It's beginning to look like the schedule makers forgot to bring a map with them when they produced the 2008-09 schedule. Last weekend, the Atlanta Thrashers came to Boston one night after a game in Detroit. Earlier this week, the Bruins went from Edmonton to Vancouver in one night (rather than nearby Calgary). Now this weekend, the Dallas Stars make their lone visit to the TD Banknorth Garden Saturday night, coming off of a 5-2 loss in Chicago less than 24 hours earlier. This trend won't be ending anytime soon. Boston's next back-to-back is in Chicago, then home against Montreal. Speaking of the Bruins, they enter Saturday's game after winning two out of three in Western Canada.Including Friday night's loss, the Dallas Stars enter Saturday night's game in Boston with a 4-5-2 record, good for 10 points, and third place in the Pacific Division. Dallas has alternated wins and losses for the last six games, a streak that the Bruins hope to put an end to with a win of their own. The Black and Gold are currently 5-3-3, good for 13 points, and third place in the Northeast Division. The last time these two teams met was back on opening night 2007-08, a 4-1 win for the Stars. Patrice Bergeron had Boston's lone goal that night, with Manny Fernandez taking the loss in his first game as a Bruin.Although it is only a month into the season, the early concern for the Stars is the performance of their goaltenders. Marty Turco has been Dallas' number one guy for the past five seasons, playing in the All-Star Game three times. So far this year, Turco has been far from his normal self with a 3-4-2 record, a 4.26 goals against average, and an .842 save percentage, but could turn that around at any time. With Turco struggling, the Stars have gone with Tobias Stephan in each of their last two games. The Swiss netminder is 1-1-0 on the season, with a 3.53 goals against average, and an .857 save percentage in four apperances. Considering Stephan struggled on Friday, and this is a back-to-back, the smart money is on Marty Turco getting the nod against the B's. As far as Boston is concerned, it's a toss-up at this point. Tim Thomas played well on the road trip, but Manny Fernandez hasn't played in a week.On defense, Dallas is without the services of Sergei Zubov, due to an injury. That leaves them on the young side, except for 35-year old Philippe Boucher, and 31-year old Stephane Robidas. Boucher has been a bit slow at the start with one assist, but Robidas is the Stars' leading scorer on the blueline, with six assists and seven points. Trevor Daley and Matt Niskanen are next in line with four and two points respectively, but Daley's minus-6 and Niskanen's minus-5 aren't very encouraging signs for defensemen. The defense rounds out with Niklas Grossman, Mark Fistric, and Doug Janik.The injury bug has also hit the offense for the Stars. Joel Lundqvist was recently put on injured reserve, while Brad Richards missed Friday night's game in Chicago, and is listed as being day-to-day. Despite Richards' absense, Dallas' forwards are still putting points on the board. The top two scorers are linemates Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro. Morrow has four goals and eight assists, while Ribeiro relies more on the pass, with one goal and eleven assists. Loui Eriksson is the third member of that line, and he seems to be fitting in quite well, with five goals and three assists. Another bright spot up front for the Stars has been rookie Fabian Brunnstrom. Brunnstrom has already picked up five goals in just nine games to start his career.Having Dallas in town also means that the Bruins will be forced to contend with superpest Sean Avery. It hasn't taken long for Avery to make friends in the Western Conference, as he has 33 penalty minutes in eleven games. Fans of the fisticuffs should enjoy watching this team play. The Stars only have eight fighting majors to this point in the season, but Avery, Steve Ott, Krys Barch, and BJ Crombeen have never been shy about dropping the mitts.On Friday night, the Providence Bruins continued their road trip. Unfortunately for the P-Bruins, they came out on the short end of a 4-2 score with the Houston Aeros. Providence took the lead in the first period on a goal by Matt Lashoff, but had it answered 1:16 later by Jason Deitsch. The Aeros got their first lead of the contest 1:52 into the second period from Krys Kolanos, but the Baby B's were able to tie it before intermission thanks to Levi Nelson. In the third period, Houston took the lead at the 3:26 mark, when Danny Irmen went top shelf for the go-ahead goal, and the Bruins were unable to recover. Bryan Lundbohm capped the scoring with an empty netter in the final minute. Peter Schaefer's brother Nolan picked up the win for the Aeros with 25 saves on 27 shots. Kevin Regan suffered his first loss in the AHL, despite stopping 20 of 23 shots for Providence.Believe it or not, both teams will be in action on the same night for the first time October 18th. The Boston Bruins are home for a 7:00 face-off with the Dallas Stars, while the Providence Bruins conclude their road trip against the San Antonio Rampage at 8:00.Source
Friday, December 26, 2008
Stars Visit Boston to Start November
