‘I wouldn’t have wanted to play against us’

The Dallas Stars came back from the Olympic break with a bang, beating the Seattle Kraken 4-1 on Wednesday.

Forward Matt Duchene credited the team’s sharpness after a long break to good practice going into the game with Seattle.

“I thought we played really well. I think we had some really good practices before and, really, they got us to get right back in the swing of things,” Duchene said Thursday on The Sweet Spot on 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket (KTCK-AM). “Usually there’s a little bit of rust and stuff there (after a break), but I thought we were as crisp as we’ve been all year.”

Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) skates towards goal during the second period of an...

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Duchene attributed the Stars’ success to their ability to focus on the little things.

“When you come back, everyone talks about the details and the little parts of the game. The team that usually gets to those things the best wins those games,” Duchene said. “We talked about it, our coaching staff talked about it, and I think we had a pretty clear idea of what gave us the success before the break and I think it was on everyone’s mind, coming back into last night, and I think we got right to it.”

We did a lot of those things, whether it’s physicality or good defensive play, I thought we were unbelievable defensively last night and I thought we broke a puck out really well. I wouldn’t have wanted to play against us last night, and I think we kind of really took the wind of their sails early and often in that game.”

Duchene and the Stars return to action Saturday night when they take on the Nashville Predators at the American Airlines Center.

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