Dallas Stars

[NoWayOut]

I should have speculated on the call up, it's Brett Ritchie. Dude has been on fire, 5 goals in the last three games and AHL Player of the Week. Now it's a matter of whether or not he gets in tonight. The signs would say no since he went through a full 90 minute practice this morning and wasn't planning for a trip to Dallas according to the media. We shall see.

Still no word on who the injured forward is that Ritchie was called up to fill in for. Forgot about the injury part, he may very well get into the game. Practice or no practice he's got to be riding one helluva an adrenaline rush with his first NHL call up. That alone ought to give him enough gas in the tank for a game.

[NoWayOut]

Appears it's Morin who's out and Ritchie is in. So the only change is Fiddler's line, which would now be Moen-Fiddler-Ritchie.

[NoWayOut]

Gotta say I've been surprised by how well Oleksiak has looked. Flying in the face of what I read about his recent stint in Cedar Park. Heck he's leading the Stars in ice time so far, so that says to me the Stars saw something the commenters didn't during that stint. Ruff parked Jokipakka in the press box and handed his spot on the top pairing with Daley to Oleksiak. So far so good.

Ritchie has been quiet, but that's not a surprise. Given the way the call up unfolded today it was a given he was going to be used sparingly and sheltered. He's had a good debut so far, nothing to draw your eye in a bad way.

Somebody is going to need to spike the goalie's water bottles with No-Doze at the rate this one is going. Just 10 shots combined. Dallas has had quite a few opportunities swallowed up inside in a sea of legs and sticks. They just need to keep the pressure on and I think the train gets rolling here in the second.

[NoWayOut]

First 20: Stars, 3 shots

First 5:30 of the 2nd: 6 shots

Been even more aggressive to start the second, and not just in terms of shots. All facets.

[NoWayOut]

You remember what I said about Ritchie being quiet, yeah not anymore. First goal and he was instrumental in setting the whole thing in motion with a crunching hit along the boards moments earlier to keep the puck in the zone.

[NoWayOut]

The cat is done playing with the mouse, now he's just ripping it to shreds. The Stars are in full control of this one.

[NoWayOut]

Each of the four lines has a goal plus the 1st power play unit. Three of the five goals are from Dallas drafted and Texas honed players. You could make a case for Eakin too as the vast majority of his development has come with the Stars organization.

[mister_mcgoo]

You remember what I said about Ritchie being quiet, yeah not anymore. First goal and he was instrumental in setting the whole thing in motion with a crunching hit along the boards moments earlier to keep the puck in the zone.

Not just his first goal...his first goal in his first NHL game on his first shot

[STONE.]

Woohoo! Ritchie starts his career strong.

They could use the help on the Wing if he can stick for a bit.

[NoWayOut]

Not just his first goal...his first goal in his first NHL game on his first shot

And as it turned out, the game-winner. Just missed another on the breakaway with his second shot.

It's funny how things can turn so quickly. He rolled out of bed yesterday morning, planned to hang out and watch the WJC after practice and celebrate the New Year like any other 20 something with friends. And when it was over he'd played his first ever NHL game, got his first goal, and was partying I'm sure with a whole other group of friends.

Woohoo! Ritchie starts his career strong.

They could use the help on the Wing if he can stick for a bit.

He gave them everything they're looking for. Physicality, he was credited with 5 hits one of which set up that goal. Tenacious along the boards in puck battles. By and large he was right where he needed to be positionally on defense. He has the speed to run with the pack in this offense and used his size to his advantage getting in front. All in all a very successful start.

I do think that performance won him a few more games in Dallas. I'm not sure they'll keep him up for the duration though, barring a rash of injuries while he's here. Here again Ruff and Nill will make me look stupid, but I think with the forward corps they'll be more patient in bringing them up versus what they've done with all the young D. Like I said they may make me eat my words on that. I believe Ritchie has a better than 90% chance of making it next season though. I think he's the perfect complimentary winger for Spezza.

[NoWayOut]

As for the game itself last night, that was the best the Stars have looked at just about any point this season. If they can play anywhere near that the rest of the way the playoffs may well be in their future. They currently sit only 4 points out of 8th and 6 points out of the 7th spot. This 8 game run has proven they can play at the high level we all thought coming into the season. And they are getting better incrementally over that same time frame. You really saw it last night as the game wore on they just got more and more confident. For once when they had an opponent down they didn't lift their foot off the gas. They'd be well inside the top 8 out west if they had used that same mentality at numerous conjunctures in the first couple of months.

- Kari once again delivered save after timely save to keep the Coyotes from ever getting the traction they needed to start a comeback. He's gaining confidence in his own game, he's looking more comfortable with the D in front of him. It's showing in his play as he looks more relaxed feeling like they have his back if things get a bit sideways. It's not totally perfect, this little relationship of their's, Kari and the D, but it's working so we happily take it.

