When Dallas came back from a two-goal deficit and beat the Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout Thursday night, it added to the Stars’ status as the NHL’s best comeback team this season. And one of the best ever.
It also says something about the New NHL, in which a lead no longer brings on the opening bell of a wrestling match. The abolition of ties – with the shootout – makes more comeback victories possible.
Still, this is impressive: The Stars have eight victories in games in which they trailed entering the third period.
During the period in which the league kept track of such things, the record is nine, set in 2002-03 by the Bruins.
Harbinger: In their season opener Oct. 5 at home, the Stars fell behind 4-0 in the first period to Los Angeles – and came back to win 5-4.
“That was like a smack across the face that, ‘Hey, this can be done,”‘ Stars coach Dave Tippett recalled Thursday at the Pepsi Center. “We’ve managed to do it a number of times this year. Again, I stress: I would rather play from ahead.”
Shootout: The Stars are an NHL-best 8-0 in shootouts after their Saturday afternoon 2-1 victory over the visiting Red Wings.
“We have a lot of guys who mess around with it a lot at the end of practice,” Tippett said. “There’s a crew of them, always tinkering around and our goalies are very active in it, trying to give them feedback. Our guys have fun with it. We have some competitions after practice. Players bet on each other, who’s going to score and who’s not going to score, and sometimes the bet is for skating. They bet on the guy who’s going to score, and if he does, they don’t have to skate. If they bet he’s going to miss and he scores, they have to skate.”
