The puck drops on Game 4 of the CHL's Berry Conference finals at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills on April 20, 2012. (Ryan Crowe/CBSDFW)

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS (CBSDFW.COM) - Who says this isn’t a hockey town?  The Texas Brahmas and their fans are certainly convinced it still is.

It’s April 20, the Dallas Stars didn’t make the NHL playoffs, the Allen Americans were knocked out in the first round of the CHL playoffs, and the team that did it is the scrappy team from North Richland Hills that call their home arena the Shoebox.

The 2,000-plus seat NYTEX Sports Centre arena couldn’t be louder if it tried.  Moments after the puck dropped the clanging, banging and screaming of a near-sellout crowd has the place louder than anything witnessed in the decade-plus history of the arena 10 times its size in downtown Dallas.

The Brahmas are deep into the CHL’s Berry Conference final, and despite being down 2 games to 1 heading into game 4 of the best-of-seven series, they are showing no sign of going out without a fight.

Literally, it is a hockey game after all.  Just over 5 minutes into the game a shot on goal turns into a 5-minute penalty for the opposing Wichita Thunder’s enforcer, Chris Greene.

The fans also have to be a factor in this game.  Brahmas fans have repeatedly been called some of the loudest in the league, and with a do-or-die situation like the playoffs, it’s more than apparent.  With just over 8 minutes off the clock, the Brahmas score and the arena erupts.  Opposing players are covering their ears as they head back to their bench.  The corrugated metal walls of the upper arena send the deafening scream back onto the ice, and the fans are loving it.

The Brahmas have to be loving it too.  They won a close game Wednesday night at NYTEX, the crowd lifting them to a 3-2 win.  This is after a series that has given them plenty of excitement already.  Despite losing 8-1 Sunday night in Wichita, the event players will likely remember most is having to take shelter in the basement of Wichita’s INTRUST Bank Arena during a violent storm that produced an EF-3 tornado.

Back to Friday night, a tying goal late in the first period did nothing to stop the fans.  As the White Stripes’ ‘Icky Thump’ blared through the PA, fans banged on their chairs, the floor and even the walls.  A woman holding a pair of crutches spent much of the period beating the armrest of one of the crutches against a support pillar.

And as one minute is marked left in the period, the arena hits a fevered pitch.  The Thunder sends a second player, Matt Robinson, to the penalty box, and the fans scream through the Brahmas power play.

These fans love their team, and are with them through the playoffs.  After Friday night’s game, which the Brahmas won 2-1 after an early second period goal, the team will head back up to Kansas for game 5.  If the Brahmas can hold of the Thunder (and any other tornadoes) Saturday night they could clinch the Berry Conference with a win Monday night at their beloved Shoebox.

For more information on the Brahmas, and to find out about tickets for game 6, check out their website, brahmas.com.  Cowbell is optional.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Nashville coach Barry Trotz insists he knew nothing of Detroit’s loss just as his Predators went into the third period needing a win of their own to grab back the chance of landing home-ice advantage to start the playoffs.

His Predators sure responded as if they did. Pekka Rinne made 28 saves for his fifth shutout of the season, Francis Bouillon  scored at 4:28 of the third period, and the Predators beat the Dallas Stars 2-0 on Thursday night for their third win in four games.

With the win and Detroit’s 2-1 home loss to New Jersey, Nashville moved back into fourth in the Western Conference, a point a head of the Red Wings. Now the Predators need only wrap up the regular season Saturday night at Colorado with a win to start the playoffs at home and finish ahead of Detroit for the first time in franchise history.

“We were just worried about winning the game and see if they could put it back in our court,” Trotz said. “We knew, as a coach, obviously we knew they had a real hard game in St. Louis. We were just hoping New Jersey would give us the honors of giving us a chance to be home ice, so we’ve got to go in there and see if we can get it.”

Patric Hornqvist had an assist and clinched the win with a goal with 2 minutes left. The Predators could know their standing before taking the ice against Colorado because Detroit hosts Chicago on Saturday afternoon.

“The Saturday night game is going to be huge for us,” Hornqvist said. “We were great at home and have been all year. I’m looking forward to Saturday night and I hope we can get a big win and start at home.”

The Stars lost their fourth straight in being eliminated. The Stars came in ninth and needed at least a point, but the loss allowed Los Angeles and Phoenix to clinch berths and put San Jose on the verge the Sharks clinched later Thursday night when Colorado lost to Columbus.

“We just didn’t get the result we wanted, but we played hard,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I liked the way we competed. It was a one goal game, really who could get that one in? They managed to do so.”

Rinne was back in net for Nashville after sitting out Tuesday night’s shootout win against Minnesota with an illness, and he got his NHL-leading 43rd victory by stopping 12 shots in the third. It also was Nashville’s first shutout since Jan. 19 when they beat Columbus 3-0 on the road.

“Peks was really good,” Trotz said. “I was just worried. Anytime you get sick and the way he was it can really drain you. He responded good.”

Rinne had plenty of help too. The Predators blocked 23 shots with defensemen Shea Weber, Kevin Klein and Ryan Suter blocking four apiece. Rinne credited his teammates with doing a great job and was glad to start again after being scratched Tuesday night.

“You always have a little bit of nerves, butterflies in your stomach going into the game when you’ve been sick or not feeling great the last few days,” Rinne said. “It was good to get the win and get back in there.”

Kari Lehtonen stopped 29 shots in trying to keep Dallas alive. After Hornqvist’s goal, Gulutzan took his timeout with 1:29 to go, pulled Lehtonen a few seconds later and then got the man advantage when Mike Fisher put the puck over the glass with 55 seconds left.

“The reason we’re battling for a playoff spot in the last three games is certainly because of Kari. He’s the one who got us here,” Gulutzan said.

Dallas played with much more desperation early against Nashville’s 25th sellout crowd this season in the Predators’ home finale. Nashville even had Ricky Skaggs playing with the house band for bit of a playoff-atmosphere preview, but the Predators wound up chasing the puck much more often than shooting.

The Stars even had four power plays only to see Nashville kill them all off.

“This time of year, teams are playing so desperate in that playoff mode, and (Nashville) is certainly in that,” Stars left wing Brendan Morrow said. “They have a big goalie that stops what he sees.”

When they did have chances, Lehtonen swatted them away. He came in 14-9-2 on the road this season a win away from a career-high this season and played well trying to give the Stars a chance.

This was the fourth game this season that Nashville went through the first two periods scoreless, and the Predators have won all four. They got the goal they needed shortly after Detroit’s loss. Bouillon scored his fourth this season on a backhander from in front off a rebound of Hornqvist’s shot, just beating Andrei Kostitsyn to the puck.

Lehtonen stopped a 3-on-1 a couple minutes before Hornqvist padded the lead with a wrister past the goalie’s glove.

Notes: Bouillon’s goal was his fourth this season and all four have come in the past 13 games for the defenseman. … Nashville improved to 34-3-4 when scoring first. … Nashville has 230 goals, tying the 2007-08 team for third-most in franchise history. … Nashville evened the season series against Dallas 2-2. … Hornqvist has 79 career goals. … The sellout was Nashville’s eighth straight. … Rinne has 25 shutouts in 249 games.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.

I’ll be on with Elf Friday this week instead of our normal Thursday slot, due to game day in Nashville.

I hope you’ll come to the regular season finale this Saturday when we take on the St. Louis Blues at 7 pm. It’s Fan Appreciation Day, and the team gives out a lot of random prizes to fans in attendance. If you are looking for something fun to do – come cheer us on! We appreciate all the support you’ve given us this year!