- You've got to go all the way back to the opening couple of weeks to find the last time the forecheck was that aggressive and effective. If we can keep that up this run should keep going for a while and we can make up a lot of ground in the standings. Saturday night will be a much tougher test and where we'll get an even better read. Minnesota has done plenty to get inside the Stars heads this season, but you can feel this group getting their groove on and i predict another win in the division. A tough win, I do expect that Minny has this one circled as the game where they get right, but still a win and the Wild leave Dallas with an L for once this season.

- The PK did a good job against the 'Yotes. The key for us on the PK is Vern Fiddler. He's great on the dots in those situations and that's enormous help. Last night he was on and Arizona had to work to get back in to setup. They got their shots, 7 in 3 PP chances, but they were chasing the puck down ice a lot and regrouping more than getting setup immediately off the draw. That allowed our PK to dictate a bit and keep most of the opportunities to the outside or long range. Here's something to consider, over the last two games the Stars have allowed one PPG in five shorthanded situations. That lone goal was scored with Fiddler sitting in the box. It's something I want to track more in the future, but he really does seem to be the most important man on the PK most nights.

- A couple of interesting tidbits from last night:

Every single Stars player finished +1 or better. Not a single Even in the bunch. Not every night where you have every player on the ice for at least one goal.

Tyler Seguin gets credit for 5, yes 5, hits. Jamie Benn, none. Strange stat that, cause I know Jamie was throwing the body all over the ice. He had a couple of bone-crunchers in there for sure.

According to Mike Heika's post game column, the mystery injury to a forward was....Antoine Roussel. He sure didn't look injured to me, but then again no expert I.

For all the good things Brett Ritchie did last night, he did it all in just 10:21 of ice time.

[Magicstew]

Good job NWO covering Dallas - own Benn, Daley, and Klingberg in $ pool.
Will keep an eye on Ritchie now.

[NoWayOut]

Good job NWO covering Dallas - own Benn, Daley, and Klingberg in $ pool.
Will keep an eye on Ritchie now.

Thanks Magicstew. It's easy when your so into something as deeply and passionately as I am with the Stars.

If you don't own Ritchie, have that trigger finger ready to pick up him. Kid should make a good living in the NHL and some very happy fantasy owners as well in the near future.

[NoWayOut]

Let's dive into this shall we. First item up is the Stars claiming David Schlemko off waivers from the Coyotes. On the face of it I was a little confused why they would be interested in Schlemko. He's kind of....meh. But as is Jim Nill's way he believes you can never have enough defensemen. And he has a bigger agenda and Schlemko actually fits it well. Here's a quote from Jim Nill via Mike Heika.....

“What I want to do is I want to keep the young guys playing, so we’re going to look at the situation. I want the young guys playing all of the time, so we might create a situation where the guys go down for a week or two weeks and play four or five games and then come back up and maybe the next guy goes,” Nill said. “Now, that can all change quick as you know with injuries and that, but that’s kind of the game plan right now. I want the young guys to keep playing.”

Schlemko is most likely going to be the healthy scratch most nights I would think. This works out perfect for the Stars as the rotating healthy scratches with Jokipakka and Oleksiak are doing neither of them any good developmentally. Schlemko makes a decent enough emergency 7th without encumbering the Stars with a lengthy contract, he's an UFA after this season. Win-win for the Stars and if Schlemko can play well enough to earn some spot starts that's a bonus. I don't really see him doing that, but you never know. Nill did say he expects Schlemko to fight for playing time, but then again that's what you would expect a GM to say. Nill did say it's Lindy's decision if, when, and how he uses Schlemko.

Moving on, the Heika and Stepneski are both saying it looks like the same lines and D pairs again. Ritchie will get another start with Fiddler and Moen and so another chance to make life difficult for Ruff and Nill on whether to send him back to Cedar Park or not. I still think he goes back down here in the next week or so, maybe gets another call up near the end of the season depending on injuries and the playoff chances for both Stars squads. Just my best guess, and as we've seen it's a damn good thing I don't make my living at that.

Here's a link to another good read from Mike Heika about the importance of this weekend's doubleheader for the Stars.....

http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/2015...-weekend.html/

Needless to say, tonight and tomorrow are quite literally the two most important games for the Stars playoff hopes of the season so far. Win 'em both and things are looking brighter, lose 'em both and well.....

[Excelsior]

Apparently the Wild wanted Schlemko as well-

Michael Russo ‏@Russostrib 18m18 minutes ago
Very good bet David Schlemko was flying to Dallas today either way. Last night's win dropped #mnwild in waiver order

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/287410351.html

Also didn't know this-

Waiver priority goes by standings at the time the waivers were requested. However, Minnesota was already behind Dallas in waiver order before winning last night's game. It goes by % of possible points, not absolute points.

Yesterday at noon:
Minny: 35GP, 38 points = .5429
Dallas: 36GP, 39 points = .5417