Stars @ Sharks – The Dallas flavoured review.

It’s been a while since Stars fans were able to say they won in a shootout but lo and behold; that time is upon us once more!

After falling 2-0 in the third to the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavillion last night, James Neal and some guy called Mike Modano scored within 1:42 of each other to level the game and send it to overtime.

Mike Modano (above) tied Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard

for 27th all time goal scorer in the NHL last night

against the San Jose Sharks.

Cue the shootout and a pair of brilliant stops from Marty Turco on Dan Boyle and Ryan Vesce. I sincerely hope I’m not speaking too soon but Turco really does seem to have turned a corner these last few games and perhaps more importantly, the defense have been a little more considerate in their placement in front of him. Trevor Daley – who had previously been guilty of blocking Turco’s line of sight in just about every game and was perhaps one game away from being involved in trade rumors – rescued Turco on a huge “save” after a Joe Thornton shot clipped Turco’s glove and was on the way in.

Daley came from nowhere to skate behind Marty and kicked the puck clear of goal.

This one move may perhaps prove the most significant of the Dallas Stars’ season.

It showed;

We are not prepared to give up a game at 2-0 down.

Our defense are clearly paying more attention to the man in the pipes.

We are reading the game and puck direction.

We’re getting to grips with this team work stuff.

Take nothing away from the Sharks in this game. They started hungry and ready to prove a point against one of their divisional rivals on their own ice with the best overall record thus far this season (Sharks with the best record… now that sounds familiar…). Quite simply, they were outdone by a team willing to throw absolutely everything they had at them.

No giving up at 2-0 down, the Stars pressed, hustled, slugged and thrashed it out and got their reward a little fortuitously on a James Neal shot that hit the skate of rookie Sharks D-man Jason Demers, wrong-footing the stretching Nabakov and going in. Not Neal’s prettiest but extremely welcome nonetheless.

Modano’s first goal of the season came from a pass off Neal at the high-slot. On receiving the puck, Mo unleashed a cannon of a slap-shot that sailed between the pads of Nabakov. That goal sees the all-time leading US born goal scorer tied 27th all-time with the legendary Maurice Richard.

The final 6 minutes and OT had Marty Turco standing on his head making saves and none more impressive than a stop on Pavelski’s one timer from the high slot which ultimately sent the game into overtime.

This was a huge result for this Dallas Stars team who have so far struggled for any kind of consistency and were looking for a win. Any win. From anywhere. It makes it all the more sweeter that this came on the road against – statistically – the best team in the NHL at the moment.

Next up for this team is another game on the road, this time to take on the Phoenix Coyotes and our first meeting with Dave Tippett since being relieved of his Stars duties in the summer, who has done brilliant things in Phoenix and has really turned the team into a legitimate threat for whoever they face. This will be a doozy!

Come what may Saturday night, I’m proud of ya boys! Keep it up.