Happy Easter to everyone, in advance.

Come see the Stars on Saturday night, but make sure you get out and enjoy this weather! Another reason to love Dallas.

Enjoy your weekend! Go Stars!

(© Copyright 2012 CBSDFW.com and CBS Local, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

• Father Of Student Attacked In South Padre Wants Justice
• Are We Done With Lamar Odom?
• Perry’s Pages Overwhelmed With Women’s Health Questions
• Senator Challenges Texas’ Castle Law After Florida Shooting
• Texas Authorities Break Up Rural Moonshine Operation

DALLAS (AP) –Logan Couture’s power-play goal put his team in front late in the second period after T.J. Galiardi got the tying goal earlier in the period, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 Tuesday night in a matchup of teams fighting for one of the final Western Conference playoff spots.

Antti Niemi stopped 29 shots, and Daniel Winnik, Joe Thornton and Ryane Clowe also scored for the Sharks. San Jose improved to 92 points to remain in the conference’s top eight, three points better than ninth-place Dallas.

Niemi denied Dallas’ Jamie Benn on a breakaway with about 5:20 left to preserve his team’s lead, and Thornton’s 17th goal of the season with 4:50 remaining gave San Jose a two-goal pad.

Brenden Morrow and Alex Goligoski had the goals for Dallas, which got 21 saves from Kari Lehtonen.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Jason Demers also scored for the Sharks, who rebounded from back-to-back losses at Anaheim and Phoenix to close within one point of Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles and Phoenix with three games remaining.

The Stars were thoroughly outplayed for a second straight night and have gone from leading the Pacific Division heading into Friday’s 5-2 loss at Vancouver to being out of the playoff picture one night later. Dallas trails eighth-place San Jose by one point for the final postseason spot and is two points out of the division lead.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

The Canucks won their fifth straight to move within a point of St. Louis for the Western Conference lead. Vancouver is two points behind the New York Rangers for the overall lead.

Chris Higgins, Sami Salo, Andrew Alberts and Alex Burrows also scored for the Canucks.

Cory Schneider made 32 saves for his 12th win in his past 14 starts. He was a surprise starter after Roberto Luongo left the pregame warmups early.

Steve Ott and Jake Dowell scored for Dallas. The Stars began the night with the Pacific Division lead, but dropped a point behind Los Angeles after the Kings beat Edmonton. Dallas and Phoenix are in the final two playoff spots in the conference with 89 points. The Stars, Los Angeles and Phoenix all have four games left.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

• PD: Lewisville Man Kills Wife After Dog Defecates In House
• Charges Against JetBlue Captain Suspected Of In-Flight Disturbance
• Dallas Snake Sighting Prompts Park Warning
• 48,000 Sq. Ft. Texas Mansion Heads To Auction
• Perfect Attendance Will Equal New Car For FWISD Student

Brenden Morrow gives a post game interview after the Stars beat the Oilers on Wednesday March 28th in Edmonton, Canada (Photo Courtesy DallasStars.com)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Big win Wednesday night in Edmonton! We needed it to keep pace with the rest of the West and give ourselves the best chance to get back in the playoffs. The two games remaining vs. San Jose will undoubtedly be huge.

This race just keeps getting tighter and tighter. The way things are going, this will probably go to the last day of the season.

It was a great weekend before we left on the trip. I saw that the Girl Scouts had a cool flash mob before the Calgary game on Saturday and Steve Ott’s inaugural bike rally went really well. Several teammates joined him at Strokers afterwards. I give a lot of credit to Steve as the effort earned some good money for the Dallas Stars Foundation. Great job!

We also honored former teammate Karlis Skrastins before the game on Saturday. It was incredibly emotional. He was such a good teammate, father and husband. His wife Zane and his three beautiful daughters were there. There were tears and emotions but life goes on. Karlis was a good man. He is missed.

Hey – wanted to ask your help on something too. EA Sports makes that great video game – NHL ’12. I’m sure many of you play it. Well, for this Fall’s edition (NHL ’13), they are having fans decide who will be on the cover of the video game with on-line voting. They have two players from every team to begin the voting and my boys Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson are in the lineup as candidates. Voting begins today, so log on to nhl.com/covervote and vote for the boys!

There are two big home games next week. We hope that you will come out and support us!

A reminder – I’m on at 1:30 pm today (Thursday) with Elf! Tune in!

See you soon – Go Stars!

(© Copyright 2012 CBSDFW.com and CBS Local, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

• Father Of Student Attacked In South Padre Wants Justice
• Are We Done With Lamar Odom?
• Perry’s Pages Overwhelmed With Women’s Health Questions
• Senator Challenges Texas’ Castle Law After Florida Shooting
• Texas Authorities Break Up Rural Moonshine Operation

Michael Ryder scored two goals and added an assist to lift the Stars over the Oilers 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Mike Ribeiro also scored and had two assists for the Stars (42-30-5), who moved back atop the tight Pacific Division. Dallas has a one-point lead over Los Angeles and San Jose, and a two-point edge over Phoenix. Each team has five games remaining.

The Stars jumped from seventh place to third in the Western Conference standings.

“Every point is so valuable the way things sit right now,” Dallas defenseman Sheldon Souray said. “We have a tough road right to the end of the season and hopefully we will be in the mix when the dust settles a week or so from now. It’s cliche, but you can only take it one game at a time.

“We’ve been in third for a while this year and you take one loss and you are in seventh or eighth and battling with teams one point behind you. It’s exciting with so much on the line right now.”

Kari Lehtonen was sharp for the Stars with 31 saves.

“It was a big two points for us,” he said. “Sometimes it is tougher to play against the teams that are already out because they might be more offensive-minded than the ones in the playoff race. Every game is tough right now. We are happy to get these two points and keep going.”

Ryder moved past the 60-point mark for the first time since his rookie season with Montreal in 2003-04.

“I’m just grateful for the opportunity here and for the chance to play on the top line,” he said. “We’ve been working well together. I’m happy to come here and help this team make the playoffs and we are right there now.”

Ales Hemsky had the lone goal for the Oilers (31-37-9), who were 5-0-2 in their previous seven games.

“We kind of fell into their trap,” Oilers coach Tom Renney said. “We weren’t very good in our own end or defensively, which includes the forecheck.

“We needed to stick to the job and get out noses a little dirtier than we did.”

Dallas swept the four-game season series from the Oilers, who are ahead of only Columbus in the West. When asked if the Stars were the one team that had Edmonton’s number this season, Renney responded with a laugh.

“We only have one?” he said. “That’s awesome. We are improving.”

Edmonton came close to going ahead early, just eight minutes in, on a short-handed 2-on-1 break, but Lehtonen came across to make a kick pad save on Nick Schultz.

Dallas took a 1-0 lead 11:43 in when Ryder sped around Jeff Petry and chipped the puck over the stick of diving goalie Devan Dubnyk for his 34th goal.

The Stars took a two-goal lead 5:05 into the second period. Ribeiro took a return pass from Loui Eriksson on a 2-on-1 rush and banked the puck into the net off of Dubnyk.

Ryder had a breakaway chance, but Dubnyk made a stick save to keep it at 2-0 after 40 minutes.

Lehtonen kept the Oilers off the board early in the third, doing the splits to stop Jordan Eberle on a short-handed break.

The Stars made it 3-0 at 4:11 of the third when Ryder finished a tic-tac-toe passing play at the side of the net for his second goal of the game.

