Dallas Stars outshine Pittsburgh Penguins in 5-2 victory
The Dallas Stars have been enjoying a successful start to the 2010-11 NHL season. They have amassed seven wins in their first 11 games, and that can be attributed to their strong play
and the efforts of goaltender Kari Lehtonen. Both the Stars’ skaters and Lehtonen were sharp on Wednesday, 3 November as the team handed the Pittsburgh Penguins a 5-2 loss.
How it happened
The Stars drew the first blood in the game, with Stephane Robidas’ slap shot easily beating Brent Johnson of the Penguins at 3:51 of the opening period. Brad Richards then made it a 2-0
game for Dallas when he scored his fourth goal of the season at 7:57.
Pittsburgh ended Lehtonen’s bid for a shutout when Tyler Kennedy’s backhander found the back of the net at 6:20 of the second period. The Stars then got a game-tying goal from Steve Ott
at 10:52, with Robidas earning his second point of the game with an assist on Ott’s goal. Loui Eriksson then extended Dallas’ lead after scoring on a penalty shot at 11:51.
Eriksson’s second tally of the game at 5:13 of the third period put the
home team
up by a score of 4-1. Matt Cooke then scored the visitors'
second goal at 15:36, but it was too little, too late for the Pens, who ended up dropping a 5-2 decision to the Stars.
What they’re saying
One of the many highlights of the game was a fight between Matt Niskanen and Sidney Crosby during the second period. Stars head coach Marc Crawford acknowledged the Pittsburgh captain’s
attempt to inspire his team-mates.
“You’ve got to give credit to Sidney trying to inspire his group,” Crawford said after the game. “I like the way Matt Niskanen got in there; he certainly will be on a lot of highlight
tapes tonight.”
“I never saw that coming,” Niskanen said of the fight. “We were up 4-1, he was trying to get the team going a little bit, he asked me to go, and we went. I got him hard once in the helmet,
if that counts. But he’s very strong on his skates and he probably had the upper hand a little bit.”
Eriksson displayed some fancy moves on his penalty shot goal. He managed to fake Brent Johnson out on the approach to the net, and then use a backhand shot to score the goal.
“I actually thought about doing that move from the start,” Eriksson said. “I did it once in Vancouver two years ago (in a shootout) and it worked, and today it worked again.”
Both teams will return to action on Friday, 5 November. Dallas’ next opponents will be the Phoenix Coyotes, while Pittsburgh faces the Anaheim Ducks.
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