For allegeldy having the "deepest and most talented" forward group in the league they sure looked average. Turning a guy making his first playoff start into the best player on the ice takes a unique effort.
Definitely agree Colorado looked very skittish. With how low odds we have of winning the series, it is really unfortunate we didn't take advantage of their sub par play to sneak a W before Miro maybe comes back.
But the stars have never won series in easy methods in the Jamie Benn era it seems so who knows what'll happen
Agree with your comment about the lines. I find it frustrating that they still can’t get these figured out. I understand injuries and new personnel but I thought forward depth was their strength. Shouldn’t they be able to score?
I think you're right about the lines and pairings.
On the PP the Avs PK did something we haven't seen before...as soon as Tommy got the puck they charged right at him to get him to give the puck, and it worked every time.
They weren't going to let Tommy pick em apart. On the PP goal it was a little different because Tommy had more time because the puck had gone deep before coming back out to him.
Their gamble was that Tommy couldn't beat the guy going charging out at him one on one...with a spin move etc...it definitely caught Tommy off guard how aggressively they were coming at him.
That is something we haven't seen and quite possibly the idea came from Makar to REALLY, immediately go right at him...not glide out cautiously.
Makar and Tommy share a lot of the same abilities...but if you blitz Makar he's going to spin and beat the super aggressive blitz move...Tommy being bigger is at a disadvantage against a small PK'er...
It doesn't happen as much anymore because teams learned their lesson against Makar...he'd actually engage the PK'er intentionally, bait him into getting close and the beat him with a spin move...now the opponent is in big trouble because Makar has gotten inside and has all sorts of options.
From what I observed Blackwood stood on his head. That was the difference in the game. Otter still needs to come up a notch but Blackwood may not be that good again. Another observation was Colorado owned the face off dot when it mattered the most. Winning some of the draws would have helped tremendously. I still don’t give the Stars much chance but they actually played a decent game. If they had played that way in April they would be playing the Blues
I think the Stars played alright and could have won the game if some of the bounces didn’t go against them. I’m a little disappointed in the physicality towards the end of the game though. The ending was soft and we failed to send any kind of message after we knew we were going to lose. Just felt like a routine regular season finish during a loss and I wanted to see some more physicality and emotion
My observation is that the Stars played pretty well but got two awful bounces . Benn really started to look old ala Pavs and Marchment is really poor in defense and is a puck losing machine . His offense where he is a poor passer and seems to have few clever plays even though he scores a few goals is outweighed by dumb penalties and little defense .
Between Dadonov, Blackwell, Bourque, & Back, I feel like we've got the propper mix of support players to keep a 4 line rotation running, gunning, & dangerous at all times.
Back showed some great board work that could be just the right mix of yeoman to set off a Granny Rant.
Steel-Hintz seems like a shut down supreme forward pairing that could milk whatever extra bit of offense that's available from that rotating forward group.
Benn-Johnston keep doing what they've done all year.
No one has addressed the Elephant in the Room . Mr. M ROTTEN-EN , the multimillion dollar phenom has not impressed since being signed . I’ve keyed on him live at games and find that he PLAYS small for a big man , loves the periphery a little too much , and has yet to dirty his nose ( board work ) . He kind of reminds me ( so far ) of that very talented NHL player who went from Columbus , to Winnipeg , then to the L.A. Kings and currently to Washington . With ROBO out , MIKKO needs to become more engaged and assertive . In other words he needs to show up MORE because the Stars do not have the luxury of time . Go Stars !!🙏🏼
I thought Dallas played pretty well until they started running out of time, took more risks, and immediately gave up a 3rd goal.
I think that first goal could have easily been wiped out. It was probably the right call but still we've seen goals wiped out for less.
Yeah outside the Duchene line and, at a lower level, the 4th line, it was not that good.
First thing would be to get Benn off of that line. IMHO his presence lower the ceiling of his linemates. So, this is what I would like to see.