Edmonton broke Lehtonen’s bid for his fifth shutout of the season at 8:21. Corey Potter’s shot went wide but came off the boards to Hemsky at the other side of the net, and he scored into a wide-open goal.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

• Father Of Student Attacked In South Padre Wants Justice
• Are We Done With Lamar Odom?
• Perry’s Pages Overwhelmed With Women’s Health Questions
• Senator Challenges Texas’ Castle Law After Florida Shooting
• Texas Authorities Break Up Rural Moonshine Operation

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Mike Cammalleri had a goal and two assists and the Calgary Flames used a four-goal second period for a 5-4 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday night.

The Flames came into the game struggling offensively with six goals in their previous five games, but broke out with four goals over the final 11 minutes of the second period to overcome a 2-1 deficit.

Tied 3-3, Calgary took its second lead of the second period when Mark Giordano’s low slap shot eluded Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen for a power-play goal at 16:58.

Steve Ott’s tripping penalty at 18:33 gave the Flames their fourth man advantage of the period. Cammalleri’s attempted dump-in caromed into the slot off the skate of Stars defenseman Trevor Daley. Alex Tanguay’s quick shot was partially stopped by Lehtonen, but still went over him and landed in the net at 19:32.

Olli Jokinen and Blake Comeau also scored for Calgary.

Jamie Benn scored two goals, Mike Ribeiro and Philip Larsen also scored for Dallas. The Stars, starting a four-game road trip, have lost five of their past six away from home.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Michael Ryder also scored for the Stars, who improved to 87 points and are in the middle of a six-team scramble along with the Flames (83 points) for one of the final two playoff spots.

The Stars had moved into the Pacific Division lead with a 10-0-1 run, but they’d lost three of their previous four to tumble out of the top spot in the division and hurt their playoff hopes.

Brenden Morrow tapped in an empty-netter at 18:32 of the third period to clinch the win for Dallas.

Mike Cammalleri scored and Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 16 shots for the Flames, who had lost their previous three games in overtime or shootouts.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

“I didn’t think we were focused,” said Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan, “It is funny, our game plan at the start was to keep the pace high and stay whistle to whistle. It was on the board (in the locker room) that we wanted to play whistle to whistle with these guys tonight because they came off an emotional game last night.”

The Canucks capitalized early, grabbing the 1-0 with a goal by Mason Raymond, his ninth of the season. Raymond took a cross-ice pass while standing in the Stars’ back door, leaving him a wide open net past goaltender Kari Lehtonen.

The goal ignited the tempers of both teams; players traded comments and hits in a tension-filled atmosphere that would last the rest of the contest.  Scrums after the whistle were frequent in the first period: a fight erupted between Stars forward Jake Dowell and Canucks forward Dale Weise.

Penalties were plentiful in the first and second periods. Vancouver got under Dallas’ skin early and the Stars felt the effects, spending a total of 17 minutes in the penalty box. Dallas has successfully killed 39 of their last 41 penalties and is currently ranked 10^th in the league on the kill.

The Canucks, however, made a potentially costly mistake:  defenseman Kevin Bieksa slashed Mike Ribeiro on the breakaway, which resulted in a penalty shot. Ribeiro attempted a fancy between-the-legs move, only to be denied by Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider. This was the third career penalty shot for Ribeiro, who is now 0-3 in penalty shots. Clearly, Ribero was frustrated by his foiled attempt at a penalty shot, which in turn caused him to lose focus.

“He (Ribeiro) is hard on himself. I have talked to him about that at length, and if he feels that he’s not doing enough, he gets frustrated and it affects his game,” said Gulutzan.

Vancouver continued to pour it on four minutes into the third period with a broken play, leaving defenseman Kevin Bieksa wide open to put away his eighth of the season. The dashed hopes of Stars fans were briefly uplifted when Dallas caught a break due to a misplayed puck by Schneider. Stars forward Vernon Fiddler was able to bury the puck into an open net and make the score 2-1, his eighth goal of the season.

“You don’t want to be down in the game, but I thought Fiddler got a big goal for us to give us a chance but we just couldn’t get one in the end there,” said Stars forward Jamie Benn.

The Stars had an opportunity to try and tie the game at 2-2 with a late power play in the final 45 seconds. Dallas pulled Lehtonen for the extra skater to no avail.

“I give them (Vancouver) credit. They’re pretty savvy, and they’ve got some savvy guys because they’ve been in some pressure situations. We had a couple chances but we couldn’t get it to go. That’s just the nature of the beast. We worked, it wasn’t that we didn’t lack work or came out flat, but we were not as focused as we need to be this time of year,” claimed Gulutzan.

Prior to tonight’s game, Dallas lead the Pacific Division with 85 points. With the playoff race as tight as it is in the Pacific, the team must be wary of the closing gap from its lead on division rivals. Three rival teams are right behind Dallas in the Division standings: Los Angeles and Phoenix are both tied at 84 points and San Jose trails them with 82.  Following the loss, Dallas falls to 8th in the conference playoff race.

Brian Waddle is the producer for the K&C Masterpiece heard on 105.3 The Fan Sundays from 9am to 1pm.

(© Copyright 2012 CBS Local, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

• AA Passenger Causes Disturbance After Leaving DFW Airport
• Bieber Tweet Overwhelms Dallas Grandmother With Frenzied Fans
• Viewers Get Phone Bill Credits After CBS 11 Investigation
• Carjacking Victim Wants Dog Back For Special Needs Brother
• Doctor Discusses Computer Vision Syndrome

Schneider stopped a penalty shot and finished with 25 saves, Mason Raymond scored early in the first period and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Thursday night.

Vancouver No. 1 goalie Roberto Luongo got the game off on the second leg of a back-to-back, and Schneider seemed to be on pace for his fourth career shutout until a misplay in the third period allowed Dallas to get on the board.

Schneider went behind his net to play the puck, but fanned when he tried to pass. Dallas’ Vernon Fiddler tucked the puck into an open net at 7:44 for his eighth goal of the season.

But the Canucks held on to improve their conference-best road record to 23-11-5.

“I felt pretty good playing the puck until that last one,” Schneider said. “It was tough to put my team in that position but we didn’t crack.”

Schneider, who boosted his record to 17-7-1, denied Mike Ribeiro’s penalty shot at 12:55 of the second period. Ribeiro tried a nifty move he uses in shootouts to get a shot on the backhand, but Schneider stood his ground and easily stopped the puck.

“I wasn’t real sure what he was going to do with it, but he got it pretty tight,” Schneider said. “I don’t know if he was trying to go past my blocker or through my arm, but I was able to stay with it and make the save.”

Ribeiro had exited the penalty box, skated in alone on a breakaway and was slashed by Dan Hamhuis, earning the penalty shot.

Vancouver capitalized on its first shot of the night at 4:46 of the opening period when Raymond was wide open to the right of Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen. Raymond netted his ninth goal of the season, converting Henrik Sedin’s setup that glanced off the stick of Hamhuis to Raymond.

Kevin Bieksa made it 2-0 at 4:18 of the third period when he tucked a rebound past Lehtonen for his eighth of the season. Sedin and Raymond assisted for the Canucks, who had been slumping at 3-5-3 in their previous 11 games.

The Canucks were without Daniel Sedin, the team leader with 30 goals, sidelined indefinitely because of a head injury. Sedin is back in Vancouver after taking an elbow to the head from Chicago’s Duncan Keith in the first period of the Blackhawks’ 2-1 overtime win over the Canucks on Wednesday night.

Henrik Sedin spoke to his brother by phone earlier Thursday, telling reporters after the game that Daniel was still feeling the effects of the elbowing.

“He has symptoms, a little bit of a headache, which comes with a hit like that,” Henrik said.

