Following a three-day break after a disappointing loss, the Dallas Stars delivered another surprisingly sub-par performance, running their season-high winless streak to four games as they lost 5-3 to the St. Louis Blues Thursday night at the ScottTrade Center. In the first of four straight contests against clubs that are out of the playoff picture, the Stars lost ground in the battle for post-season positioning. They remained 10 points back of Anaheim for the Pacific Division lead and one shy of San Jose for second in the division and fifth in the Western Conference. They also stayed tied with Calgary for sixth, while Minnesota, who beat Boston earlier Thursday, also tied them to create a three-team tie for spots 6-8. The Stars held at least one game in hand on all of the above clubs.
Dallas fell to 0-2-2 in their last four to that point, although the last two losses were the only ones in which they did not record a point in the standings in the previous nine. Even with the defeat, the Stars were still 7-3-3 over the last 13 contests at that point. Doug Weight scored two goals, Jay McClement had three assists and both Lee Stempniak and Eric Brewer had a goal and assist to lead the Blues' offense. For the Stars, Mike Modano inched ever closer to a looming milestone, scoring his 498th career goal, and added an assist, while Jere Lehtinen and Philippe Boucher also connected. Rookie Mike Smith took the loss in net, making 24 saves. The Stars' special teams did not come through for them, failing to cash in on two lengthy 5-on-3 power plays in the game, including one midway through the third period for 1:25 trailing 3-2. Dallas entered the night tied for first in the NHL with 13 goals while enjoying a two-man advantage, sporting a stellar 31.7 % conversion rate.
"The 5-on-3s came at key times in the game and we have to find ways to get goals," said Boucher, whose 12 power play goal leads the club and matched a franchise record for defensemen. "We talk about poise, well I wasn't as poised as I needed to be tonight. When we compete hard and set the tempo, we have a lot of success. When we don't match the opponent's intensity, games like tonight happen. We have to tighten up and play how we know we can play." Overall on the man-advantage, Dallas went 1-for-6, although the goal came with just 12 seconds remaining in a game that was already decided. Even with that one, the Stars are a feeble 2-for-18 over the previous four games.
Meanwhile, Dallas surrendered a power play goal to the Blues, whose PP unit is ranked 29th out of 30 NHL teams. They also got behind early for the second straight game and were constantly chasing it. "We have to compete and find players who are willing to compete," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Some guys are competing hard but some are not where we need them to be. We are going to play the guys who want to compete. Soft skill isn't going to cut it this time of year and needless to say, I'm very frustrated right now."
With the Stars struggling offensively lately, entering the contest with just three goals in the previous three outings, Tippett shuffled around the forward lines. Among the new combinations was Modano centering rookies Loui Eriksson and Chris Conner, who was just recalled from the minors Thursday, and that unit accounted for their first goal. "Mo played his best game in a while and I thought Loui and Conner were excellent," Tippett said.
With all the trouble the Dallas Stars had been having scoring goals recently, it seemed like it might take a shutout for them to win, and Marty Turco delivered just that. Stopping all 30 shots he faced, Turco led the Stars to a 3-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets Friday night at Nationwide Arena. It was Turco's 30th win of the season, the fourth straight season that he has reached that milestone, and snapped the Stars' season-high four-game losing streak. After going 0-2-2 in their previous four and scoring only six goals over that span, the Stars picked up some much-needed points in the ongoing race for post-season positioning.
Dallas moved ahead of San Jose for second place in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference, and to within eight points of Anaheim for the division lead, at least temporarily (both clubs played later Friday night). They also managed to stay just ahead of Minnesota and Calgary, each of whom are within two points of Dallas in spots seven and eight. Columbus entered the night on a three-game winning streak, started by their 3-2 shootout victory over the Stars one week earlier at the American Airlines Center. Since then the Blue Jackets hadn't lost and the Stars hadn't won, but Dallas was able to reverse the trend. The Stars were led offensively by defensemen Sergei Zubov, who scored a goal and an assist, and Philippe Boucher, who contributed two assists. Niklas Hagman and Mike Ribeiro also scored.
