Three Thoughts - Stars Win Gm 3 in Denver
Not always a pretty picture, but a beautiful result to regain the home ice in the series.
What a brilliant road performance when you badly needed one.
Dallas had to sit back and absorb some flurries early, but over the course of the night, they grew well into the game and silenced Ball Arena (I had no idea that was the new name of the Pepsi Center) as the game ended as they defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 4-1. This win gives them two straight wins and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
These are My Three Thoughts:
– That was the type of win that makes you think this team has a chance to win it all. It was composed and professional. It was not easy, but it was intelligent, gutty, and full of savvy. It was veteran and pragmatic. It was not overpowering and it was not dominating. It was simply the type of performance you need to go take a game on the road against a team that thinks they have you figured out.
One of my favorite wins I have been fortunate to witness live was in the year 2000 in the Western Conference Finals against the Colorado Avalanche in the first year of the brand spanking new Pepsi Center. It was Game 4 and the Stars were trailing 2-games-to-1. They needed this game, but they also were not playing a team that was going to make it easy.
In that game, Colorado out-shot them by an incredible 39-15. They were out-skated, out-chanced, and probably out-played. But, they weren’t out-scored. And that, my friends, is hockey. Sometimes you just have to make sure that you do not concede and the Dallas Stars with Ed Belfour that night, like the Dallas Stars and Jake Oettinger did tonight, stood tall and held the game together. And when you get strong goaltending and brave defending, you give yourself a chance to take a game that was not aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The Stars won that game, 4-1. Which is a score that you might find familiar with tonight’s similar result.
Now, let’s be clear, this wasn’t nearly as one-sided as that game. But, that night, I learned the beauty once again of road playoff wins. They are about continuity and trying to shorten the game with one spunky shift after another. Just get the puck out of the zone and roll another line out there to keep the situation in check. I just love games like this and love the feeling of taking on 20,000 people at the same time.