Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars, Game 41

Edmonton Oilers
@ Dallas Stars

Saturday, Jan 7, 2012, 12:00 PM MST
American Airlines Center

Defending Big D

Stars' Offense Rounding Into Form But Can't Do It Alone - Defending Big D
The Stars offense, if you look at the game log heading into last night's game, seems to present itself in three clearly defined segments: The hot start, the drought in November (becoming a yearly tradition) and the last 12 games or so in which they've righted the ship.

Sheldon Souray Could Return Tuesday - Defending Big D
"It feels good. You've just got to get your conditioning up. That's really it," Souray told media. "Couple days here in between tomorrow's game and hopefully be ready for Tuesday."

Krys Barch Suspended For "Insensitive Remarks" - Defending Big D
It has been confirmed by a couple of news outlets that Barch said something along the lines of "did you slip on a banana peel?" after Subban fell down in the aftermath of a scrum during a stoppage in play. Barch told the media, paraphrasing Colin Campbell: "If there was any question that this was racial, you'd be done five to 10 games, and (the decision) would be done the day after."

Was It Never Really About Realignment To Begin With? - Defending Big D
The NHLPA had reservations about the plan, nominally about the competitive advantage to the teams in the seven-team conferences as opposed to the eight-team ones. They were not satisfied with the answers they got from the league, and they did not give their approval by the league's Jan. 6 deadline. Because of this no answer, the league scuttled the plan, at least for the 2012-13 season, and blamed it on the NHLPA.

Edmonton Oilers @ Dallas Stars - Defending Big D
It looked as though the Stars may have lost another body in Mike Ribeiro after getting one (Stephane Robidas) back but after taking a slap shot to the face Thursday night it looks like he suffered no broken bones and will be OK to play. He wore a full cage for the third period after losing teeth and having stitching done on his mouth but will reportedly be back to just the visor today.

Taylor Hall – Sam Gagner – Ales Hemsky
Ryan Smyth – Shawn Horcoff – Jordan Eberle
Ben Eager – Eric Belanger – Ryan Jones
Teemu Hartikainen – Josh Green – Anton Lander

Ladislav Smid – Corey Potter
Andy Sutton – Jeff Petry
Theo Peckham – Colten Teubert

Nikolai Khabibulin

G41 Oilers at Stars - Lowetide
Teemu Hartikainen is 220 pounds of mad Finn, and as he showed last spring the young man can impact the game down low and in populated places. They used to call these guys "corner men" or "diggers" and it's a valuable skill, especially on a team like the Edmonton Oilers.

Oilers, Stars – Game 41 - Putting on the Foil
Just look at Smid. Started playing with us in 06/07, and just now looks like a player that is a difference maker. Hopefully we can retain a good core of young forwards for when those players start pushing their way on the team. Right now however, it’d kinda be nice to have Tambellini/Lowe bring in some help for the D group.

Today's Frustrated Edmonton Fan: rascalgas

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