What a night

I would've felt absolutely awful for Loui Eriksson if the Stars would've lost this one on a night where he scores a friggin' hat trick. Fortunately the Stars got a (very) fortunate call on the replay of the Manny Malhotra goal. It looked much like Brenden Morrow's denied goal in Game 5 in San Jose last playoffs. And that should've been a goal, too.
    Tippett's quote: "I thought it was exactly like the one Brenden Morrow had called back last season. If that’s the precedent, I’ve seen it before and you know my opinion on it."

So the Stars got a break and took advantage of it. Marty Turco finally stopped everything back there, because the rest of the game for him was pretty forgettable. Wipe the brow, exhale and be happy to come out on the winning end.

Loui, Loui... fabulous night again for him. I'll reiterate his goal stats, kids: 14 in 69 games last season, 17 in 31 games this season. Much-needed on this team, and he's delivering. And you could tell that chemistry we saw with him, Brad Richards and Joel Lundqvist can be captured again. Three guys, nine points among them.
    Richards: "That's the most success I've had on a line is with those two guys. You knew Lundy would come back with some excitement. Loui and I have been around it, but it's been a few games where it’s been tough going offensively. It was nice to get rewarded."
And Richards sorely needed a night like that. He's not been tallying the numbers of a guy earning close to $8 million, as he had just one assist in his first seven games this month. Frustrating for him, and frustrating to watch. Maybe this is the breakthrough he needs, because the Stars need his game elevated more often.

By the way, Columbus center Derick Brassard is out 3-4 weeks with a shoulder injury after that melee with James Neal. That's why he was saying "Stop." Sorry to hear that; believe me, it's tiring to write up that injury report on a daily basis.

Comments

[BradG]

I suppose you just forgot to mention Trevor Daley...????

[Adam]

That was a great game.. Most definetly fun to watch in person.

Though 1 question Tracey - Why do you always refer to us as kids? Been reading your blog for over a year now (I find it great :)) and most of us aren't kids ;)

[Tracey]

Adam,
I call you kids so you all feel young... I figured Sirs and Ma'ams would just advance the age process :)

[Dwain]

Thanks Tracey. I could use a little de-aging. Kinda like de-icing?

Happy Holidays to all on the blog.

[Andrew]

He was saying stop, b/c he got the crap kicked/knocked out of him... I doubt its a shoulder, its his face, did you see it?

[Paul]

Turco may have given up 5 goals last night, but I'm not sure which, if any, you'd say was his fault or even stoppable. The defense in front of him was so sloppy on those goals, you can hardly fault him for it.

[Tracey]

Paul, I agree somewhat. If you give up five, there's a goal or two in there you probably should get. But considering the Stars were playing just five defensemen most of the night (with Trevor Daley out after about eight minutes), the blue-liners were strapped. So that definitely was a factor in all of that.