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It’s Easier Being Green (Written in the Stars; 01.03.20)

Ross James/ALOST

akoiki-passport2 – by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief

 

DALLAS — After 13 seasons wearing the teal of the San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski is finding his footing wearing victory green, and his goal-scoring touch around the net led the Stars to another come-from-behind victory to begin the new year.

Pavelski assisted on the Stars’ first goal of the game by Roope Hintz before netting one home in the second to lead Dallas to a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, the Stars’ fourth consecutive victory. All of Dallas’ wins during the streak have come after they have fallen behind, the fourth time in franchise history they have pulled off that feat.

A free agent signing over the offseason, Pavelski was honored before the game for playing in his 1,000th NHL game back on Dec. 20 in Florida, and then spent the game showing everyone in attendance the goalmouth grit and scoring touch that has allowed him to score 363 career goals while fitting in with a Stars’ team that believe its ready for a Stanley Cup run this year.

“That’s not an easy switch to flip when you go from one team where you’ve been so long and come to another,” said Stars interim head coach Rick Bowness. “He’s a big part of our hockey club.”

The Stars fell behind just 3:47 into the game on Dylan Larkin’s 10th goal of the season, and the Red Wings had a glorious opportunity to add to their lead when Dallas center Radek Faksa was assessed a four-minute double minor for a high stick on Madison Bowey. But instead of doubling their lead, the Red Wings saw Dallas tie the game while shorthanded, with Hintz scoring off a pass from Lindell just 15 seconds before the end of the double minor.

“We spent four minutes of power play time and don’t come up with a whole lot,” Larkin said.”

Faksa atoned for his penalty in the first with what turned out to be the game-winning goal on the power play just 96 seconds into the second period. Pavelski added his goal at 11:42 to double the Stars’ advantage.

Andrej Sekera scored Dallas’ second shorthanded goal of the game on an empty-net tally at 17:04.

Anton Khudobin made 22 saves to record the victory for Dallas, while Jonathan Bernier made 23 saves in a losing effort for the Red Wings.

*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday’s game, with all photos taken by Dallas-area photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 18 pictures in total.

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