Did any of you happen to see the insane goal McDavid scored against the Stars last night? That put the Stars down by 2 and I thought they were in trouble. But more solid goaltending helped the Stars get back into the game and win their 7th straight on the road.
The Stars are lucky in that they seem to be better on the road than at home against some teams, so starting in a wildcard position may not be a bad thing. The recent game in Winnipeg had the announcers mention that they didn’t play well against the Stars (Stars are 3-1 against the Jets this season). The announcers in the game against the Flames made the same point (Stars are 3-0 against the Flames). For all the inconsistency in Stars season, they have done pretty well against the teams at the top of the Western Conference especially on the road.
Oh yeah, I did see that goal, and it stung. Insane shot.
My brother and I have both noticed that the Stars tend to play to their opponents. They are slow and uncoordinated against lower ranked teams and actually show up against higher ranked ones. So, being in the wildcard spot might be the best place for them to start the playoffs at.
I’ve seen that goal at full speed many times by now, and I still can’t convince my brain that it was possible. My eyes keep telling me that his stick is still winding back when all of a sudden the shot is flying into the net.
Wow, again, the NHL is balanced these days. The Stars (with pretty stellar defense) don’t clinch a playoff spot until tonight, and the Pens (with a powerhouse of an offense) still haven’t clinched with two games to go. The playoffs are my favorite part of the season, but the close of the season in recent years has been pretty great.
I don’t doubt it’d make a difference if they were in, but it’s tight these days. Heck, St Louis is one point away from a three way tie for first in the Central right now. If you told my ex-co-worker that a couple of years ago, he’d freak.