This was a fun 20 minutes, kids, and I hope it was as fun for you to watch there as it was for me here. OK, that was smarmy. On with the analysis:
Any doubt that Brad Richards is motivated? Saw him diving to keep a puck in the zone during a power play. Don't know if I've ever seen that from him.
The Stars have had four power plays, scoring on just one. Obviously their road power play hasn't been good, and with four opportunities you'd like to see them get more than the Richards goal. I've been more impressed with how they've kept the puck in the Tampa zone after the power play. Like they extended the advantages a few times.
Right now the Ott-Ribeiro-Lehtinen line has been the best, IMO. That group is just flying around and Ribeiro has been pretty crafty with his passes. Close on a few; Mike Smith looking good himself.
And another reason I love Loui Eriksson: Did you see him anticipate Smith going back for the puck, and picking the right side to pick it off? Too bad nobody in the middle when he threw that pass. Great anticipation on his part.
OK, I've basically just written a game story for a first-period blog. But it's been good stuff. Expect that power-play number to even up, however. Just warning ya.
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