Monday Links: Reading The Intensity Meter

Does this team go to 11? They’re gonna have to, writes Heika. Plus, the Coyotes’ new home, another coaching shake-up in Edmonton, and more.

The Dallas Stars just respect the Colorado Avalanche too much, apparently. Yes, the same team that sent Nathan MacKinnon home with that look on his face in 2020 was frozen by the sheer quality of their Central Division rivals on Sunday.

But can they turn up the pressure on Tuesday in Denver? That’s the question, writes Stars senior staff writer Mike Heika:

Colorado was far from dominant Sunday in a 4-0 victory, but it never seemed in trouble. It took a 2-0 lead in the first period and never looked back

That was a disappointing outcome on the surface but was even more upsetting when you consider the Stars didn’t have the playoff intensity that was expected.

The absence of a consummate power-play quarterback, the injured John Klingberg, didn’t help matters during Sunday’s matinee. But the Stars have plenty of guys who can step up, and it’s increasingly important that they do, Heika writes:

…Colorado is really good. The Avalanche is one of the best offensive teams in the league and also played great team defense on Sunday, so this is a huge challenge. But it’s a challenge the team will have to meet if it wants to have success this season.

“You’ve got to think you’re going to be seeing this team at some point if you’re going to go on a run,” [Joe] Pavelski said. “It’s a good team, and we’ve had success against them at times. If we have to see them in the playoffs, we’ll have to do the job.”

There’s more at Mike’s place. [Dallas Stars]

---

Stars Stuff

Matthew DeFranks reminds you that the Avs are actually a really, really good team.

Well, you heard it here.

Around The Leagues

The rest of the Central Division took Sunday night off, probably so they could watch the Super Bowl. Let’s cut to the rest of the headlines….

The Arizona Coyotes’ bad romance with the City of Glendale is over, but it looks as if they plan to stay in the Valley of the Sun for a while. [Arizona Republic]

Martin St. Louis takes the Montreal Canadiens’ reins, the Edmonton Oilers have yet another new bench boss of their own, and the Stars…were thinking about it, apparently.

Claude Julien is back behind the bench for Team Canada in Beijing.

The women of Team Canada have punched their ticket to the gold-medal final. They’ll play the winner of today’s USA-Finland matchup.

And yeah, Jaromir Jagr told you so.

Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park

Is it contagious? The Texas Stars gave up a lead, and a loss, to the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night.

They lost the first half of the weekend Friday night, despite scoring two power-play goals.

Finally

Sunday night was Luke Glendening’s 600th NHL game. Raise your glass.