Game 36 AfterThoughts: Happy New Year, As Always

Tonight is New Year’s Eve. I am typing those words not because you don’t know them, but as an artistic device to explain what’s going to happen next. It’s called writing, folks. Respect the craft. Also, I am eating pretzels while I do this.

Because you all have revelry to engage in, I’m going to do things a bit differently tonight and launch right into a stream-of-consciousness piece about tonight’s game, and a few other tangentially related things. If this isn’t for you, that’s fine! Just skip it and send me $1 (one dollar) ((USD)) and a handwritten letter of apology, and we’ll be all square. I also like meatballs.

Do you know where our calendar comes from, by the way? If you’re going to blow it all out just to celebrate the change of dates, then it’s probably worth knowing facts about said dates that will bore people at cocktail parties. It’s important to have boring stories to tell at parties, because if you tell interesting ones and become too popular, people will start to gather around and ask you to tell jokes or do sweet tricks, like a kickflip on a skateboard.

Anyway, the Gregorian calendar was officially declared to be, like, official in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, replacing the Julian calendar, which was so broken that they had to fix it every 100 years. But the Gregorian monks who came up with the system we still use today did such a great job that we could leave it alone for like 4,000 years without any issues. In other words, a bunch of nerds in a monastery got together and answered the question “what day is it, again?” for thousands of years to come. Pretty cool stuff, really. It caught on pretty quickly, too:

Within a year, the change had been adopted by the Italian states, Portugal, Spain, and the Roman Catholic German states. Gradually, other countries adopted the Gregorian calendar: the Protestant German states in 1699, Great Britain and its colonies in 1752, Sweden in 1753, Japan in 1873, China in 1912, the Soviet socialist republics in 1918, and Greece in 1923.

Anyway, this is why I always like to stick with the old BC/AD dating conventions in nonacademic writing. If you knock something out of the park to the extent those folks did, the least I can do is stick with the labels they gave it. This is the part of the party where I usually have a lot of space around me, making it easy to leave without talking to anyone. All right, onto the game.

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Did you know the Sabres have all left-shot defensemen in their top four? That’s an interesting strategy, or else it’s an organizational weakness. I personally would play Henri Jokiharju in every game, partly for his name value, and partly because he’s a right shot. Or maybe I’m just causing bad things to happen, because Connor Clifton just got banged up as I said this, and he is the Sabres’ only right-handed defenseman.

Also, my gracious, the Sabres are trying to force carry-in entries at the Stars’ blue line, and just about every one has been a turnover so far. I sometimes think that zone entries with possession are the hallmark of a team with confidence and skill. I more often think that scoring lots of goals is the hallmark of a team that wins games.

Sam Lafferty just got a great look on a 2-on-1, but Casey DeSmith’s glove was there. He’s had some work early, but Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been tested more severely. Buffalo is not a good team, I am just now reporting. Is this breaking news? Maybe just a broken team. Lot of great young players, though.

Matt Duchene just had a 2-on-1 of his own that was effectively a breakaway, but his quick five-hole attempt was foiled by Luukkonen’s pad. Good goalie over there, is UPL. What is Buffalo gonna do with Devon Levi, do you think? Trading a goalie for a good haul is a tough thing to do, but I wonder what choices Kevyn Adams really has at this point. The market has been so beaten down, that you have to either realize that hope or capitalize on it. But then if you sell a good young player with trade value, that sends a message to your fans that the perpetual rebuild is still on. Seems like winning would fix a lot of things, actually.

The Dr. Pepper Minute is starting at 9:50 remaining in the first period. The Stars actually scored a Dr. Pepper goal last game, but I did not get a Dr. Pepper. I don’t drink much soda anymore, but Dr. Pepper is certainly yummy. Why is it so intrinsically linked to Texas? Find out that fact and save it for any stragglers your Gregorian calendar story doesn’t succeed in scaring off.

No Dr. Pepper was won, but I suspect the people in this building will be sufficiently lubricated anyway, or soon to be so. The DART is giving free rides tonight, by the way! Don’t be a silly goose.

Oh my. Jamie Benn absolutely robbed by the skinny part of Luukkonen’s stick off a fabulous pass from the corner by Wyatt Johnston. Should be 1-0, but then, the stick is part of the goalie’s paraphernalia, so maybe it shouldn’t be.

Jamie Benn is the second-oldest forward on the roster, and Johnston is the youngest. Someone should talk about how Johnston used to live with Joe Pavelski. Did you know that? Just a little scoop from your pals here at the ol’ ST.

Little bit of a scuffle after Logan Stankoven fired a shot Luukkonen had to squeeze. Sam Steel angered two Sabres defensemen, and Connor Clifton got a penalty for being exceptionally unkind in the aftermath, which the officials have labeled “cross checking.” It’s a Dallas Stars power play, and Jeff K just said, “Stars fans, you know what to do!” And the fans certainly do, though the Stars’ power play may be another matter.

