So, I'm not playing today. Nietsy gets the spot and I get relax (actually I'm filming something for the NHL. It's called NHL Cribs: Bubble Life). So I am happily passing on my "Round Robin" diary entry to JT Compher.
Hey, JT Compher here, so I'm tasked with bringing you all a recap of the Avs-Stars Round Robin game. I'm not going to underestimate the Stars at all and say this will be a walk in the park, cause they did best us in the regular season. But, this is going to be a sinch.
Esa Lindell takes an interference penalty on Nathan MacKinnon to kick off the game. We're already going to the man advantage!
Almost immediately into the powerplay, Cale Makar slaps the puck into the back of the net for a goal.
1-0 Avs!
Andre Burakovsky shoots the puck on the next shift and we generate some nice pressure on the Dallas squad.
Jamie Benn takes a shot for the Stars.
Vladdy Namestnikov is with Mikko Rantanen and Nathan for this game. He blocks a shot and leads a rush to the other end. We make a line change and Nieto's line comes on. I watch from the bench as Jamie Benn hits Matt Nieto.
Vladdy comes back out with Nathan and they have a nice chance between the two of them.
Anton Khudobin falls down to save a shot from Nazem Kadri. In the replay I can see that Stephen Johns makes a nice block of Nazem's shot with his ass to help his goaltender out. Nice play.
There is lots of back and forth action that occurs. And there is a missed trip that happens on me. Not like I care. I'm not going to sell anything, mistakes happen. Mikko is tripped up by Tyler Seguin, though. That, the refs do see and so we head back to the powerplay to add to our lead.
Mikko ends up breaking the strap on Khodobin's mask with his wicked shot. Nathan shows off his speed and his talent with an amazing effort.
After that, I win the faceoff and get it to Andre, who passes it to Samuel Girard. He then gets it down to an awaiting Joonas Donskoi, who sends the puck into the back of the net. It's a goal.
2-0 Avs.
Donskoi returns to the bench beside me. "How was that?" he asks me.
I chuckle (yes, I can have a sense of humor) at him. "Perfect PPG, man."
The play carries on, with the clock ticking down to the final minutes of the period. But Samuel Girard takes a cross-checking penalty on Miro Heiskainen and heads to the box, while we head to a PK.
On the kill, I take the ice with my kill partner in Donskoi. I watch as Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin end up colliding with one another and Tyler's stick comes up and gets his own teammate in the face. Jamie falls to the ice in pain.
The Stars manage nothing on net and we kill their powerplay with our strong, dominant PK.
And that's how the period ends. 2-0 Avs on top.
The second period begins with an impressive Cale shot on goal and Vladdy running into Nathan momentarily. (I guess when you play the clumsy Stars, it rubs off on you...) Valeri Nichushkin (or Val) draws a call, a hook from Roope Hintz and we head back to the powerplay.
We're buzzing, full of life at the start of the second. This is more like us.
There is a missed holding penalty call from Harley (a Star's rookie) on me, but I watch as Ryan Graves blasts the puck on net for a shot.
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