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."
After two big wins in a three-day period in California, the Dallas Stars can truly say they love S.J.,. Krys Barch scored his first NHL goal, fellow rookie Joel Lundqvist had a goal and an assist, and the Stars overcame yet another injury to post an impressive 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night February 1st at HP Pavilion. The win completed the short two-game miniseries sweep in San Jose and moved Dallas to within three points of the second-place Sharks in the Pacific Division. The Stars were also three points behind San Jose for fifth place in the Western Conference. Dallas stunned the Sharks with a come-from-behind 3-2 shootout win on Tuesday January 30th.
In what is becoming a regular occurrence this season, the Dallas Stars rebounded from a two-goal first period deficit to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 Tuesday night February, 6th at the American Airlines Center. In Dave Tippett's 300th game as a head coach with the Stars, their power play unit connected for two goals on five attempts, and four different players found the back of the net for Dallas. Philippe Boucher, Mike Modano, Sergei Zubov and Stu Barnes each scored goals, with Zubov snapping a 2-2 tie with just 4:41 remaining in the third period. "We have to score by committee, it's good to see different guys getting on the board," Tippett said. "If we get four, we're usually going to get the win."
Dallas Stars rookie goaltender Mike Smith doesn't quite remember the last goal scored against him, although that is probably more due to the fact that it came after he was hit in the face mask with a shot and suffered a concussion that caused him to miss six games. A clear-headed Smith made his first start in over a month and stopped 32 saves to shut out the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks, leading the Stars to a 1-0 victory Saturday afternoon February the 10th at the American Airlines Center. It was Smith's third whitewash of the season, coming in his first start since that Jan. 4 game in Edmonton that he left after two periods due to injury. After relieving Marty Turco in the first period of the Tuesday February 6th 4-2 win over Minnesota, Smith stopped 47 consecutive shots on the Dallas net. The win gave the Stars a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 and pulled them to within six points of Anaheim for the division lead, and to within three points of San Jose for second in the division and fifth in the Western Conference.
Who said the Dallas Stars can't score? Jeff Halpern had a goal and two assists, Jere Lehtinen and Philippe Boucher each added a goal and an assist, and the Stars scored a season-high seven goals in an electrifying 7-5 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday afternoon February 11th at American Airlines Center before a national television audience. Trevor Daley, Stu Barnes, Niklas Hagman and Joel Lundqvist also scored for a surging Stars team that came into the game with the fifth fewest goals scored in the league. Dallas won its third straight, and eighth of its last 11. The Stars also beat Colorado for the seventh straight time, sending the Avalanche to their sixth loss in their last eight games.
The San Jose Sharks were just the tonic Marty Turco needed to get back on track. The Dallas Stars, behind goaltender Turco's 17 saves and two goals from Mike Ribeiro, defeated the Sharks 5-2 Sunday afternoon february 18th at the American Airlines Center to pull to within one point of San Jose for second in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference standings. "Teams are pushing behind us and we're pushing ahead of us," Ribeiro said. "It's important to keep pushing to go up in the standings and work for it. I think we played more of the game with the puck than without the puck.
If they can play like this down the stretch and into the playoffs, the other teams in the Western Conference better start to worry about the Dallas Stars. In one of their most dominating and complete efforts this season, the Stars delivered an impressive performance in defeating the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks 4-1 Friday night February 23rd at the American Airlines Center. The victory pulled the Stars to within five points of the Ducks, the West's second seed, and to within three of San Jose for second in the Pacific and fifth in the Western Conference and showed that they could match up well with the NHL's best. The fact that the Stars hold two games in hand on Anaheim provides them the opportunity to get even closer if they can win those extra games. The Stars were 10-4-1 in their last 15 and 7-1-1 in their last nine at the American Airlines Center.
For 59 and a half minutes of regulation, it seemed as if the Dallas Stars would be victimized by a hot goaltender, but fortunately for the Dallas Stars, regulation is 60 minutes. Philippe Boucher finally beat Vancouver All-Star Roberto Luongo with just 28.3 seconds left in the third period and then Jere Lehtinen scored in overtime as the Stars defeated the Canucks 2-1 in overtime Sunday afternoon February 25th at the American Airlines Center. With two power play goals against the NHL's top-ranked penalty-killing unit, including one with goaltender Marty Turco on the bench for an extra attacker, the Stars came back in dramatic fashion to walk away with an improbable two points. In an important Western Conference matchup that was a possible preview of a first-round playoff series, the Stars came back to defeat the Northwest Division leaders who were one of the hottest teams in the NHL, riding a six-game winning streak. "If we face them in the playoffs with the goaltending they have and the goaltending we have, you will see a lot of games like that," Boucher said after the fourth 2-1 game between the two clubs this season.
While waiting for one new player to arrive, the Dallas Stars received a major contribution from a newbie already on board. Hours after general manager Doug Armstrong plucked solid defenseman and Los Angeles Kings captain Mattias Norstrom in a trade deadline deal, another recent trade acquisition, Ladislav Nagy, scored 95 seconds into overtime to lift Dallas to a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night at the St. Pete Times Forum. Nagy, picked up from Phoenix in an exchange 14 days ago, scored his second goal in his sixth game as a Star to put Dallas into sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division. They are now five points behind first place Anaheim, and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. It was the second consecutive win for Dallas in the extra session.
The Phoenix Coyotes continued their hot streak by closing out their six-game road trip with another win, as they downed the Dallas Stars, 5-2, on Tuesday night January the 9th at American Airlines Center. It was the seventh win in a row for Phoenix. Dallas was a step slow for much of the game and Phoenix played a solid 60 minutes to earn the win. "For whatever reason, we weren't emotionally engaged in the game and if you do that, you are going to be behind," said Stars Head Coach Dave Tippett. "You have to muster up something no matter what you're feeling.