The Buffalo penalty kill is giving Dallas a lot of space, and Johnston just walked in and got a great chance in tight, but no joy. Roope Hintz just hit a post on a quick skate-to-stick play, but posts are not worth as many goals as nets, I am told. Anywhere, here is a screencap of the shot, which was created by a very basic tic-tac-toe pass from Heiskanen to Johnston to Hintz, and then in the second screen cap where you can see Hintz starting into the rafters as the puck bounces away.

The power play has found a very exciting way to go 0-for-1, and isn’t entertainment the point, really? It is now the first intermission, and a brother and sister are competing in the Bud Light Fill the Cooler Shootout.

I like that they force the contestants to wear not just helmets, but elbow pads. If you’re gonna look ridiculous, you’re gonna look safe and ridiculous out here. The result of the Bud Light Fill the Cooler Shootout is that there was a “technical malfunction,” and they have awarded the sister the victory because some of the targets weren’t working. Or so they say. Who audits the Bud Light Fill the Cooler Shootout, I wonder? Some lawyer must know the answer.

Another thought: Matt Dumba uses the full shield right now as he recovers from whatever injury he suffered. I remember that Stéphane Robidas preferred to use the wire cage, and I always hated how the full-shield would fog up when I would play, although it is likely that Dumba is using a higher-quality helmet setup than I did in rec league.

Roope Hintz just got another great chance two minutes in that Luukkonen stopped. The Stars may have to change the phrase “one of those nights” to “some of those nights” when it comes to getting a goalie’s best night.

Alex Tuch just fanned on a back-door tap-in after the Stars fumbled up a defensive coverage exchange to allow a cross-crease pass. Shots on goal are 18-10 to Dallas, and we have seen this movie before.

The video board just showed a reminder for Matt Duchene’s Honkey Tonk, a charitable effort by him that is well worth your time and attention. But the logo on the board got me talking about the David Foster Wallace essay about the Maine Lobster Festival, and hey, there’s a Nils Lundkvist chance that goes high. A goal would be worth a lot to him right now, but alas. Lundkvist does make a beautiful clear off the goal line after Zach Benson beats DeSmith with a deke and attempts to tuck it in around him, but Lundkvist cleared the puck after it bounced off the post, and the Stars escape.

A goal would be worth even more to Logan Stankoven, who just got flat-out robbed by Luukkonen, and what does Stankoven have to do at this point? A rebound chance popped out to his forehand in the low slot, and he had to feel that one was in, except somehow it wasn’t.

1-0, Dallas. Roope Hintz beats Luukkonen glove-side on a saveable shot, because hockey just goes that way sometimes. Not the best chance, but the best result, so far.

1-1, after Jason Zucker stuffs hope a Bowen Byram shot that leaks through DeSmith. Too much time and space for every Sabres player there, and the Stars’ lead disappeared as quickly as it arrived. Crazy play as Rasmus Dahlin spun and fell but still kept Buffalo possession, and Byram slides a puck in that bounces though enough for Zucker. But forget that, because who cares, am I right, folks. Look at Buffalo in transition, absolutely selling out to go north on this play:

That reminds me a lot of 2016, and not just because that season has been my reference point for sell-out transition play ever since. And if you have the horses, it’s a good way to play, I really believe. The Sabres have some of the horses.

Halfway through now, and it feels like the Sabres have succeeded in dragging the Stars into a chance-trading game that favors their best players. Remember when the Stars wanted to force teams to do that, because they scored lots of goals? That was fun.

During intermission, some jewelery business is sponsoring the miniature parachute drop, but it’s probably just extra large t-shirts. If those things don’t have diamonds in them, then what are we even doing here?

DeSmith just made another huge save after Lafferty got a great pass and curled up to the crease alone, but DeSmith stopped him. Not Lafferty’s night so far.

This Duchene-Benn-Johnston line is the Stars’ biggest threat this game, and shouldn’t it be? Benn just looks like a different player when he’s on a line with a playmaking threat, and Duchene is certainly that. They could have three goals by now if it weren’t for Luukkonen’s exceptional play, but nobody wants to hear about how good the opposing team’s goalie is at this point, and I don’t blame them.

Matt Dumba just slid to defend a 2-on-1 against Dylan Cozens and Beck Malenstyn (real person) after a Thomas Harley pinch didn’t work out. Dumba’s slide worked out, as Cozens’s sauce pass eluded Malenstyn (still real) and slid harmlessly into the corner. That wouldn’t been a gut punch for Dallas late in the second period.