It's beginning to look like the schedule makers forgot to bring a map with them when they produced the 2008-09 schedule. Last weekend, the Atlanta Thrashers came to Boston one night after a game in Detroit. Earlier this week, the Bruins went from Edmonton to Vancouver in one night (rather than nearby Calgary). Now this weekend, the Dallas Stars make their lone visit to the TD Banknorth Garden Saturday night, coming off of a 5-2 loss in Chicago less than 24 hours earlier. This trend won't be ending anytime soon. Boston's next back-to-back is in Chicago, then home against Montreal. Speaking of the Bruins, they enter Saturday's game after winning two out of three in Western Canada.Including Friday night's loss, the Dallas Stars enter Saturday night's game in Boston with a 4-5-2 record, good for 10 points, and third place in the Pacific Division. Dallas has alternated wins and losses for the last six games, a streak that the Bruins hope to put an end to with a win of their own. The Black and Gold are currently 5-3-3, good for 13 points, and third place in the Northeast Division. The last time these two teams met was back on opening night 2007-08, a 4-1 win for the Stars. Patrice Bergeron had Boston's lone goal that night, with Manny Fernandez taking the loss in his first game as a Bruin.Although it is only a month into the season, the early concern for the Stars is the performance of their goaltenders. Marty Turco has been Dallas' number one guy for the past five seasons, playing in the All-Star Game three times. So far this year, Turco has been far from his normal self with a 3-4-2 record, a 4.26 goals against average, and an .842 save percentage, but could turn that around at any time. With Turco struggling, the Stars have gone with Tobias Stephan in each of their last two games. The Swiss netminder is 1-1-0 on the season, with a 3.53 goals against average, and an .857 save percentage in four apperances. Considering Stephan struggled on Friday, and this is a back-to-back, the smart money is on Marty Turco getting the nod against the B's. As far as Boston is concerned, it's a toss-up at this point. Tim Thomas played well on the road trip, but Manny Fernandez hasn't played in a week.On defense, Dallas is without the services of Sergei Zubov, due to an injury. That leaves them on the young side, except for 35-year old Philippe Boucher, and 31-year old Stephane Robidas. Boucher has been a bit slow at the start with one assist, but Robidas is the Stars' leading scorer on the blueline, with six assists and seven points. Trevor Daley and Matt Niskanen are next in line with four and two points respectively, but Daley's minus-6 and Niskanen's minus-5 aren't very encouraging signs for defensemen. The defense rounds out with Niklas Grossman, Mark Fistric, and Doug Janik.The injury bug has also hit the offense for the Stars. Joel Lundqvist was recently put on injured reserve, while Brad Richards missed Friday night's game in Chicago, and is listed as being day-to-day. Despite Richards' absense, Dallas' forwards are still putting points on the board. The top two scorers are linemates Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro. Morrow has four goals and eight assists, while Ribeiro relies more on the pass, with one goal and eleven assists. Loui Eriksson is the third member of that line, and he seems to be fitting in quite well, with five goals and three assists. Another bright spot up front for the Stars has been rookie Fabian Brunnstrom. Brunnstrom has already picked up five goals in just nine games to start his career.Having Dallas in town also means that the Bruins will be forced to contend with superpest Sean Avery. It hasn't taken long for Avery to make friends in the Western Conference, as he has 33 penalty minutes in eleven games. Fans of the fisticuffs should enjoy watching this team play. The Stars only have eight fighting majors to this point in the season, but Avery, Steve Ott, Krys Barch, and BJ Crombeen have never been shy about dropping the mitts.On Friday night, the Providence Bruins continued their road trip. Unfortunately for the P-Bruins, they came out on the short end of a 4-2 score with the Houston Aeros. Providence took the lead in the first period on a goal by Matt Lashoff, but had it answered 1:16 later by Jason Deitsch. The Aeros got their first lead of the contest 1:52 into the second period from Krys Kolanos, but the Baby B's were able to tie it before intermission thanks to Levi Nelson. In the third period, Houston took the lead at the 3:26 mark, when Danny Irmen went top shelf for the go-ahead goal, and the Bruins were unable to recover. Bryan Lundbohm capped the scoring with an empty netter in the final minute. Peter Schaefer's brother Nolan picked up the win for the Aeros with 25 saves on 27 shots. Kevin Regan suffered his first loss in the AHL, despite stopping 20 of 23 shots for Providence.Believe it or not, both teams will be in action on the same night for the first time October 18th. The Boston Bruins are home for a 7:00 face-off with the Dallas Stars, while the Providence Bruins conclude their road trip against the San Antonio Rampage at 8:00.Source
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