A two-minute blitz by the Western Conference-leading Anaheim Ducks had the Dallas Stars wobbling. Teemu Selanne knocked them out. Selanne registered his 19th career hat trick -- including scoring two power-play goals -- and the Ducks scored three goals in a 2:10 span late in the second period to snap a tie and earn a 5-1 victory over the Stars on Thursday night January 11th at American Airlines Center. The news got even worse after the game when Stars coach Dave Tippett said defenseman Sergei Zubov will miss the next couple of weeks because of an upper body injury that is required surgery.
After perhaps their most difficult stretch of the season, the Stars got back on track with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in a special matinee matchup for Martin Luther King Day Monday at the American Airlines Center. The Stars snapped their three-game losing streak while continuing their season-long mastery of Los Angeles, winning their sixth game of the season against them. In the third game of a four-game homestand, Dallas rebounded from two of their most lopsided losses of the season with a convincing victory that was a complete team effort. "Those are valuable points right there," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "I thought our whole team stepped up. Our guys worked hard and I thought they brought that work ethic on the ice.
For Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars, seven turned out to be a lucky number. Turco made 18 saves and Jere Lehtinen scored twice to help the ####ed-up Stars hold on to defeat the Calgary Flames, 4-2, on a wintry Wednesday night at American Airlines Center on January 17th. Despite missing seven regulars, the Stars were able to help Turco garner his 160th career win, tying him with Ed Belfour for the most all-time victories in franchise history. Belfour originally set the mark when he toiled in Dallas from 1997-2002. The Stars beat Calgary for the sixth time in the last seven meetings in Dallas, and won two straight overall to open a five-point cushion over the Flames for sixth place in the Western Conference. They also finished their four-game homestand with a 2-2 mark.
Is it too early to talk about this? Is it politically correct? Who wants fifth? If your fifth you are going to have to play a tougher fourth seeded team in the first playoff round. If your sixth, you get an easier opponent, albeit the Northwest Division winner, even if it is a third seed.
It was only fitting that on Hockey Day in Minnesota, in the Dallas Stars' 1000th regular season game since moving from Minnesota in 1993, the Stars returned to their former home and defeated the hometown Wild 2-1 in a shootout Saturday night January 20th at the Excel Energy Center. In the final game before the NHL All-Stars converge on Dallas, goaltender Marty Turco made 25 saves and Stu Barnes scored the deciding goal in the longest shootout in club history to lead the injury-depleted Stars to their third straight triumph after three losses in a row last week. Turco, who has started 13 of the Stars' last 14 games, won his 161st career game, all with Dallas, to pass Ed Belfour as the franchise's all-time winningest goaltender. He made several key saves late in the third period with the score tied 1-1 and then denied seven Minnesota players in the shootout, including a diving poke-check to derail Pascal Dupuis' attempt in the ninth round to secure the victory. "What a great game to go into the break," said Turco, who was one of two Dallas representatives in Wednesday's All-Star Game.
I really wanted to go to this game. As it turned out I had an interview in Minneapolis on Friday morning before the game. But the hotel expense to go to that wouldn't allow me to stay another couple of nights to see the game. Oh well, they'll be back in Minnesota. Call me selfish, but that's one of the reasons i would like to see the Pittsburgh Penquins in Kansas City too. It would give me more opportunities to see my Stars.
There was an all-star game? On the 24th? Who knew? All I heard anyone talk about was fancy hi-tech uniforms.
In one of the most exciting regular season games ever played at the American Airlines Center, superstar Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to tie the game in the third period and defeat the Dallas Stars 4-3 in a shootout Friday night. In the Penguins' first visit to Dallas in almost four years, Crosby, the 19-year-old center who leads the NHL in scoring but failed to register a point in Wednesday night's All-Star Game here, earned two assists. And on a team loaded with young talent, it was veteran winger Mark Recchi who stole the spotlight with two goals, including the 500th of his career, which tied the game 3-3 with 8:01 remaining in the third period. Dallas had its three-game winning streak snapped, falling to 5-2 in the shootout this year and to 17-3 over the past two years since the new tie-breaking formula was introduced. "A lot of excitement," said Stars coach Dave Tippett of the game.
Seven shootouts. Excuse me for being a party ####. But what would happen if they played a five minute period of three on three hockey before going to the shootout? Wouldn't that be cool? If not, let me hear it. Am I stupid?
With a chance to make up some ground with three games against the two teams ahead of them in the Pacific Division, the Stars stumbled in the first test, dropping a 4-1 decision to the Anaheim Ducks Sunday afternoon at the Honda Center. In a nationally-televised game on NBC, the Stars lost for the first time in regulation in their last five games, and now trail the division-leading Ducks by 10 points. Dallas now faces San Jose, six points ahead in the standings, for two road straight games. Down two goals for most of the game, the Stars clawed their way back into the game to make it 2-1 on Jere Lehtinen's penalty shot goal midway through the third period. But Anaheim rebounded with two more goals in the next two and a half minutes to take a commanding 4-1 lead and put the game out of reach.
Most Interesting Blog, June 16, 2008 and six other occasions. Lisa awarded him Best "breaking news" blogger March 31, 2008. Blog of The Day, Christmas Day, 2007. edhardiman wrote, "Falco's tribute to Rocket Richard reminds us all the stars of today stand on the shoulders of giants..." October 23, 2007. Three Golden Swirrly p00p Awards (Hockey, NASCAR and Use of Graphics), FlyingPig, July 18, 2007. 2007 Memorial Day Weekend Trifecta sponsored by williamwilman . Featured on WFORacingFans April, 2007. "Stylin'" award, Dusty, February 07. "One of ten new bloggers to watch" Dudski, January 2007.
