Overtime Woes

First and foremost let me say I am proud to be an American, and proud to be a Stars fan as well. MAJOR kuddos to the fans who go to road games (which would technically be home games for the locals) and yell "Stars" in the anthem. My heart warmed when I heard it. The tune usually isn't played on telecasts but for some reason the pregame ceremonies went longer so the game started late. Brad Richards is back from his groin injury, and Matt Niskanen sat out from his head injury. He claims to feel fine though, so I pray he wont miss too much time. My boy Alex Auld did indeed get the start tonight. However, I have one complaint about Auld: His play behind the net is pretty spotty. Had a mishap of turning it over against the Blackhawks which resulted in a goal and nearly had the same thing happen tonight. Sadly the pedestal I put him on has been knocked slightly down.


First Period (1-2)
Kings draw first blood when Anze Kopitar got some seperation on Robidas and Auld couldn't stretch his leg out far enough. Scary moment not long after when Jamie Benn was tripped up while breaking into the zone and slammed into the boards. Sutherby got in a "fight". (I use that quite loosely) Wayne Simmonds took advantage of a Stars turnover resulting in the second tally. Things looked dismal, until Real Deal Neal stole the puck at the blue line, trucked his way towards Quick, and ripped one in. Good thing he scored, I doubt he could have gotten back into the play he was so winded.
Second Period (1-4)
The organ rendition of rock lobster was the only good part about this period. Kopitar scored a second time. Kopitar then scored a third time. First hat trick allowed by the Stars this campaign.
Third Period (4-4)
Jamie Benn rocketed one top shelf to get us fairly back into the game. Too little too late? Mark Fistric fired one from the blue line that made it in to pull us within one. And then the goal that was, then wasn't, but finally was in the end. Real Deal Neal did it again. Flat out wicked wrister that went in and shot right back out was emphatically waved off but after review was called a goal, thus getting us a point in the standings.
Overtime
Less than a minute in, Michal Handzus beat Auld, granting the Kings an extra point and preventing a monumental comeback. Even with this loss, the Stars showed great fight after back to back games. For sure a game to build off of.


-I'm not sure whether NHL.com updates stats in real time, so I'll hold off on the usual statistics. (Gave up another one, didn't score any)
-Some horrible officiating in tonight's game, way too many penalties in the second and Neal's last goal was called off by a referee that seemed so certain he was right. Only he was wrong.
-Alright alright, Auld is human. He wasn't as sharp (saying Quick would be pretty cheesy a second time) and could/should have stopped the game winner. With more playing time I'm certain he would be better.
-Quick made 17 saves. This should be how many the opponents goaltender makes four minutes into the second period.


Up Next:
Finally a few days off before the next game. So strange to say that considering most games are spread out with two or three days between which honestly is pretty annoying. The Blues haven't been spectacular this year, and I think Crawford will whip these boys back into winning form. Give me Dallas over St. Louis, 4-1.