cut(Photo Credit: NHL.com)

By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes:

Arena: American Airline Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

Home: Dallas Stars (9-7-2)

Away: Boston Bruins (10-6-2)

Dallas’s Lineup

Forwards

Benn-Seguin-Radulov

Janmark-Spezza-Ritchie

Comeau-Faksa-Pitlick

Smith-Dickinson-Nichuskin

Defense

Lindell-Honka

Heiskanen-Polak

Hanley-Bayreuther

Goalies

Bishop

Khudobin

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak

Nordstrom-Krejci-DeBrusk

Heinen-Forsbacka Karlsson-Bjork

Acciari-Kuraly-Backes

Defense

Krug-Clifton

Grzelcyk-Lauzon

Zboril-Kampfer

Goalies

Rask

Halak

First Period

Tuukka Rask was busy early, having to freeze the puck a few times as the Stars looked to jump on the Bruins defense. The Bruins had a few early chances thanks to a few turnovers by the Stars. Joakim Nordstrom was able to draw a tripping penalty on Gavin Beyreuther, giving the Bruins a power play with a little over 16 minutes left in the period. The Stars killed the penalty as the Bruins failed to get any significant scoring chances.

The Stars would get a power play opportunity as Sean Kuraly was called for a cross check. The Dallas power play was cut short as Tyler Pitlick was called for interference, resulting in a four on four situation. Rask made a quick succession of saves at the beginning of the Boston power play to keep it scoreless. The Stars killed off the abbreviated power play without surrendering any significant chances.

The Bruins were bailed out a few times by Rask who made a couple of timely saves in the latter half of the period. It was apparent in the first period that the young defensemen didn’t look out of place at all and were able to limit the Stars scoring chances. The Stars nearly took the lead after a scramble in front of the Bruin net but Radek Faksa inexplicably missed as Rask’s back was to the puck.

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Score: Tied 0-0

Second Period

A few early period saves by Rask kept the game scoreless as the goaltender looked pretty sharp in his first game back from his leave of absence. The Stars began to get good zone time in the Boston end in the early parts of the period but Rask and the defense seemed to be up to the challenge. After Bergeron got pushed hard into the penalty bench doors, Marchand took exception to the check by Faksa and dropped the gloves.

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Marchand took an extra roughing penalty, resulting in a power play for Dallas. The Bruins killed the penalty without their usual penalty killers on the ice. Rask made a few important saves on the power play. The Bruins began to do a good job getting speed through the neutral zone to attempt to put pressure on the Stars defense. Marchand took his second penalty of the night, this time for slashing which gave the Stars another power play chance. Incredibly, Marchand was called for a misconduct but the Bruins killed the penalty as Rask stood tall.

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Bergeron returned to the ice after heading back to locker room earlier in the period after the hit by Faksa. The game began to have a frenetic feel as both teams traded chances at either end. The period ended with neither team finding the back of the net.

Score: Tied 0-0

Third Period

After a turnover in the neutral zone, Rask made a great glove save to keep the Bruins in the game. Connor Clifton took a delay of game penalty shortly after, resulting in another Stars power play. The Bruins killed the penalty as Rask made a few really good stops to keep it scoreless. Marchand finally returned to ice after his misconduct, trying to give the Bruins some jump.

Refusing to stay on the bench, Bergeron came back out on the ice as a full on scrum took place with Torey Krug and Roman Polak dropping the gloves. Matching penalties resulted in neither team losing any man power on the ice.

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After a confrontation in front of the Boston net, Clifton and Jason Spezza dropped the gloves as the intensity of the game began to ramp up. Neither team got any great scoring chances as the period started to draw to a close. Rask made a few good saves towards the end of the game to keep it scoreless as well as Bishop who made a huge save on a double deflection in the final minute.

End of Regulation: Tied 0-0

Overtime

Rask made a big save on Benn in the first minute of overtime to keep the Bruins alive. Jason Dickinson finished off a two on one rush in front of the Boston net to end it to even the season series against the Bruins.

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Final Score: 1-0 Stars

Three Stars of the Game

First Star: Rask. In his return to the Boston lineup, Rask was absolutely outstanding and gave the Bruins every chance to get two points out of the game.

Second Star: Clifton. Making his NHL debut, Clifton didn’t look out of place and played a nearly flawless game as his future in a Boston uniform looks incredibly bright.

Third Star: Bergeron. Number 37 left the game twice with apparent injuries but returned to the ice both times as he refused to quit on his team. His performance certainly wasn’t lost on his teammates.

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—-> Boston Bruins 2018-19 Regular Season Schedule and Official SeatGiant Ticket Info <—