A pair of hats on the rink last night after Jamie Benn made his third goal which then got the Wolves' Peter Mannino benched for the evening.
After Tuesday’s horrible loss to the Wolves, a big part of it caused by horrible officiating (seriously, Chris Chelios was the assistant ref on two calls); the Stars had to knuckle down and play smarter. Wednesday they pulled it off but it was close. Friday was a huge improvement since they took an early lead courtesy of Jamie Benn (on loan from Dallas because those guys weren’t anywhere close to the NHL playoffs) and Perttu Lindgren (he’s definitely going to be in the Dallas lineup next year). More importantly, they successfully defended their lead with a decent margin unlike the previous two home games. Things have been ugly during the series too. Two of the Stars (Stafford and Peters) are serving suspensions but they return tomorrow to hopefully finish off the Wolves on their ice.
The highlight was Jamie Benn nailing a hat trick to give his team a three-goal lead (4-1). A huge first for the Stars. I have been to the majority of their home games and nobody has pulled it off until then. The NHL site claims the odds of it happening per game are 17-1 against (they erroneously say 1 in 18, that’s probability, not odds). Theoretically, I should see at least two a season at the CPC. Instead, I have witnessed a short-handed goal and a Gordie Howe hat trick which are equally exciting. I lacked a hat to throw in; I’m not a hat wearing kind of person like I was as a kid. Having one on hand should be a requirement next time. It was also a relief to see security not clamp on people throwing theirs into the rink as tradition dictates. During Wednesday night’s game, some drunken morons were ejected for throwing something into the Chicago bench.
Where do the Stars go from here? They are winning the series 3-2 and return to Chicago. If they win Sunday, huzzah! We now have to wait for the outcome of Abbotsford v. Hamilton. I’m hoping for Abbotsford, when they came to Austin we completely clobbered them but I know a pair of victories months ago doesn’t mean we’re destined for the Western Conference trophy. The Eastern Conference is now set. Manchester defeated Worchester so the Monarchs will face the standing Calder Cup champions, the Hershey Bears (10 Cups too). The other silver lining to our win was how it forces Chicago to seven if we lose tomorrow.
As for my Flyers…Boston couldn’t close the deal which really won’t matter. I think the Broad Street Bullies spent all their karma eliminating the Devils. The Bruins will perform their coup de puck in front of their Masshole base and advance against the winner of the Pens and Habs series. I don’t begrudge the Bruins, only their loudmouth, bossy fans.