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Two Teams Make Big Changes Looking For The NHL’s Biggest Prize
A lot of teams around the league made extensive changes during the off season, but two in particular made grand scale changes that had the whole league watching to see how they might pan out.
The Dallas Stars acquired Goaltender Antti Niemi in a trade with the San Jose Sharks and Patrick Sharp in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. They also snapped up Johnny Oduya on the free agent market. That’s three former Stanley Cup Champions (Niemi with one, Oduya with two and Sharp with three), and each won with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Stars’ message was clear, win now!
The Pittsburgh Penguins, on the other hand, only had one blockbuster, but it was a real attention grabber as they took a disgruntled Phil Kessel off the hands of a Toronto Maple Leafs team that was all too happy to be rid of him. The fans had turned on him, and he had returned the favor by turning his back on Toronto as a whole. The glare of the spotlight was just too bright for the introverted Kessel, and a change of scenery may be just what the doctor ordered to resurrect a career full of promise.
Each of these trades raised some eyebrows, not only for their boldness, but also for the possible aftermath should any one of them backfire on the teams that made them. While it will be months before we truly know how either team fares, tonight the hockey world got its first glimpse of both teams as they went head-to-head in their regular season opener.
The story most thought would grab headlines was the Dallas Stars line of Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Patrick Sharp, matching up against Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel. That definitely factored into the narrative, however there were two other players that stole the show.
Consider The Spotlight Stolen
Mattias Janmark scored on his first NHL shot attempt, as he snapped one right through the five hole on Marc-Andre Fleury less than two minutes into the game. He had another opportunity on a breakaway in the second period as well, and appeared to be everywhere the puck went for much of the night. This young center from Sweden will certainly be one to watch as the season wears on.
The real story of the night, was the absolutely dominant presence in the net who made a strong case to get the bulk of the starts, Antti Niemi. A veteran Finnish Netminder, he was essentially cast off by San Jose thinking that his best days were behind him. If the Sharks were watching tonight, then they know that assumption might have been a bit premature. It remains to be seen if Niemi can maintain this kind of domination, but on this night he made the net look like a red solo cup being manned by an impenetrable brick wall.
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Pittsburgh outshot the Stars by a margin of 37-24, but Niemi absorbed each one as though it had been fired by a group of mites in their first house league tournament. His performance earned him the games number one star ahead of teammates Ales Hemsky (in his first regular season game back since off season hip surgery) and Janmark, who each tallied a goal. Jamie Benn also scored, in his first regular season game after double hip surgeries over the offseason.
Pittsburgh was not terrible, but it was clear they have yet to develop the kind of chemistry that they are looking for. There were a lot of missed passes that too often led to scoring opportunities for the other side. Malkin, Crosby and Kessel played together for the first time on a bigger stage, but their performance was easily overshadowed by Niemi. There was not a single player on the Penguins that ended up on the positive side of the +/- stat for the night.
Overall, the Stars won the first battle of the off season makeovers tonight, as they clearly addressed two big questions after a disappointing season last year. First and foremost, the team needed some stability between the pipes, which Niemi is clearly capable of delivering and an improved power-play. Both Hemsky’s and Benn’s goals came on the power-play, leaving them 2-for-5 on the night.
KEY STATS
- Dallas held Sidney Crosby without a single shot on net in his 22:08 of ice time.
- Antti Niemi stopped all 37 shots he faced.
- Antti Niemi registered 2 assists.
- Kris Letang tallied 8 shots on goal, while Phil Kessel accounted for 6.