Granlund-Wyatt-Rantanen
Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
Dadonov-Hintz-Bourque
Benn-Steel-Blackwell
For allegeldy having the "deepest and most talented" forward group in the league they sure looked average. Turning a guy making his first playoff start into the best player on the ice takes a unique effort.
Definitely agree Colorado looked very skittish. With how low odds we have of winning the series, it is really unfortunate we didn't take advantage of their sub par play to sneak a W before Miro maybe comes back.
But the stars have never won series in easy methods in the Jamie Benn era it seems so who knows what'll happen
Agree with your comment about the lines. I find it frustrating that they still can’t get these figured out. I understand injuries and new personnel but I thought forward depth was their strength. Shouldn’t they be able to score?
I think you're right about the lines and pairings.
On the PP the Avs PK did something we haven't seen before...as soon as Tommy got the puck they charged right at him to get him to give the puck, and it worked every time.
They weren't going to let Tommy pick em apart. On the PP goal it was a little different because Tommy had more time because the puck had gone deep before coming back out to him.
Their gamble was that Tommy couldn't beat the guy going charging out at him one on one...with a spin move etc...it definitely caught Tommy off guard how aggressively they were coming at him.
That is something we haven't seen and quite possibly the idea came from Makar to REALLY, immediately go right at him...not glide out cautiously.
Makar and Tommy share a lot of the same abilities...but if you blitz Makar he's going to spin and beat the super aggressive blitz move...Tommy being bigger is at a disadvantage against a small PK'er...
It doesn't happen as much anymore because teams learned their lesson against Makar...he'd actually engage the PK'er intentionally, bait him into getting close and the beat him with a spin move...now the opponent is in big trouble because Makar has gotten inside and has all sorts of options.
Why do you call him Tommy? It seems hyper disrespectful.
Endearing, grasshopper, endearing.
Tommy is the team MVP actually...not even close really.
Whatever you say Drew
From what I observed Blackwood stood on his head. That was the difference in the game. Otter still needs to come up a notch but Blackwood may not be that good again. Another observation was Colorado owned the face off dot when it mattered the most. Winning some of the draws would have helped tremendously. I still don’t give the Stars much chance but they actually played a decent game. If they had played that way in April they would be playing the Blues
I think the Stars played alright and could have won the game if some of the bounces didn’t go against them. I’m a little disappointed in the physicality towards the end of the game though. The ending was soft and we failed to send any kind of message after we knew we were going to lose. Just felt like a routine regular season finish during a loss and I wanted to see some more physicality and emotion
My observation is that the Stars played pretty well but got two awful bounces . Benn really started to look old ala Pavs and Marchment is really poor in defense and is a puck losing machine . His offense where he is a poor passer and seems to have few clever plays even though he scores a few goals is outweighed by dumb penalties and little defense .
Benn-Johnston
Steel-Hintz
Granlund-Rantanen
Between Dadonov, Blackwell, Bourque, & Back, I feel like we've got the propper mix of support players to keep a 4 line rotation running, gunning, & dangerous at all times.
Back showed some great board work that could be just the right mix of yeoman to set off a Granny Rant.
Steel-Hintz seems like a shut down supreme forward pairing that could milk whatever extra bit of offense that's available from that rotating forward group.
Benn-Johnston keep doing what they've done all year.
No one has addressed the Elephant in the Room . Mr. M ROTTEN-EN , the multimillion dollar phenom has not impressed since being signed . I’ve keyed on him live at games and find that he PLAYS small for a big man , loves the periphery a little too much , and has yet to dirty his nose ( board work ) . He kind of reminds me ( so far ) of that very talented NHL player who went from Columbus , to Winnipeg , then to the L.A. Kings and currently to Washington . With ROBO out , MIKKO needs to become more engaged and assertive . In other words he needs to show up MORE because the Stars do not have the luxury of time . Go Stars !!🙏🏼