Five for Fighting

Stars force overtime

Mike Modano comes barrelling through the slot, takes a slick Brenden Morrow pass and it's a tie game heading into some extra time. The Capitals have had trouble holding onto leads in the third period, so here's another one gone.

Modano's goal came just moments after Turco was able to get off the ice, and it's his fourth of the season. No doubt he's looking pretty darn good this early season, eh?

Ribs at it again

Mike Ribeiro hasn't looked so great this season, but he's made up for it a bit tonight. Mike Ribeiro gets a power-play goal, his first goal of the season, to go with his four assists as the Stars take a 5-1 lead into the room. That last power play was a thing of beauty for the Stars. Great puck movement, and the Islanders were getting over to defend each pass too late.

That's a career-high, five-point night for Ribeiro, who had tallied four points in four different games before this. It also ties a career high for assists (the last time was Dec. 18, 2003, against Nashville).

Modano scores, Stars up 2-1

Mike Modano gets a beauty of a rebound that goes right to him, and he beats Henrik Lundqvist with a sweet little wrister as the Stars take a 2-1 lead at the 8:03 mark of the third period. It was the Stars' first shot of the thid period; B.J. Crombeen looked like he made a pass toward the slot that Lundqvist pushed away with his stick, and Modano was right there for it.
Crombeen and Neal on the assists.

What a night

In a few areas for the Stars. Let's go down the list:
    Fabulous night for Mr. Fabian Brunnstrom. He's set the bar high, but you can tell he's taking everything in so far and he's running with it. You can't tell me that exuberance isn't filtering through the locker room. Or it ought to be, anyway.
    Brad Richards is looking like his playmaker self. I know some will say Fabian's goals were all about the passes of Richards. Yes, they were great ones. But without finish, a great pass is just a chance that got away.
   The line of James Neal, Mike Modano and B.J. Crombeen: Don't touch it. Leave it alone. These guys looked great together.

Now for the negatives:
    Still too many defensive breakdowns, and I don't know why it's so hard for the Stars to clear a puck on some of these penalty kills.
    The Stars' top line is still sputtering more than expected. Any doubt these guys are missing Jere Lehtinen?
    Loui Eriksson is struggling mightily. I'm sure the Stars will just work him through the slow start, but he needs to shake himself free of the mess right now.

A fine line

Hey folks,

The Stars got things cranked up today (well, sort of, in between all the photos, physicals and such) in Frisco. It wasn't the usual organized sessions we'll see from here on out, but nevertheless all the big names were out there. And there was a line that certainly makes you want to say, "Hmm..."

It was Brad Richards centering a line with Mike Modano and Sean Avery on the wings. Like I said, "Hmmm..." Yes, it was just Day 1. But this is a combo that the Stars may be working with for a bit to see where it goes. The potential is there, certainly. For Modano, it's leg-saving and, as he's said before, he doesn't have nearly the responsibilities out there as he does smack-dab in the middle. I'm kind of liking the idea, myself.
Oh, here were some of the other combos:
Morrow-Ribeiro-Lehtinen
Ott-Lundqvist-Eriksson (I really like this one, too; big fan of Lundy and Eriksson together from last postseason)
Crombeen-Petersen-Barch

So food for thought, kids. Whaddya think?

Where does Mo fit?

With training camp just a few days away now (believe me, I'm counting the hours at this point), I have a question for all you Stars folks in Star-TeleLand: Where does Mike Modano fit best? He may be 38, but he's still a great-skating, great-playing 38-year-old, who's rejuvenated with what this team did last spring. Should he stick to center? And if so, which wings would be best for him? Or do you put him on the wing? And if so, with which center?

Let's have some fun with this: So whaddya think, folks?

Mo scores

The Wings had evened this one up at the start of the third thanks to (shocking) Henrik Zetterberg off a Stars turnover. But the Stars got a big one on their fourth power play. Mike Modano was by himself in the slot and blasted one through Chris Osgood for a 2-1 advantage. It's Modano, from Zubov and Brad Richards at the 5:35 mark.

It's the Stars' first third-period goal in seven games.

Bumps, bruises and the brink

It was a relatively quiet day out at practice, mainly because there weren't enough people on the ice to consider the lines they had out there as gospel.
Here's the gist on the big hurts: Mike Modano said he was fine, and he will play tomorrow night. Brenden Morrow wasn't out there (spending the day with his newborns) but he's also expected to play tomorrow.
Jere Lehtinen and Stu Barnes are out for Game 4. And Mark Fistric was sick today, so he wasn't skating either. Doubt we would see him tomorrow, too.

So there are all the aches and pains, at least the physical ones. I haven't realized until now how beat up this team is. Not a complete excuse for what's happening, but... when you're missing anyone against Detroit, especially the bodies you are missing, that doesn't make things much easier.

Two great Americans

Keeli already included some of this in the postgame quotes, but I wanted to write a little more about it, too. Mike Modano and Jeremy Roenick had a little talk and hug in the handshake line on Sunday night/Monday morning. It was pretty impressive to see these two at center ice, two great U.S. players who have combined for some unbelievable moments in the NHL, as well as more than 1,000 goals. Great game by both.

"When the day's over, we appreciate each other for what each has given to the game. We push each other to extremes and highs. There's a lot of history there."

The handshake is still one of the classiest moments in sports. Seeing these two go through it, and the respect they have for each other, was great to see.

Stars up 1-0

This was set up by a Christian Ehrhoff delay-of-game penalty... and some great passing. Mike Modano found Sergei Zubov cross-ice, and he found Jere Lehtinen coming down the slot by himself (with Sharks all around, but not close) for the 1-0 lead. Stars up at the 6:14 mark on the power play.