But Turco was their best player, turning aside several excellent Columbus scoring chances and keeping them off the board early until the Stars regained their footing. "This was the best I have felt in a long time," Turco said. "I was seeing the puck well and our D played really well in front of me. A lot of times, early action like I saw tonight gets you into a rhythm. We knew we were facing a huge test tonight so the shutout is nice, but the win is even better." Another key for the Stars was the renewed success of their special teams, which had let them down the past couple of games. This time, Dallas connected twice on the power play, including the crucial first goal of the contest, and their penalty killing had a perfect outing, overcoming all three Columbus man-advantage opportunities.
"Marty was excellent tonight and made some great saves early," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We played a solid team game, we had excellent special teams and we have to build on this one. We are obviously better when we aren't chasing, and we know we need to play hard on the puck and win battles. We did that tonight and played very soundly."
The Stars had to overcome an outstanding game at the other end by Columbus goaltender Fredrik Norrena, who entered the night 2-0-0 against the Stars this season with a 1.44 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. Norrena made 28 saves, many of them difficult ones. "When we get challenged, whether it is from our coaches or the other team, we have shown we are capable of responding," said Boucher, whose two assists helped him set a career-high in points. "We have to bring our A game' every night. Marty was great tonight. You see lots of ice packs lately and we showed a lot of heart and sacrifice tonight."
After collecting two goals in his previous three games, Mike Modano had another impressive showing, once again skating on a line with rookies Chris Conner and Loui Eriksson. After scoring just once in the first 13 games since his return to the lineup while still battling the nagging hip muscle injury that caused him to miss 23 earlier this season, Modano finally seems back like his past self lately. Despite not scoring, he played a determined game in his quest for 500 career goals, leading the Stars with four shots on goal. He remained at 498, tied with Glenn Anderson for 39th in NHL history and four behind Joe Mullen for the most among American-born players.
It could have been a highlight film from five years ago, watching Mike Modano pick up the puck at center ice and fly into the opponents' zone and unleash a wicked snap shot to score a big goal. But it wasn't a highlight, it was Modano scoring his 499th career goal 35 seconds into overtime to lead the Dallas Stars to a dramatic 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings Sunday afternoon at the American Airlines Center. It was Modano's third goal in his last five games, and leaves him in 39th place on the NHL's all-time list of goal scorers. He is also now just three behind Joe Mullen's record for American-born players.
Despite surrendering the first goal of the game for the fifth time in their last six games, the Stars rebounded to win their second straight, and keep pace with the three other teams (Minnesota, San Jose, Calgary) in spots 5-8 in the Western Conference that entered the day separated by just one point. Dallas is now 14-5-4 in their last 23 contests and 9-2-2 in the last 13 home games. It was the fifth time in the past eight games the Stars needed extra time to decide things, and the sixth in the last 10.
"It was one of those games where a lot of stuff happens, some good and some bad," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We're fortunate to get the last good." The Stars have dominated the season series between the clubs this season, winning all seven meetings by a combined score of 26-14.
After shutting out Columbus Friday night, Marty Turco was solid in goal again, making 18 saves, while the Dallas offense was led by regulation goals from Ladislav Nagy, Trevor Daley and Niklas Hagman. Sergei Zubov added three assists and Jussi Jokinen contributed two. The Finnish Line of Jokinen, Hagman and Jere Lehtinen were especially creative, seemingly generating scoring chances every time on the ice. "Pretty hard not to be pleased with them tonight," Tippett said. "They were the best line on the ice tonight by a wide margin. They mesh well and have similar habits."
"I enjoy playing with Hagman and Jere," said Jokinen, who was +2 and had three shots on goal. "They are great players and it makes it easier to have some guys who speak my language."
On the first shift of OT, Modano took a pass from Zubov at center, raced across the blue line with the puck, cut across the top of the face-off circles and ripped a quick snap shot that beat LA goaltender Sean Burke over the shoulder for the win.
"It was a good play and it took me a second or two to get it to my forehand," Modano said. "I was just holding my stride a little bit to create some space, let them back off a bit, and that gave me a second." Modano has looked a lot more like his former self, after struggling a bit when he first returned from the hip muscle injury that cost him 23 games and limited his effectiveness for the first 10 games back, in which he scored just one goal and three points. Now that the injury is finally healed, his speed and skating game have come back. "I felt good out there," Modano said. "It feels as good as it has in a long time, back to where it was before the injury, so that's a good sign. That gives me a little bit of confidence to get up and down the ice better and make some things happen."
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