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| Continued: Stars Maintain Division Lead While Faced with Injury and Stiff Competition |
| Dallas sent two representatives to the All-Star game in Raleigh, North Carolina. Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson were members of the winning Team Lidstrom. Richards picked up an assist and Eriksson scored two goals and two assists including the game-winning goal. Coach Crawford gave his verdict on his two All-Star participants. "Definitely, they both are guys that have had excellent seasons. Loui's a guy that's emerged the last couple of years, he had 36 goals two years ago, last year he was almost a point-a-game guy, and he's just continued on. He's getting stronger, he's getting more comfortable with how the league is." "I think he's been aided greatly by playing with Brad Richards. Brad is a guy that shares his knowledge and is very communicative with Loui. They're talking all the time about what they see on the ice and how they can take advantage of people when they're out there, and I think that can never be underestimated. I think you learn best, or at least it's always been the case since I've been in the League, when you learn from veteran players. Loui has a great one in Brad to guide him," he concluded. Once league play began restarted, the Canucks traveled to Dallas and continued to provide difficulties for the Stars. Vancouver's special team play was dominant as they shutdown all five of Dallas' power-play opportunities. Dallas was defeated 4-1, but the dynamic duo of Richards and Eriksson continued their strong play. Eriksson was able to record his eighteenth goal of the season, with Richards picking up his thirty-eighth assist. By taking all three meetings thus far, the Canucks proved why they are deserving of the best record league-wide. The Stars headed northeast to visit the Boston Bruins at the TD Bank Garden. It was a match-up of division leaders and proved to be an intense game from the start as three fights broke out in the first four seconds. The first was between Steve Ott and Gregory Campbell as Ott left the Bruins' enforcer a bloodied mess, but Shawn Thornton won his battle seconds later with Krys Barch. Adam McQuaid then tangled with Brian Sutherby and dropped him to the ice, as Boston gained the early momentum.  Langenbrunner gets tripped up in the corner by Zdeno Chara in a physical game.Another division leader was next in the Stars' path as Dallas met the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center. Andrej Meszaros found the first goal of the game before the first intermission. Just into the second period, Darroll Powe added a short-handed tally to give the Flyers a 2-0 advantage. Ribeiro fed Morrow for a goal as the Stars' captain continued in sizzling form, scoring his twenty-third goal of the year. It was Ribeiro's thirty-seventh assist of the season. Langenbrunner later stole the puck and blasted a shot from the point that was held onto by Boucher to the delight of the Wells Fargo crowd.  Langebrunner pressures the Flyers' Scott Hartnell along the boards.Coach Crawford made sure that his team wasn't getting complacent. "You're in trouble if you start getting satisfied with losses," he said. Your job is to try and find a way. We knew it was going to be a close game tonight and that we'd probably have to win a game 2-1 or something like that. It was going to be tough to penetrate their defense and it was going to be tough to stop the good offense that Philadelphia has, especially with some of the guys that we had in the lineup, but your job is to do it." When the Stars landed back in Dallas, a difficult match-up unfolded when they faced the Phoenix Coyotes. Richards made a tremendous no-look pass from behind the net to set-up Steve Ott for his tenth goal. It was Richards' thirty-ninth assist as Eriksson picked up his thirty-fifth helper. Late in the first period, the Coyotes' Michal Rozsival tipped a rebound on the power-play goal to even things at 1-1.  Langenbrunner and the Stars lost in overtime to the Coyotes but still maintained the division lead.Captain Brenden Morrow shared his thoughts post-game. "Special teams again was the difference tonight. It was hard-fought, chances both ways, both goalies played well, Kari made some big saves again. A 4-on-3, that's a lot of ice out there and they've got some skilled guys, they move the puck really well and we just got the 2-1 lead and maybe sat back on it a bit," he explained. The Stars maintain their lead in a tight Pacific Division with 66 points and an overall record of 30-18-6. Brad Richards leads the team with 61 points while captain Brenden Morrow is ahead of Richards by a single goal with team-best 23. Richards is narrowly ahead as Dallas' assist leader with 39, while Ribeiro is just behind with 37. Loui Eriksson has the club-best plus/minus mark of +15 and is tied with Morrow for power-play goals with 7. Kari Lehtonen has recorded 22 victories in net while Andrew Raycroft leads the Stars' with a goals against average of 2.57. On the injury front, Adam Burish (facial fracture), Jamie Been (shoulder) and Toby Petersen (lower body) remain on the injured reserve. Dallas continues their homestand on Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Blue Jackets on Sunday before embarking on another three-game road trip to Western Canada next Tuesday away to the Edmonton Oilers. |
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