Dallas pulled Lehtonen late and had a 6-on-4 advantage when Bieksa was called for high-sticking with 44.9 seconds left, but the Stars never managed a shot on goal.

The Stars had been 11-2-1 over their previous 14 games, but they had few serious scoring chances against Schneider.

Last season, the Stars lost all four games to the Canucks by a total score of 20-5. This season, Dallas won the first two matchups before falling Thursday. The teams have their final regular-season meeting March 30 at Vancouver.

Thursday night’s game included plenty of after-the-whistle shoving and talking resulting in a total of 15 minor penalties plus a fight between Dallas’ Jake Dowell and Vancouver’s Dale Weise.

“We wanted to get involved in an extracurricular game,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Just some of the exchanges and penalties and the frustration level — just way too high.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Texas Brahmas during a game at the NYTEX Center. (Ryan Crowe/CBSDFW)

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS (CBSDFW.COM) - On a balmy Tuesday night, the shoebox is rocking.

That’s in spite of the fact that with 3 minutes left in the first period the Texas Brahmas had to pull goalie Ken Carroll out of the game after the visiting Wichita Thunder hung 3 goals on him.

“No worries, he’s just a little rusty,” one fan yells in support of the benching as rookie ‘netminder’ Mark Guggenberger goes in to replace Carroll.

Shortly after the switch, fans get a call from the referee they don’t like.  The clanging of cowbells, stomping on the metal bleachers, and loud razzing lets everyone in a one-mile radius know of their displeasure.

Guggenberger, the Central Hockey League‘s rookie of the year, stops most of the bleeding, but the Brahmas still lose 6-5 on a late empty-net goal.

In a way, some fans are relieved the Brahmas lost.  For them, that sets up what they consider the perfect scenario.  With the loss, the Brahmas will face the cross-town Allen Americans in the first round of the CHL playoffs, and the fans are ready for their rival.

Backing up, many fans see the Texas Brahmas, who moved to North Richland Hills in 2007, as the continuation of hockey history in Fort Worth.  From the days of being the New York Rangers farm club in the 1940s to the longtime partnership with the Detroit Red Wings, Fort Worth has been viewed as a hockey outpost for a long time.

Banners from Fort Worth's hockey history line the walls of the NYTEX Center in North Richland Hills. (Ryan Crowe/CBSDFW)

Fans like Wesley Binney from Grand Prairie said moving in to the 3,000 seat NYTEX center hasn’t hurt the team at all, and probably enhanced it.  “We have really good supporters, it helps having a smaller arena, because down here everyone can hear you.”

He leads fans in a “Let’s go Brahmas!” cheer as he clangs his cowbell against the handrail.  “‘Rowdy, Loud and Proud’ has nothing on us,” he yells over the noise.

Brahmas fan Wesley Binney. (Ryan Crowe/CBSDFW)

Just behind Binney, Fort Worth resident Larry Westmoreland has been a local hockey fan since the Fort Worth Wings days.  “We make it miserable on the other guys,” he said next to his ’303 Rowdies’ banner.  Westmoreland and a small group started the ‘rowdies’ in section 303 of the Fort Worth Convention Center before the Brahmas were even around.  Since moving over to NYTEX, he’s been at center ice above the visiting bench.  “It’s the hardest place to play in the world,” he laughs.

The 303 Rowdies cheering section for the Texas Brahmas. (Ryan Crowe/CBSDFW)

The other CHL teams seem to agree with him.  The Brahmas recently picked up the ‘Most Annoying Fans’ and ‘Toughest Building to Win In’ crowns in the CHL Best of the Best poll, much on the backs (and throats) of guys like Westmoreland and Binney.  “It gives us an edge,” says Westmoreland.  “When the Brahmas talk after the game, they say the fan support and noise always helps.”

That’s especially true against Allen.  Part of hockey lore in North Texas is the rivalry between Fort Worth and Dallas teams, and now that the Americans are playing in Collin County, nothing has really changed.  “It’s still the same Fort Worth versus Dallas rivalry,” says Brahmas General Manager Mike Barack.  “Only now, the rivalry has moved to the suburbs, just like many of the people.”

“It’s good to have a rival,” says Westmoreland.

The rivalry is especially made sweeter to the fans because Allen’s head coach is Dwight Mullins, a former player for the Fort Worth Fire, the team that proceeded the Brahmas in the CHL.  He captained them to the CHL title in 1997.  But what makes him really special to them is he’s a former coach for the Brahmas.

His assistant happens to be Bill McDonald, the coach of the Fire the year they won the CHL and the very first head coach of the Brahmas.

These fans know the men well. “Their coaches are our old coaches,” says Westmoreland.  “It brings a lot of fun to the game, we know their tricks.”

But, he adds, despite being rivals now, they still like McDonald and Mullins.  “When it’s all done, we’re still glad to see them, we’re all friends again.”

The Brahmas will host at least two games of the playoff series, and that means the fans will be out in spades.  “This place will be rocking before they even hit the ice,” Westmoreland promises.  “It’ll be like we’re Scottish warriors, slapping the shields before battle.”

If Tuesday’s game has any foreshadowing, his description isn’t hyperbolic in any way.  As soon as the Thunder arrived back on the ice after the first intermission, a fan in a purple bodysuit was behind the bench banging away on a bass drum.  And more importantly, the moment the refs’ skate touched the ice a steady stream of boos erupted, bouncing off the low ceiling.

An unidentified fan dressed tries to disrupt players from the opposing team during a Texas Brahmas game at the NYTEX Center in North Richland Hills (Ryan Crowe/CBSDFW)

“We put up a fight.” Binney says confidently.

And they will.  The series begins Friday March 30 in Allen.  The Brahmas first home game will be Game 3 on Wednesday April 4 at 7:00 p.m.  Fans can get ticket information at brahmas.com or at (817) 336-4423.  But you’re on your own for earplugs and/or cowbells.

Dallas Stars 2012 Team Photo (Photo Courtesy of Dallas Stars Hockey Club)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Have you ever seen such a tight race in your life? My goodness -  one point in the standings separates us in the division lead with three other teams. This should go down to the wire! We have nine games left – all of them are big!

The crowds have been great – we had a huge on Friday vs. the Blackhawks. Wish we could have won that one but it was nice to get back in the win column on Tuesday vs. Phoenix.

The annual team picture was taken on Monday before practice. It’s been rather easy for me to find my spot on picture day over the last six since the team captain always sits in the center of the front row. I remember my first one in 2000 when I was all the way in the back as a rookie. That seems like eons ago. I’m still impressed at how fast the PR guys get us out there, line us up and boom – it’s over. I think the entire thing takes less than five minutes.

What did you do for St. Patrick’s Day? I just hung out with my kids and took it easy. This late in the season, you need your rest.

We have two more big home games this week – Vancouver Thursday and Calgary Saturday. Come out and cheer us on! Then it’s off to Western Canada again.

Until next week, have a good one – and Go Stars!

(© Copyright 2012 CBS Local, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

• AA Passenger Causes Disturbance After Leaving DFW Airport
• Bieber Tweet Overwhelms Dallas Grandmother With Frenzied Fans
• Viewers Get Phone Bill Credits After CBS 11 Investigation
• Carjacking Victim Wants Dog Back For Special Needs Brother
• Doctor Discusses Computer Vision Syndrome

Smith, a 23-year-old native of Dallas, posted 36 goals and 57 points in 39 games for Colgate this year, his senior season — stats which allowed him to be named one of the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award.

A right-handed shooter, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Smith ended his college career with 79 goals and 160 points in 153 contests.

