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Stars power play gets back on track against the Blues

Since January 1st, the Dallas Stars power play has been pathetic. I could’ve scored more goals than them. They’re power play has gone 9-78 in that time frame but you wouldn’t have known it the way they played last night against the Blues.

Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro and Jere Lehtinen all scored power-play goals. It probably helped though that St. Louis’ goaltending was very suspect. Either way, those goals powered the Stars to a 6-2 win over the blues and extended their winning streak to six games.

The Stars have the best penalty kill in the league and for once their offense backed them up. Thats why they were able to take this victory.

In the NHL, even the refs are tough

This was an interesting game between the Rangers in the Flyers. Steve Valiquette made 31 saves to shutout the flyers. Nigel Dawes and Scott Gomez scored power-play goals to account for the Rangers goals as they won 2-0 in Philly.

Now enough about that. The real story of the game was what happened to linesman Pat Dapuzzo. Dapuzzo was badly injured when Steve Downie’s skate inadvertently caught him in the face after Downie was upended by the boards.

Afterwards a huge fight broke out with nearly everyone on the ice. Despite the fact that he was bleeding all over the place Dapuzzo did his best to help. All the other refs were just concerned with whether he was OK. The players brawled it out in classic fashion, and the Flyers’ and Rangers’ trainers came to the aid of Dapuzzo, who ended up with a broken jaw and 60 stitches.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR_6DolqYcM]

Around the league

• Evgeni Malkin scored two goals and set up another and the Pittsburgh Penguins won successive games for the first time since captain Sidney Crosby’s injury by beating the Los Angeles Kings 4-2.
• Nik Antropov deflected in Anton Stralman’s slap shot 62 seconds into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
• Brent Burns scored 2:34 into overtime to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 victory over the Islanders, who lost their seventh straight game.
• Olli Jokinen and David Booth scored 14 seconds apart in the second period, Richard Zednik had two goals, and the Florida Panthers beat the Boston Bruins 6-3.
• Alexei Zhitnik had only one goal in his first 56 games this season, but the Atlanta Thrashers defenseman knew what to do with the puck when he saw Tampa Bay’s Flip Kuba without a stick. Zhitnik easily maneuvered past Kuba with a fake and beat goaltender Johan Holmqvist with a shot 1:26 into overtime to give the Thrashers a 2-1 win over the Lightning.
• Owen Nolan scored two goals to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
• Marek Svatos had two goals and an assist, and linemate Tyler Arnason added a goal and two assists, leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
• Jonathan Cheechoo scored three goals, including the game-winner with 4:55 left, to help the San Jose Sharks win their third straight over Nashville, beating the Predators 4-3.
• Jason Spezza scored three goals and a career-high six points, and the Ottawa Senators’ top line combined for 15 points in a 6-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
• The Devils wasted no time in blitzing the Hurricanes, scoring four times in the first period on their way to a 6-1 rout before a crowd of 16,257 at the Rock in Newark.