The Stars scored seven goals again as they beat down the Boston Bruins 7-2.
Seven is heaven for the Stars over the past two games, as Dallas followed up their 7-1 win over Pittsburgh with a 7-2 beatdown of the Bruins.
This is the first time the team has scored seven goals twice in a row since 1986 as the North Stars before the team moved to Dallas.
The Stars have seemed to finally get a bit of a breakthrough in scoring after struggling through the first 10+ games of the season to get some of their goal scorers up and running at full expectation. The coaching staff was not too worried, as the players were creating chances and the skills were always there, but there was still a bit of a sigh of relief when the goals started falling.
The Stars scored two goals in the first period, the first an absolutely ripped shot by Matt Duchene past Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman. The second goal was a successful penalty shot by Evgenii Dadonov after a hooking penalty by Mason Lohrei was determined to take away a breakaway scoring chance. Dallas added three more chances that could have easily been goals, but Swayman kept his team in the game early. Boston was able to claw some life back at the end of the period with a net-front goal from Charlie Coyle, and peppered Stars goalie Jake Oettinger with chances before the horn sounded.
In the second period, the Stars squelched any of that momentum and started to pile on with an onslaught of goals. In under six minutes, Logan Stankoven, Oskar Back and Dadonov all scored, making it 5-1. Back's goal was his first career NHL goal and it came on an impressive one-handed poke over Swayman.
The Stars did not let up in the third period, and the Bruins continued to fold up shop defensively. Roope Hintz found the score sheet while fighting off two Bruins players mid-fall to make it 6-1 Dallas. David Pastrnak added a goal for Boston shortly after, but it was never anything more than a personal stat for the star forward. For the seventh goal, the line of Duchene, Tyler Seguin and Mason Marchment, who looked dominant all game, went tic-tac-toe and Marchment was able to collect his second point of the night.
Three takeaways:
- Marchment has been on fire in the last couple of games, recording seven points (two goals and five assists) in the last two games. The Stars are now 7-0-0 when he gets a point. Being a part of the top performing line helps, but it seems as though he is playing with more confidence and has been more responsible with the puck, which has led to more productive plays for the 29-year-old.
- With Dadonov's successful penalty shot, that put him 4-for-5 in his career. He had one with the Stars last season, but the previous three were during his time with the Florida Panthers. After the game, Seguin joked that the coaches should get Dadonov in the shootout rotation after finding out Dadonov's penalty shot stats.
- Brendan Smith has slotted in for Matt Dumba the last two games after the coaching staff has not been happy with Dumba's play. Smith has been in and out of the line-up for Dumba or Nils Lundkvist, and has definitely made a positive impact over the last two games. He has recorded three points over that stretch, which happen to be his first and only points of the season. He has played solid defense while paired with Lundkvist, which has allowed Lundkvist to get more involved in the offense. That is something the coaches have been wanting out of Lundkvist.
The Stars needed a bounce back after dropping three out of four games, first on a big stage in Finland against the Florida Panthers and then to the Winnipeg Jets, who are first in the league. Putting up 14 goals in two games is a step in the right direction for the Stars, but there is still room for improvement.
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