(© Copyright 2012 The Sports Network. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

• AA Passenger Causes Disturbance After Leaving DFW Airport
• Bieber Tweet Overwhelms Dallas Grandmother With Frenzied Fans
• Viewers Get Phone Bill Credits After CBS 11 Investigation
• Carjacking Victim Wants Dog Back For Special Needs Brother
• Doctor Discusses Computer Vision Syndrome

DALLAS (AP) – Mike Ribeiro and linemates Michael Ryder and Loui Eriksson on Dallas’ No. 1 unit helped the Stars take sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division.

Ribeiro, Ryder and Eriksson accounted for all three goals and nine points for their team in regulation, then Ribeiro scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Stars a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday night.

Ribeiro had three assists, then converted in the tiebreaker’s second round to lift the Stars to the victory.

Ryder scored twice, including a second-period power-play goal. Eriksson also had a goal and had the primary assist on both of Ryder’s goals.

“Those guys (Ryder and Eriksson) are elite players,” Ribeiro said. “They can score, they can pass, they can play well defensively, they can do everything right on the ice. It’s easy to play with those guys. They’ve been scoring most of the goals of our team and once again tonight. They can do things most players cannot do.”

The teams entered the game tied atop the Pacific with 83 points.

On Ribeiro’s opportunity in the tiebreaker, Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith skated far out of his net. Ribeiro took advantage, faking Smith out of position and sliding a backhand into an open net.

“I don’t know why (Smith) came out,” Ribeiro said. “I think I’m 1-for-6 or 7 this year with the goalie in his net, so I wasn’t expecting him to come out. I was maybe expecting a poke-check, but I guess he was nervous seeing what I was coming in doing.”

Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen denied Mikkel Boedker, Ray Whitney and Shane Doan in the shootout, but the Coyotes still emerged with a point and are only one back of the Stars in the division.

“We found a way to get a point and we move on,” Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said.

The Stars carried a 3-1 lead into the third period, but Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s short-handed goal at 8:51 got the Coyotes within one. Ekman-Larsson beat Lehtonen from the right circle with 42 seconds left on a Dallas power play for his 12th goal of the season.

Whitney tied it at 3 at 14:58 of the third period with his 23rd of the season on a wrister from the left circle as the Coyotes converted on a power play made possible when the Stars were whistled for too many men on the ice.

While the Coyotes were pleased they were able to rally and earn a point by taking the game into overtime, they also know they can’t always depend on comebacks.

“It’s tough,” said Lauri Korpikoski, who added a goal for Phoenix. “We’ve been in that spot too many times. We’re spending too much energy chasing from behind.”

Ekman-Larsson had the best scoring chance of overtime, but was denied on Lehtonen’s diving pad save.

With the game even at 1, Dallas capitalized on its first power play of the night when Ryder converted Eriksson’s goal-mouth setup at 5:26 of the second.

Ryder later popped a loose puck past Smith at 14:42 of the second period during a scramble in front of the net to give his team a two-goal edge, Ryder’s career-high 32nd of the season.

Lehtonen made 27 saves for the Stars, who’d lost their previous two games following a 10-0-1 run that had moved them into the division lead.

Smith stopped 30 shots for the Coyotes, who wrapped up a 2-1-1 road trip and are 3-5-3 in their past 11 games.

Eriksson opened the scoring at 2:12 of the first period with his 26th goal of the season with a snap shot from the right circle that whistled into the upper right corner of the net.

Korpikoski tied it at 1 at 5:14 of the first period with his 16th of the season, beating Lehtonen with a one-timer from the high slot after a pass from Whitney.

Things got heated at 5:54 of the second period after Doan elbowed Stars No. 2 scorer Jamie Benn in the head.

Benn was stunned, but stayed in the game. Three skirmishes ensued, resulting in 64 penalty minutes and four misconducts, with

Doan receiving a elbowing minor that put Dallas on the power play.

Now the league must decide if Doan’s elbow was suspension-worthy.

“I think it’s a suspendable offense,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “He targeted the head with his elbow. The league will look at it for sure and then they’ll decide, but it’s deliberate.”

The teams split the six-game season series that concluded on Tuesday.

Notes: Ryder’s previous career high was 30 goals. … D Sheldon Souray was back for the Stars after missing four games with a lower body injury and forward Radek Dvorak returned after a three-game absence with an ankle problem. … RW Radim Vrbata (illness), LW Taylor Pyatt (upper body), C Kyle Chipchura (wrist) and D Adrian Aucoin (lower body) were out for Phoenix. Vrbata, who leads the Coyotes with 30 goals, is day to day.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Bolland’s 18th goal of the season came 10 seconds in, and Sharp made it 2-0 at 1:42 with his 27th.

Sharp and Marian Hossa added goals in the opening two minutes of the third period to put the game out of reach for Chicago, which improved to 6-1-1 in its last eight games.

Jamie Benn ended Crawford’s bid for his sixth career shutout with 5:50 remaining for his 22nd goal of the season.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 27 shots for the Stars before a crowd of 19,099, the largest since the team moved to Dallas in 1993. The count was swelled by about 600 standing-room tickets and a loud contingent of Blackhawks fans.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP)  - The Winnipeg Jets returned home with a flourish and gave their playoff push a boost.
Andrew Ladd scored twice to help the Jets beat Dallas 5-2 Wednesday night, snapping the Stars’ six-game winning streak.

Nik Antropov, Evander Kane and Eric Fehr also scored for the Jets, who moved four points behind Washington for the eighth and last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

“As the home team we feel like if we can get on top of teams early and get momentum and get the crowd in it, then that first goal’s huge and we’ve been able to do that a lot lately,” Ladd said. “Sometimes I think we play our best hockey against the top teams. We seem to get up for those games and simplify more and get away from the cute stuff.”

Fehr was making his debut on Winnipeg’s hard-checking fourth line in place of the injured Chris Thorburn, and coach Claude Noel was pleased with his effort.

“We happened to score a little more than we probably anticipated,” Noel said. “I thought we generated things that we wanted to do. We caught them on a back to back.”

Loui Eriksson had both goals for Dallas. The Stars, who won 1-0 at Minnesota the previous night, dropped to 1-10-2 in the second games of back-to-backs.

However, Dallas goalie Richard Bachman didn’t want to use that as an excuse against a Jets team that was playing after a four-day break.

“I mean, obviously Winnipeg played a great game,” he said. “They were moving the puck and they were good in transition. I think them having a little bit of rest their legs were moving extremely good.”

A couple of shots went in off his head.

“I think there were times when I was tracking it pretty well and reading the play pretty well and other times when I just wasn’t clicking.”

With the Stars trailing 5-0, Eriksson spoiled Ondrej Pavelec’s shot at a fifth shutout this season with 3:31 left in the second period. Eriksson closed the scoring with his 25th goal of the season with 3:44 to go in the third.

Antropov got Winnipeg going at 2:21 of the first period on a crisp wrist shot from the left faceoff circle that seemed to catch Dallas goalie Richard Bachman off-guard.

Kane then struck early in the second to make it 2-0, slapping in Alexander Burmistrov’s rebound at 1:19.

The Stars looked tired as they tried to keep up with the Jets, who were drawing energy from the packed house screaming “Go Jets Go.”

Fehr scored his second goal of the season on a breakaway at 8:28 of the second period.

“I like to pretend I’ve done it before,” he said with a laugh after the game when asked why he wasn’t celebrating his rare goal little more. “It definitely felt good and it turned out to be an important goal for the team.”

Less than a minute later, Ladd was fed his own rebound by center Bryan Little and banged it in to make it 4-0.