We are through two periods, and the Stars are out-chancing the Sabres, and it is a tie game where they are also lucky not to be trailing. This is not a sustainable approach, this “not scoring when you have great scoring chances” thing. I propose that the Stars try “scoring at an average rate of conversion” on their chances. I believe this would work wonders for their fan’s satisfaction ratings. We are all about the metrics! Not the metric system, though. I don’t trust all those zeroes, myself. Give me good old-fashioned American numbers any day.

You know how Victory+ shows those Mariokart ads all the time? Well, one is running on the monitors during intermission, and it reminded of one of the cutest moments of my Christmas this year: watching my six-year-old niece play Mariokart with the Nintendo equivalent of bowling alley bumpers on. She won every race, and her parents and I cheered. She actually used the siren at the perfect moment to dispel a Blue Shell attack, too! It was something, I tell you what.

The third period started with a pump-up motage on the video board that evoked the AI-themed alien playoff presentation from the spring. Remember that? It was loud, and I still haven’t heard what it all meant. Life is like that sometimes.

Oskar Bäck has the fourth-most ice time among forwards through two periods. That’s not a quirk of special teams, either. DeBoer appears to be treating the Duchene line as the top line, and the Hintz-Robertson-Dadonov line as a middle-six line so far. But that didn’t stop the Hintz line from scoring earlier.

Jamie Benn hits a post on a wrister off the rush from the left circle. Maybe hit the elbow, actually. He’s been good tonight, shooting a lot and looking confident. Would be great to see him get going right now. Also, anyone.

2-1, Dallas! Jason Robertson just scored off a horrible giveaway by Jack Quinn, who was being pressured by Roope Hintz. Robertson can do good things with pizzas like these.

Dallas just nearly scored another goal, as Luukkonen though he’d gloved it, only for the puck to trickle through, but a diving effort from Rasmus Dahlin kept it out, and he also swatted away a subsequent attempt to flip it over the prone Luukkonen.

2-2, as Dallas once again gives the goal right back after getting a lead. Sam Lafferty slides a fairly innocuous shot in on DeSmith, who kicks it up and off Beck Malenstyn, who beats Lyubushkin to the most important part of the crease. The puck rebounds into the net, and Dallas is beginning to look shaken.

Another scary sequence for Buffalo sees DeSmith lose track of the puck for a moment and retreat into his net, but the puck is sent wide. Now would be a good time for somebody to call a timeout and just repeat for 30 seconds this sentence: “THEY ARE LITERALLY THE BUFFALO SABRES.”

Nils Lundkvist just sent a hard shot onto Duchene’s tape on the doorstep, but the tip play found Luukkonen’s pad, because of course it did.

Sam Nestler just told me that Justin Hryckowian hasn’t played a shift in the third period so far, with 8:57 left to play. Roope Hintz took his spot on that line on the first shift of the third period, and I don’t know that you’ll see him again if the game stays tight like this.

3-2, Dallas. The crowd didn’t realize it for a moment, but Wyatt Johnston sends a Pavelskian tip over Luukkonen’s shoulder off a pinch by Harley that works much better than his earlier one, as he sends a hot pass to Johnston in the slot, and the puck is tipped home with the hockey equivalent of Gregg Turkington’s film expertise.

Benn gets another rush chance, but his shot isn’t a fierce one as he attempts to fool Luukkonen and poke it through him with no success. Johnston follows up with a whack at the puck, and we have some Real Consernation here afterwards, but no penalties. We’re all friends here, on the last night of 2024.

Jamie Benn now has seven shots on goal, not counting the iron he hit earlier. The Johnston goal was important for this line, given everything they’ve created, but you’d like to see Benn put away one of his chances, too.

Jason Robertson just made a critical defensive intervention on a slam-dunk pass across the low slot, dropping to one knee to stop and control the puck before it reached Jack Quinn for a deadly one-timer. I don’t think he gets enough credit for his stellar defensive play, even with me talking about it all the time.

Duchene gets another partial breakaway, but a stick-lift from behind just foils another great chance for his line. They have had a lot of those.

4-2, Dallas. The same line as above gets the puck after Lindy Ruff pulls the goalie, and the crowds nearly dies a thousand deaths as the Stars circle the empty net but fail to convert, and Buffalo goes the other way. But the puck gets sent in behind DeSmith, and he stops it and sends it along the boards to Robertson, who sets up Esa Lindell for a 199-foot one-timer into the middle of the empty net. DeSmith gets an assist on the play, too. The crowd, and Jeff K, really like that. Can’t blame ’em.

Ruff calls a timeout after the goal, because he probably saw the Minnesota game and knows a two-goal deficit in the third period isn’t a guarantee for Dallas right now. But nothing comes of it, and the Stars get to celebrate yet another New Year’s Eve victory.

And hey, that’s what you should do, too. Happy New Year, everyone. I love knowing that people read this site and enjoy it. I’m going to head down for post-game interviews, but I’ll post this now and update it later if any interesting info comes out after the game. See you all next year.