My Stars were off to a rough start as they let the revamped Rampage (now affiliated with the Avalanche) took a 2-0 lead. I feared this would be the kick off to another mediocre season because the only pre-season game I caught showed that their defense was still trying to come together; a problem Dallas shares.
Yes, I know, the opener isn’t necessarily a true indicator for the whole year, especially when there’s over 70 games to determine this. It’s hard to be super stoked after our incredible championship in 2014 and the limping over the finish line this Spring. I’ll probably be more into it later this month. I did have a longer Summer to recuperate.
The Stars did recover, tied the game, then took the lead and eventually the Rampage succeeded with the “pull-the-goalie” tactic in the last minute to force overtime.
This year, the AHL is following the NHL’s rule of just going with a five-minute period of three-on-three before the shootout. Given last year’s four-on-four for three (or was it four) minutes with it dropping to three at the end, one could say the NHL is really following the AHL; the AHL is often the NHL’s place to experiment in rule changes.
It was an exciting kickoff. The Stars tend to lose in OT and until they tied it up, I had plans to bail around the third period to get a head start on my Sunday.
Next up, my Stars spend the week practicing and take to the road to play three games in my old home state of Illinois. One against the Wolves and two with the Icehogs. When they get back, we see them play a foe who’s both old (the Heat) and new, now based in Stockton, CA.