Few teams created as much hype and excitement over the summer as the Dallas Stars did. Under the direction of general manager Jim Nill and the coaching of Lindy Ruff, the Stars have quickly gone from an also-ran in the Western Conference to a team that is now considered to be one of the better up-and-coming clubs in the league.
Adding Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky to a team that was coming off its first playoff appearance in years and already had Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn on the roster will have that type of impact.
On Thursday, we saw some flashes as to why the Stars are such a popular team even if their season opener ended with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Blackhawks.
In what might have been the best game of the evening, one that featured some excellent back-and-forth hockey from both sides, the Stars managed to carry the pace of the game against one of the best teams in the league only to lose out to a fantastic goaltending performance from Corey Crawford and a ridiculous shootout effort from Patrick Kane.
3 things
1. Patrick Kane is still awesome in the shootout - Patrick Kane had a miserable year in the shootout last season, scoring on just one of his 11 attempts. It was a pretty extreme outlier for his career, and his game-winner on Thursday was a nice example of how smooth and lethal he can be in these events.
2. Stars games will be must-see TV - The Stars are the perfect combination of elite offensive talent up front and a suspect defense that should make for some great games this season. It was on display in their opener, even in defeat, and it was type of game that reminds you of the quality of hockey in the Western Conference and makes you hope these two teams could meet in a playoff series.
3. Corey Crawford was great - When it comes to the Hawks, Crawford is always going to be the big question mark. Sometimes he is very good. Sometimes he is very bad. On Thursday he was excellent and gave his team a chance, stopping 32 of the 34 shots he faced through regulation and overtime, while they were badly outplayed for the better part of the game. With the talent they have in front of him, if Crawford gives them even average to slightly above-average goaltending, the Blackhawks will remain as scary a team as there is in the league.