Ladd then tipped in Dustin Byfuglien’s hard drive from his own blue-line 13 seconds into Winnipeg’s second power-play chance of the night at 3:48 to go in the period.

Eriksson got the Stars on the board 17 seconds later.

The last few minutes of the game were marred by a scuffle involving several players that gave Winnipeg one more power-play opportunity. The melee with 2:47 remaining resulted in 10-minute misconducts to Dallas’ Vernon Fiddler and Winnipeg’s Tanner Glass and a game misconduct to the Stars’ Adam Burish.

“Tanner Glass went to pick up his glove and Burish was dragging it over to the box,” Noel said of how the tussle started. Burish then threw it over the glass into the crowd.

“I think Tanner Glass thought `I’m not going to put up with that,”‘ Noel said.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ST PAUL, MN - MARCH 13: Mark Fistric #28 of the Dallas Stars controls the puck against Marco Scandella #6 of the Minnesota Wild during the first period on March 13, 2012 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Jamie Benn’s goal early in the third period and Kari Lehtonen’s second consecutive shutout gave the Dallas Stars their sixth straight victory, 1-0 over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

Benn scored for the third time in four games to give him 21 this season. He snagged a rink-wide pass from Brendan Morrow that glanced off Wild left wing Stephane Veilleux’s stick and straight to Benn for the tip-in with 16:14 remaining.

The Stars haven’t needed that long to score lately. The Western Conference’s hottest team is 10-0-1 in its last 11 games, with seven victories in regulation. The Stars have taken over the Pacific Division race, and have a four-point lead with 12 games to play.

Lehtonen made 25 saves. He hasn’t lost a road start in regulation since Feb. 14 at Detroit.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The 24-year-old Benn, who was recalled Monday, had one assist in his two games for Dallas this season.

He and 22-year-old sibling Jamie Benn are the third set of brothers in Dallas Stars history and the sixth in team history to play in an NHL game together.

The Stars on Tuesday night visit Minnesota.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Also Check Out:

• Texas Nurse Accused Of Killing Patients With Bleach IVs
• 55-Year-Old Grandma Wants To Be Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader
• Parents Use Hidden Camera To Capture Abuse Of Autistic Son
• Fort Worth Naked Man Sentenced To 18 Years In Prison
• Fed Up With Menu, Students Stage Lunchroom Boycott

Created in 2011 by CBS11/TXA21 news assignments manager Mike Pool and CBS11 10pm producer Tom Duerr, the jersey, sweater, jersey faceoff is probably more of an effort for the two dapper professionals to get away with donning sports gear at the office than a battle. Regardless, it’s a testament to my belief that sporting sports gear is truly a sport.

Mr. Pool won the Face Off last year, going with the theme of “NHL Hockey Teams Which No Longer Exist.” Mr. Duerr kept it simple, wearing jerseys from his “Simply the Best” collection.

See Last Year’s Competition

Who will win in 2012? You decide.

Day 1

After losing last year, Mr. Duerr attempted to go for a bonus out of the starting gate, bringing an alternate jersey to kick off the week:

“It’s the old “Buffa-slug” jersey as we called it back home when the Sabres decided to go back to blue and gold, but failed on the logo choice back in 2006,” Mr. Duerr explained.  “But today came with a bonus jersey.”

Indeed it did. Mr. Duerr upped his game, breaking out Dominek Hasek Sabres #39.

“After Mike told me that he was going with his Dominik Hasek Czech Republic jersey, I knew it would make for a classic picture if I posed in my Hasek jersey.” he added. “The theme for that one: DOUBLE DOMINATION…”

I can almost hear the late, great Macho Man Randy Savage saying that: “DOUBLE DOMINATION……”

As for Mr. Pool’s selection, he has a theme again in 2012.

“I chose to go with international sweaters the first four days this week and will wear Friday one of the all-time classic hockey sweaters. Since hockey is truly a global sport I thought I would wear some colors from around the world,” he said.

“Today’s sweater is a gift from a colleague who was in Prague a couple a years ago and surprised (me) with the Hasek Czech Republic jersey. I figured this sweater is great way to start the week.”

Indeed.

Who won today’s offering?  Cast your vote in the comments section.

Several GMs have said they would like to see the red line and two-line passes return in an effort to slow the game in the neutral zone. That might reduce the rate of concussions by making collisions less violent.

There is opposition, however, with many arguing that the removal of the red line in 2005 made the game more entertaining.

Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford says another topic of discussion will be curbing fights to reduce concussions. Subjects discussed Monday included hybrid icing, hand passes and changing on the fly.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Also Check Out:

• Texas Nurse Accused Of Killing Patients With Bleach IVs
• 55-Year-Old Grandma Wants To Be Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader
• Parents Use Hidden Camera To Capture Abuse Of Autistic Son
• Fort Worth Naked Man Sentenced To 18 Years In Prison
• Fed Up With Menu, Students Stage Lunchroom Boycott

It was tough for me to watch on the sidelines the last few weeks because I always want to be out there playing. But it felt great to get back out there with the boys again this past Saturday when we played the Ducks. And scoring a big power play goal was even better! It proved to be the game-winner in a 2-0 shutout.

The team is playing with a lot of confidence right now and we know what we have to do. This hot streak has vaulted us into the lead of the Pacific Division, giving us the third seed in the conference if the playoffs began today. Everyone on the team is focused on the next game on the schedule and continuing the success.

I’m feeling pretty good. When you have an injury in hockey, it’s never fun. I sat out practically the whole month of February. We have just over 10 games left in the regular season and the playoffs begin on April 11. We got the day off on Sunday and that was good for the team. Being mentally focused and recharged at this time of year is important.

I hear that 105.3 The Fan will have some NCAA hoops going on this Thursday during my normal segment with Elf and Friends, so I’m not sure yet when I will pop on. Talking basketball and the bracket will surely be a topic of conversation. I haven’t filled mine out yet but I’ll give it a look.

This Friday is a big home game for us vs.Chicago. The team will wear special green jerseys for warm-ups that night. Get there early to see some of the great Irish surnames we’re all wearing on the back of the jerseys as part of honoring St. Patrick’s Day! My surname is O’Morrow (I know – real original). Come out and help us beat the Blackhawks!

Thanks – have a good week and Go Stars!

Brenden Morrow

(Copyright 2012 CBS Local. All Rights Reserved.)

Also Check Out:

• Texas Nurse Accused Of Killing Patients With Bleach IVs
• 55-Year-Old Grandma Wants To Be Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader
• Parents Use Hidden Camera To Capture Abuse Of Autistic Son
• Fort Worth Naked Man Sentenced To 18 Years In Prison
• Fed Up With Menu, Students Stage Lunchroom Boycott

Michael Ryder #73 of the Dallas Stars is congratulated by teammates after scoring an empty net goal against the Anaheim Ducks during the third period of a hockey game at the American Airlines Center on March 10, 2012 in Dallas, Texas. Dallas won 2-0. (Photo by Brandon Wade/Getty Images)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Reinforcements hit the ice for the Dallas Stars Saturday night in a 2-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. The Stars got their captain Brenden Morrow and left winger Steve Ott back into the lineup as the playoff race continues to heat up.

The Pacific leading Stars have been hot lately riding a four game win streak coming into the matchup. After the victory, the club is 9-0-1 in their last ten games.

“Tonight still wasn’t a Picasso but I thought our goalie to me did not look like he was going let anything in just looking at his body language,” said Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan, “That gave us some confidence.”

