Kings-Stars: Michal Handzus with the Hat Trick

Tonight's game was one of the stranger affairs I've seen in awhile, but hey, it was the Stars vs. Kings.  If you managed to watch past the first period, it was a very exciting game. 

The first period was very slow and lethargic.  It appeared as though neither team was there to play.  The Kings outshot the Stars 10 to six, but there wasn't a whole lot of excitement or good puck movement. 

I wish there was something good to say about the first period, but I have to be honest, I was more entertained by the rerun of House that was on at the same time.

The second period was a lot better.  The Stars came out firing with three goals in less than seven minutes.  Once again, it looked as if the Kings were packing it in for tonight's game. 

Dallas dominated play during that time and the Kings could barely get into the Stars' zone.  It wasn't until 15:41 into the period that Handzus started his night.  He scored his first goal of the game followed by Frolov 34 seconds later. 

It looked as if they would tie the game before the end of the period.  The stars came back with a goal that looked reminiscent of Roman Chekmonov.  That was the goal that Ersberg should have stopped.

Ott scored after Ersberg lost the sight of the puck.  In his defense those leg pads are pretty big.

The third wasn't much better until the end, when the Stars self-destructed and Handzus scored his second of the night on the two-man advantage. Then in the hockey equivalent of the Hail Mary, Anze Kopitar tied the game with 13 seconds left.

Flash Forward to overtime and guess who! Michal Handzus finishes his hat trick and the Dallas Stars. 

This was an extreme performance from a player who many had written off after last year. He battled through the injury bug last year and is living up to his contract this year. 

He isn't going to score 30 goals a year, and he's not going to be in the top ten for points. But what he does bring is strong two way play, and a great ability in the face off circle. In fact, you have to go back to Dec. 23 of 2000 to find his last hat trick.

He was playing for St. Louis at the time and it came against Anaheim.

This game was entertaining from the start of the second period until the end of overtime. Granted, the only reason the Kings were able to pull this out was the stupidity of Turco, and Fistric.

You can almost understand the youngster Fistric taking the stupid penalty, but Turco?  You would think a veteran goalie would know better.

This is the second dramatic late comeback against the Stars. Remember Nov. 10, 2007? 

This one wasn't quite as dramatic but it still was an exciting and crazy ending to what otherwise was a pretty outstanding performance from Marty Turco.  Also give credit to Joh Quick.

I know it didn't seem like he did anything (he only faced four shots total), but imagine how hard it is to come into a game in the third period with no warm-up and see little to no action during the third period, only to come up with the big save in overtime. 

My three stars are: No. 3. Anze Kopitar; No. 2 Alex Frolov; No. 1 Michal Handzus.  Who are yours?