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The Dallas Stars held off a late push in a 2-1 win against the Seattle Kraken at American Airlines Center on Sunday.
Mason Marchment is back in town
When Mason Marchment was traded to Seattle last summer, it shook the Stars fanbase. Even if it was a bit expected due to the salary cap situation in Dallas.
Marchment was a fan favorite, and that was in spite of his many unnecessary penalties, dives, and misbehavior. Well, maybe for some, it was because of all of that. But then you add the tight, hilarious friendship and shenanigans with Jake Oettinger, and it was even harder to swallow.
Marchment became a dad recently, just like Oettinger. They are best friends. Their wives are close friends. It was one of those “it’s a business” moments that you understand, but you don’t have to like.
But tonight, Marchment made his return to Dallas, and he received the big welcome I expected him to. I posted this on Twitter earlier in the day, and the responses are well worth your time…
MANY Stars fans and DLLS DieHards even got here early to secure a spot on the glass for Seattle’s side of warmup. And they made sure Marchment heard them when he came onto the ice.
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And of course, a nice video tribute to follow. He did have to wait until under six minutes to play because that was the first chance this odd game gave us for a media timeout.
Personally, I don’t think there were nearly enough fights and true Marchment moments in this tribute. But it was still nice.
Tyler Seguin told us he misses Marchment and loved seeing him get a great cheer from the AAC crowd. He also said he was making sure to let Marchment know he had a lot of chances in the slot and couldn’t score. More on one of those chances later.
On the ice, Marchment laid a hit on Jason Robertson seconds into the game. He recorded another hit on Miro Heiskanen, then absolutely planted Roope Hintz coming into the Seattle crease. He also fell down, argued with officials, and created a couple of scoring chances.
So, he Mason Marchmented.
Seattle coach Lane Lambert said Marchment has been a good fit and is getting better every game. He has one goal and five points through 13 games. The Kraken are still looking for the best fit for him within the lineup.
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I HAD to include this… Later in the game, Marchment did this to 6-foot-7 Lian Bichsel.
A weird, sleepy game
Usually, it’s the matinees that are the odd and sleepy ones, especially to start. But yesterday in Nashville (2:30 pm start) wasn’t like that. Instead, that title was reserved for tonight’s 6 pm puck drop against Seattle.
Both teams played yesterday, Dallas in the afternoon in Nashville, and Seattle a night game in St. Louis. Seattle used just about every second to tie the game against the Blues, scoring with 0.5 to go and winning in overtime. So, I guess I should have expected this to be a bit sleepy.
But not this Sleepy. Might as well have Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, and Bashful jump out there to join the game.
Side note: Thank you to Robert Tiffin for filling me in on the other six Dwarves’ names… Because I definitely didn’t know. In fact, I had to ask to make sure Sleepy was one in the first place.
Seattle took the lead on a high drive-by tip from Jaden Schwartz. I would love to see Miro Heiskanen a little tighter on Schwartz here, but after he gets beat off the draw, he is in the area of defending, but not quite enough actual defending. Nice tip up over the glove of Casey DeSmith, though.
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Dallas got right back into the game when Wyatt Johnston did what Wyatt Johnston does around the net. Score.
I talked to Johnston the other day about tipping pucks and playing in the area in and around the blue paint. He has the hands and hockey mind to do it well. Plus, he learned from Joe Pavelski. That helps.
Johnston is, as of now, two goals off the league lead with 10.
Then, Tyler Seguin put the Stars up 2-1 late in the period. The play by Seguin was elite, getting in front of the Kraken defender and reading the D-to-D pass before intercepting it on the backhand and jumping around into a mini breakaway.
But more interesting to me is the fact that Kraken goaltender Matt Murray actually had this completely covered. But at the last second, Murray thinks Seguin is going to try to elevate the puck on his backhand from a tight angle. He lifts both pads up in an Anton Khudobin-esque scorpion and allows Seguin’s slow-moving shot to slide in along the ice.
The little things, you know?
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It’s a race to 3… or 4… sometimes 2… and once in a while 1
It’s a race, it’s a race. I hope I win!
Gulutzan has repeatedly preached that the NHL is a “race to three” league. Meaning the first to score three goals often wins the game.
With this current iteration of the Stars, this can be true. But it can also be very untrue.
At times, it’s a race to three. Other times, it is a race to give up the first few goals so you can be the team to come back. Then on the flip side, it’s a race to try to overcome your blown lead and salvage the game. And of course, you have your 7-5 and 5-4 games like we have seen in the last two.
That’s just sort of what this Stars team has had to do to start the season. They aren’t alone in the category of figuring things out and not playing their best hockey. They are also not alone on the injury list. Add some structure and system changes that Dallas is still figuring out — or at least figuring out how to trust their instincts while playing within the system — and it’s easy to see why the season so far has been both bumpy and just okay.
But now, we are nearing that 20th game that Gulutzan says is when teams start to separate themselves. The elite teams pull away, and the rebuilds go into rebuild mode. Meanwhile, the bubble teams battle each other for every inch of positioning and a hopeful wild-card playoff spot.
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But where in there does a healthy Dallas team lie? Are they ever going to be a fully healthy team?
I honestly don’t know the answer to those questions yet. But we should find out in games 20-40 or so. Can’t wait.
NEWS: Jamie Benn will travel with the team to Ottawa tomorrow for the two-game road trip. Benn has not played or traveled since having surgery to repair a collapsed lung during training camp. Benn won’t play in the games, but getting cleared to fly and being with the team and skating is a great step.
Matt Duchene will not be on the trip and remains day-to-day.
Quotable
Stars goalie Casey DeSmith on if his late save against Mason Marchment was extra special
“Oh yeah… Every one against “Mush” was extra special… He never shuts up out there.”
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