Both teams were quiet in the first period, each blocking a lot of shots. A combined 20 shots were blocked by the teams in the first period. The final total blocked shots were 43. The Stars gave up only 21 shots compared to their 48 in the previous victory over San Jose.

“We wanted to be a little tighter and we had to clean a couple things up from last game,” said Gulutzan.
Morrow opened the scoring for Dallas in the second period scoring a power play goal just as a five on three expired. Jamie Benn hit Morrow with a cross-ice pass just above the crease for an open net to give the Stars the 1-0 lead.

“Those four footers with an empty cage are pretty easy to hit sometimes and Daley came low to Benn who hit me back door for an open net,” said Morrow.

The Stars would hold the lead all the way through the third forcing the Ducks to take out the goalie for an extra skater. Michael Ryder would take advantage of the open net and score his 30th goal of the season. Ryder extended his point streak to ten games.

“You know me, Ribs (Ribeiro) and Loui (Ericksson), we have something good going there and we have a lot of chemistry and we work well,” said Ryder, “You can tell the way we play that we get a lot of chances and we use one another which makes a big difference.”

Dallas has been getting excellent goaltending from its two backstops during this stretch and Kari Lehtonen got his third shutout of the season.

“Both our goalies have been giving us opportunities to win games and Kari made some huge saves tonight. He is really kind of in a zone and looks real comfortable back there. Pucks probably looking like a beach ball for him,” praised Morrow.

With this victory, the Stars push their point total to 81 giving them a three point lead over the Phoenix Coyotes going into the two road trip starting Monday in Minnesota. The Ducks continue to slide in the playoff race sitting last in the division and 13th in the conference and the window is closing.

“We are running out of time. It’s not fun when you’re running out of time but it wasn’t for lack of effort. They’re giving it everything they’ve got right to the end and we’re really proud of their effort right now. We’ve played the last two games against the hottest two teams in the National Hockey League save the Pittsburgh Penguins. You lose a one-goal game here and two-goal game in St. Louis where you’re in it right until the end. It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau.

Brian Waddle is the Producer for the K&C Masterpiece heard Sunday mornings on 105.3 The Fan from 9am to 1pm.

Notes:

Stephane Robidas injured Ducks winger Corey Perry in the second period with a check into the boards. Perry would sit out the rest of the period and return in the third. Robidas received a two minute minor for boarding on the play. After the game, Boudreau had this to say:

“Of course, any hit that’s into the boards for a defenseless person, isn’t that one of the criteria? Even if he didn’t extend his arms, he pushed him or if he didn’t, he held him and pushed him and held his arm to where he couldn’t protect himself. That Robidas guy does it every game and we tell him. He gets away with murder all the time. And then he says well, I didn’t try to or didn’t mean to. It’s not good enough,” said Boudreau.

Stars forward Radek Dvorak took a bad fall trying to get off the ice and did not return. His injury was listed as a lower body injury.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS Local. All Rights Reserved.)

DALLAS, TX - MARCH 10: Niklas Hagman #12 of the Anaheim Ducks attempts to control a rebound off of goalie Kari Lehtonen #32 of the Dallas Stars as Philip Larsen #36 looks on during the third period of a hockey game at the American Airlines Center on March 10, 2012 in Dallas, Texas. Dallas won 2-0. (Photo by Brandon Wade/Getty Images)

DALLAS (AP) – Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow returned from an 18-game injury absence with a key goal. He also was bailed out by goalie Kari Lehtonen when he was whistled for three penalties.

Morrow scored on the power play, Lehtonen made 21 saves for his 20th career shutout, and the Stars stretched their winning streak to five games with a 2-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.

Morrow, sidelined by neck and shoulder stiffness, skated on the left side of a line with Jamie Benn and Steve Ott.

Morrow scored his ninth goal of the season at 2:37 of the second period, converting Benn’s centering pass just as a 5-on-3 Dallas power play expired. Ott also assisted on the goal.

The Stars killed off all four Anaheim power plays, three on Morrow’s penalties.

“I was a little bit nervous,” Morrow said. “I didn’t want to screw things up for the team. Kari made sure I didn’t do that the couple of times I was sitting in the penalty box. Kudos to him.”

Morrow has 514 career points, tying him with Jere Lehtinen for ninth in franchise history.

Lehtonen made Morrow’s goal stand up, preserving his third shutout of the season with a sharp glove save against Anaheim’s Saku Koivu with under 15 minutes to play.

“It was difficult game,” Lehtonen said. “It was 1-0 and we took a couple of penalties. It was more nerve-racking than normal for a 20-shot game. Every game is huge. It’s easy to get excited. I’m pretty even-keel, and that helps. When you’re a goalie you have to be. You can’t get too rattled.”

Michael Ryder added an empty-netter, tying a career high with his 30th of the season, with 45.5 seconds left to clinch a victory that the team credited to Lehtonen.

“Our goalie didn’t look like he was going to give up anything,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. “The defense packed it in well and prevented second shots. The best part of my day was when I heard the buzzer and that guy got a shutout. We owed him one.”

The victory gave the Pacific Division-leading Stars, 9-0-1 in their last 10 games, 81 points.

Jonas Hiller made 21 saves for the Ducks, 2-5 in their last seven games as their playoff hopes fade.

“We’re in a do-or-die situation,” Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf said. “There’s no doubt about it.”

The Stars went 5-1 against the Ducks in the season series that concluded Saturday night.

A series of four Anaheim penalties in the second period put the Ducks on the defensive, leading to Morrow’s goal. The calls had the Ducks shaking their heads on the bench, leaving coach Bruce Boudreau frustrated over the officiating.

“The funny thing is if you say anything, it costs you $10,000, and if you don’t say anything, nothing gets done,” Boudreau said. “It’s a really a double-edged sword.”

Ducks leading goal scorer Corey Perry had to go to the locker room with less than seven minutes left in the second period after taking a hard hit into the boards by Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas. Robidas went to the penalty box for boarding while Perry skated shakily to the bench with a shoulder injury.

Perry, who had four goals in his previous four games, returned for the third period but was only able to stay on the ice for a minute and 35 seconds before calling it a night. X-rays on the shoulder were negative.

Perry had four goals in his previous four games and his team clearly missed his presence.

Boudreau felt Robidas should have received a stiffer penalty than a minor.

“If that isn’t a five-minute penalty, I don’t know what is,” Boudreau said. “(Perry’s) in the most vulnerable position, headfirst going into the boards and he’s getting a shove, whether it’s a little shove or a big shove. It’s a shove of a defenseless person into the boards. You put your best player out in a game we had to win.”

Notes: C Nick Bonino (leg) and G Dan Ellis (groin) sat out for the Ducks. … Dallas D Sheldon Souray (lower body) and forward Jake Dowell (finger) and missed the game for Dallas. … Lehtonen has started 17 of the last 19 games. … Ott returned after missing a game due to back spasms. … Hiller has played 63 of Anaheim’s 69 games. … Dallas RW Radek Dvorak left in the third period with an ankle injury and did not return. … Ryder reached 30 goals for the third time in his career.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The latest opportunity to validate General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk’s confidence in the team was a 4-3 overtime shootout victory over the division rival San Jose Sharks Thursday night. The victory pushes their current win streak to four games and they are 8-0-1 in their last 9 games.

Michael Ryder opened the scoring in the second period with his 29th of season putting the puck underneath the left armpit of Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi.

“He’s (Ryder) be tremendous for us and anytime you can get a 30 goal scorer who works and is a great character guy, then he’s invaluable to us,” said Stars Head Coach Glen Gulutzan.

The Sharks would tie the game up with 00.4 to go in the second period. The goal was scored by Torrey Mitchell, his 7th of the season.

