This three-game road trip to California to close out the year is not exactly riveting television for Dallas Stars fans. You’d be forgiven for taking a pass on what promised to be low-event, low-stakes (for the Stars) hockey in order to get some sleep. Staying up until midnight to watch Ken Hitchcock hockey after being eliminated from the playoffs is not a great marketing pitch, in other words.
But human beings are creatures who look for narrative, and Tuesday night offered a couple of pretty sweet moments near the end of a tough season.
The Stars are 24-16-4 with Gemel Smith in the lineup this year, but his game-tying tally late in the third period was probably his biggest moment of the season on an individual level.