Olympic Break

While I'm sitting here watching USA play Norway in Olympic play, I figured I'll finally recap the Stars' last game before the break. Dallas shut out Phoenix 3-0, and not to play the part of the broken record, but wow Marty Turco dazzled again. As John pointed out, he's really up-ing his trade value, so we can only wait and see what will happen after the break and the rosters un-freeze. Trading for a new goalie could be the best idea we've ever had, although now it's hard to imagine getting rid of a guy playing at this level. As for the actual game, I don't have much to say since I didn't catch most of it (Got the start time wrong so I didn't think I needed to record it...my bad) I do know James Neal knocked a guy out of the game from a hit into the boards. Krys Barch is getting better at fighting; he had two in the game, the second of which I saw. The guy he fought seems like a real goon due to the showboating he does after his fights, but Barch silenced him. In case you missed it. Round 1 Round 2 Dallas is now tied with Detroit for 9th place in the Western Conference with 68 points (one shy of 8th) Considering how bad this team has looked at times and the injuries they've had, you can't ask for much more. Then again maybe you could ask for one or two of those OT/Shout-out loses to be changed to wins, and then we'd be in as of now. We control our destiny, let's see where we go. There are plenty of home games left, so make sure you get out to a few more games before the season's over. For the majority of March we play, have a day off, then play again. I've got a good feeling they could make things interesting. Until next time, go Stars and go USA!

A Win On The Road?

Dallas takes down Calgary 3-1 as Marty Turco continues to shine, playing as if he's the only goalie in Big D (when really he's one out of three) Turco stopped every shot the Flames had (their one point came from a Brenden Morrow own goal). Otherwise, despite not really showing up till the third period, the Stars dominated this game. Mike Ribeiro proved again that he's one of the craftiest players in the league, scoring yet another "Did you see that?" goal. Jamie Benn gave us some insurance, and then it got interesting. Calgary was set to close out the game with a two man advantage (Dallas penalty and pulled goalie) but the Stars were falling to block shots and Turco kept making saves. Jarome Iginla took a shot from the corner which got behind Turco, causing the Flames to celebrate and act like they tied it up, but after review the puck never crossed the line. Ribeiro hit the nail in the coffin by scoring off a face-off into the empty net with ten seconds left. I love how easily games can turn around; during the first half of the contest I was sitting there bored out of my mind and frustrated with the team's lackluster performance, but then after Ribs first goal, the whole team changed. That's probably why I don't write these during the course of the game, because had I, I would have had to backspace quite a bit. Last game before the Olympic break is tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes (seems like every other game is against these guys). I encourage everyone to watch some Olympic hockey and cheer on Team USA. Canada and Russia have great rosters, but I really think USA could surprise some folks, eh? I'm still not a fan of taking the All-Stars and putting them together, but the days of taking the non-NHLers and keeping them together for the team are long gone.

Quite A Bit For One Night

Where to begin. I'll start off with the score: Dallas 3 Chicago 4 after a 5 round shoot-out. Marty Turco got the start yet again in net, and you can't blame this loss on him. If a goalie can stop the first three attempts (in this case the first four) you should be able to get at least one to back him up/win it. This wasn't the case, as the closest we came was James Neal hitting the post yet again. I caught most of this game, only missing a bit for Lost, but no where in it did it feel as if the Stars were really in any sort of control, which speaks volumes for how big this point was to get. The second would be nice, but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day. I'd like to go ahead and welcome Mike Ribeiro back to the line up; he payed dividends right away, scoring the games' first goal. I'm proud of how the Stars never rolled over, which I was quite worried about after they fell behind 3-2, but they kept chugging along and finally tied it late to get one point in the standings. Turco had their backs, coming up huge save after save including a stellar diving stop on a break away. Sadly, it seems like his days in Dallas are numbered, as midway through the game FSN announced the Stars traded their fourth-round draft pick and defensman Ivan Vishnevskiy for Atlanta's Kari Lehtonen. All around this is a good move for the club, as we probably wouldn't use Vishnevskiy much (he's more about offense which would fit well with the new system but in the long run we need some guys to keep the puck out of our net) and like what was mentioned on the broadcast, anything after I believe it was the third round in the draft is pretty uncertain. (I know there are diamonds in the rough, but hitting on them is extremely hit or miss, especially in hockey. Most people think of it like football...choosing players from the colleges in the US, but keep in mind, hockey is global). I can't see them moving Auld due to what we would get in return (meaning not much) so the only choice is getting rid of Turco. I hope we at least get some good value back, because we will be giving up a solid goaltender. Let's hope Lehtonen can stay healthy since he's had some back issues in the past. Dallas next plays Calgary Thursday night

In other player news, we get Ribeiro back but lose Steve Ott and Mark Fistric. Ott had an emergency appendectomy and Fistric is having knee surgery. Ott should return after the break, and Fistric's return is in question.