Twenty-five seconds into third period, San Jose forward Patrick Marleau scored his 27th of the season, to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead. The lead went away 6 minutes later with Jamie Benn’s 20th goal of the season, tying the game at 2-2.

“I got a couple of lucky bounces and I don’t think the goalie was expecting a quick shot there,” claimed Benn.
The fans in the arena thought it was over when Sharks forward Joe Pavelski put away the go ahead goal, his 24th of the season, with three and a half minutes to go in the game to make it 3-2. The Stars answered with a goal from Tomas Vincour, his fourth of the season.

The game would go to the shootout and the hero from regulation got the only goal to give his club the victory. Vincour only logged six minutes of ice time during tonight’s contest was not surprised he was picked to shoot. “If I have to be honest…no, I wasn’t surprised he put me out there,” said Vincour.

This win gives the Dallas much needed confidence since San Jose has beaten them three times this year outscoring the Stars 14-5.  The Stars came back home after their most successful road trip of the season through Western Canada winning six out of a possible six points.

“It gives us a little bit of a boost. There is no question they (San Jose) have our number but for coming back off the road we played a pretty good game. We gave up a lot but they are a bit of a wounded bear right now. It is not an easy game,” preached Gulutzan.

With two more points added to the total, the Stars pad their lead atop of the division with 79 points. “We’ve had our struggles with them this year and we knew that coming in. We wanted to play our game, play the right way and play the way we have been lately. That’s what we did tonight. We got down and battled back to get two points from a division rival,” said Stars forward Jamie Benn.

The team continues to play good hockey during a stretch that requires resiliency and resolve.

“Those guys are playing for each other showing a lot of resiliency and character. The bench was real good tonight as far leadership from every guy. Just a gutsy performance and the guys gutted it out,” said Gulutzan.

Stars host the Anaheim Ducks Saturday night in Dallas with another opportunity to increase their division lead. Dallas is 4-1 going into the final game against the Ducks this season.

Notes:
Stars forward Steve Ott was scratched from the game with Back Spasms
Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray did not return after a 2nd period injury labeled as a lower body injury.
Stars defenseman Mark Fistric did not play the third period because of a hand injury. X-rays were negative.
During this 8-0-1 streak, the Stars have come from behind 4 times to win.

(© Copyright 2012 CBS Local. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

• Fed Up With Menu, Texas Students Stage Lunchroom Boycott
• Texas Ranchers Face New Cattle Rustling Threat
• Woman Details Escaping Enslavement In Texas Home
• Some Offended By Half-Staff Flag For Whitney Houston
• Call Of Duty Game Leads To Prank Lewisville 911 Call

DALLAS (AP) -- Tomas Vincour scored in the final minute of regulation, and then added the lone goal of the shootout in the fifth round to give the surging Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

Kari Lehtonen made 45 saves through overtime and then was perfect in the shootout. He stopped Logan Couture in the final round to seal the win for Dallas.

Vincour gave the Stars the edge in the tiebreaker when he flipped a backhander past Antti Niemi.
Pacific Division-leading Dallas won its fourth straight and improved to 79 points, four ahead of San Jose.

Joe Pavelski put the Sharks in front 3-2 when he pushed a rebound past Lehtonen with 3:32 left in regulation for his 24th goal. But with Lehtonen off for an extra skater, Vincour nudged the puck over the line at 19:45 to tie it. The goal was upheld by video replay.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Richard Bachman and Mike Ribeiro helped the Dallas Stars keep up their late-season surge.

Bachman, the rookie goalie, settled down after facing an early penalty shot and Ribeiro scored two goals to lead the Stars to a 5-2 win over Vancouver on Tuesday that put Dallas in first place in the Pacific Division.

“Starting off with a penalty shot to warm up is never what you want to see as a goalie,” said the 24-year-old Salt Lake City native who faced Canucks rookie Zack Kassian on the penalty shot.

However the puck dribbled off the Canucks rookie’s stick.

“Once that was done it kind of helped settle me in and after the first period I really got comfortable,” Bachman said.

It was only his second start ahead of Kari Lehtonen in 17 games, and he remained poised even after giving up the game’s first goal in the second period.

“I guess I fooled you guys,” Bachman said when told he appeared pretty calm after he misplayed a shoot-in leading to another early chance by Henrik Sedin.

“In the first period I actually felt some jitters. It was the first NHL game I started in Canada. The atmosphere was amazing.”

The lack of recent playing time didn’t seem to faze Bachman, who improved to 8-3-1.

“You may not get too many more (starts),” he said after Dallas won for the seventh time in eight games. “It’s come ready and have fun with it.”

Ribeiro scored twice to give the Stars 2-1 and 4-2 leads. Loui Eriksson started the comeback late in the second period, Jamie Benn got what proved to be the winner and Stephane Robidas scored into an empty net.

Chris Higgins opened the scoring 26 minutes 45 seconds into what began as a tight-checking game.

Alex Edler drew the Canucks within a goal at 3-2 with a shot that deflected behind Bachman off a defender’s stick.

Dallas (36-26-5) swept a three-game Western Canada road trip and ended a string of five losses in Vancouver to continue a drive for a first Western Conference playoff berth since 2008.

The Canucks (41-18-8) lost ground in their bid for the NHL’s overall lead by dropping their second game in a row at home.

Vancouver also lost a second straight game in regulation for the first time since early November to fall a point behind St. Louis in the Western Conference.

The Stars capitalized on odd-man rushes and Vancouver defensive zone turnovers.

Ribeiro scored with 23 seconds remaining in the second period and less than three minutes after Eriksson counted his fifth goal in six games.

“We’ll take that,” Ribeiro said of the late goals.

“We won a lot of battles along the boards. We chipped the puck. They’re a team that likes to pinch and we were able to win those battles and create two-on-ones.

“Most of the time teams will break or make a mistake and you can score and we just stuck with it.”

Benn had several close calls around Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, but finally produced what proved to be the game-winner as

Dallas came from behind to beat Vancouver for the second straight game.

“I was just unlucky but it was good to get that one,” Benn said after Steve Ott created a Canucks turnover. “It was a big goal.”
Sedin, the former scoring champion who’s mired in a season-high six-game pointless drought, said the Canucks had plenty of chances but paid for defensive breakdowns.

“We made a few mistakes but had enough chances to win the game,” Sedin said after his club had 31 shots on Bachman. “The breakdowns we had turned into goals for them.

“There comes a time when creating chances isn’t good enough. You have to score goals to win games.”

The number of giveaways wasn’t lost on Luongo, who made 24 saves.

“Obviously that’s not the type of hockey we want to be playing,” he said. “Luckily they didn’t connect on most of them.

“A lot of their goals came from right around the goalmouth. I don’t know what to make of it.”

Daniel Sedin, who has only an assist in his past six games, said the Canucks need to stay positive.

“It’s tough when you lose and you’re not contributing,” he said. “We’ve done some things over the last few years and we can’t really panic, just keep working hard.”

Working hard has been the key to Dallas’s late-season run, Bachman said.

“Every guy looks the same out there. Everyone’s doing the little things, getting pucks deep. We’re getting timely goal-scoring from some of our big players.

“Everything’s kind of come together at the right time and the biggest thing is just hard work.”

Notes: The Stars lost Daley for most of the first period when Burrows fell on him during a goalmouth scrum. … Vancouver outscored the Stars 20-5 in winning all four games between the clubs last season. … Their four meetings this season are compressed into a 34-day period. … The Canucks play a franchise-record 11 home games in March.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)