is consistently out of position, his offensively capabilities are overrated, and he decides that cheap shots behind the play are the best way to be relevant in the game. It is a damn shame that all he will be known for is being Lindsey Vonn’s husband by the end of his career.
- Denis Gurianov is fun to watch, like very fun. I get the same giddiness watching Denis the Menance play as I did with Roope Hintz during the second half of the 2018-19 Dallas Stars season. Gurianov’s game is like a game of spin the bottle (rocket). You may not get the action you wanted, but you’ll get to see some fireworks happen regardless.
- Tyler Seguin for Taylor Hall. It won’t happen but hey I can dream can’t I?
- Also, what the hell is wrong with Tyler Seguin? Is he hurt? Did he forget how to shoot the puck? Is he sacrificing too much of his offensive game to be more defensively sound? I don’t have the answer, but I am already beginning to regret this Seguin extension and we aren’t even half a season into it.
The next Stars game will be Friday 12/13 against the Golden Knights. Thankfully we will be blessed with watching the second most useless player in the NHL, Ryan Reaves.
Thanks for reading 🙂
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