Howlin' Good Game

Dallas finally takes down Phoenix 4-0 as Marty Turco continues to be a dominant force between the pipes. Jamie Benn scored twice, James Neal opened up the scoring, and Loui-Loui Ericksson netted a shorthanded goal. It was nice to see the Stars cool off the red hot Coyotes (stopped their 6 game winning streak) and get two points closer to the playoffs. The real test now is leaving the AAC and playing the last games before the Olympic Break on the road, starting tonight in Chicago. Can the resurgence of Turco be enough to close out the break on a high note? We'll find out tonight against a great Blackhawks team. I apologize for the shortness of the post, busy week.

Hitch In The Road

Well shut-outs are pretty easy to recap, so this will be just a slight step above. Stars lose 2-1, but if you take out essentially the last minute it was 1-0. Steve Mason brought his A game, most likely trying to impress interim coach Claude Noel. Marty Turco was back in net (Crawford is sticking with his "riding the hot hand" plan) and, despite the loss, had a great game. The one goal he did allow was due to a pretty bad screen, and the other goal was when he was on the bench with the extra attacker. From a Dallas point of view, the empty netter stung since there were two Stars on Umberger, and despite taking him down, he still scored from on the ground. Brad Richards scored at the very end, but it was too little too late. Is it too much to ask for a road win? We're now 1-10-2 in the last 13 games away from the AAC. We get another shot at Tippett's Coyotes on Saturday, should be interesting to see who's in net.

One last thought...who besides me can't stand the fact that the Capitals have won 12 games in a row, yet we can't get more than back to back wins?

Wild and Crazy

Minnesota's backup goaltender Wade Dubielewicz must be a fan of Lost, because his mind was clearly in 1977 instead of 2010. Dallas wins this contest 4-2 with Marty Turco making a season-high 40 saves in his first start since January 24th. I know I've been hard on Turco this season, going on record as saying Auld should be starting. Don't get me wrong, I love Marty as a person, but (and this goes to any and every athlete) if you're getting paid millions of dollars to play a sport, you better perform pretty darn good. And that is exactly number 35 did in this game. He came up big when his team needed him, and equally important the team helped him out when he needed them. The third and fourth goal for the Stars came within the same minute of the Wild goals. If that isn't responding, I don't know what is. Mike Modano must have found the fountain of youth up in Montreal, since his scoring frenzy continued with another tally. Steve Ott fought Cal Clutterbuck not once, but twice both in the first and second period. (He totally won both rounds) The second altercation was for Clutterbuck's clean but not cool hit on Brad Richards. The Stars are starting to play with some swagger, but that will be put to the test on Thursday on the road against the now Ken Hitchcock-less Columbus Blue Jackets.

Howling Loss

Today's lucky number is 3. And by lucky, I mean unlucky. Stars fail again to grab the big third win in a row, and they missed the mark in their third attempt to topple Dave Tippett's new team. For those keeping score at home, his new soldiers have won 3 times, and we haven't won once. We didn't play horrible...but definitely not worthy of a win. Auld made some big saves that kept the game from getting too out of hand, but our offense hit a dry spell. Based on how up and down the team has been, I really can't picture them finishing higher than 7th in the West. This could easily change considering how cluttered spots 7-14 are (separated by 10 points) I fully expect the Coyotes and Kings to tail off in the second half, so that there could potentially open up two more spots (Dallas would be in) but regardless, being positioned at the bottom of the group isn't in our best interest, considering how poorly we play on the road, which is where most of the games would be played. I guess I'm wrapping this post up since I fell asleep during the middle of it and completely lost my train of thought.

Former Stars:
-Niklas Hagman was traded from Toronto to Calgary.
-Chris Conner landed with the Pittsburgh Penguins and had two goals the other day.