Final

Dallas 1 - Chicago 4

10 seconds. That's all the Chicago Blackhawks needed to put Stars in a bind. 1 minute 42 seconds. That's all the Blackhawks needed to put the Stars away. A ridiculously quick start from Chicago in this game just killed Dallas and they could never recover from it.

The Stars were playing tentative all night in what should have been one of the most important games of the season. Plain and simple, this was an emotionless no-show from this team. They were whipped up and down the ice, especially in the first and third periods. Dallas couldn't get pressure on the net and couldn't keep the Hawks away from their own net. Turnovers plagued the team once again and led to both of the goals in the third period for Chicago.

The fans filled the barn and were ready to cheer the team on but they were taken out of it quickly and were never given an opportunity or reason to get into the game. It's frustratingly disappointing  to see the Stars just not play with any fire. Jamie Benn would score the only Stars goal late in the third period off of a Blackhawks turnover. Steve Ott fed a beautiful pass between the legs of a couple of defenders to Benn right in front of the net. Benn would roof the puck for the Stars only goal.

Kari Lehtonen had a troublesome game, one of his worst of the season, but he didn't get any help from his defensemen either as they kept turning the puck over. When Dallas actually did manage to get some pressure on Corey Crawford, he was more than able to stop the puck.

The Stars still sit in third place in the West but only hold a two point lead over the Phoenix Coyotes. Dallas' next game just happens to be against them on Tuesday.

more after the jump

Chicago Blackhawks (38-25-8, 84 pts) @ Dallas Stars (39-27-5, 83 pts)

8:30 PM ET, March 16, 2012

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

There's been tougher matchups and more grueling games, but tonight is the true indicator of what this Stars team is made of. Tonight is the bounce back game, the game where the Stars need to show that they are truly resilient to make the playoffs. Dallas was blown of the water in the 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. The Stars just looked tired on the second night of a back-to-back and couldn't keep up with a Jets team that is on steroids on home ice.

The last time Dallas lost a game was to the Pittsuburgh Penguins in a shootout. Dallas rebounded to win six games in a row after that one. This bounceback game is infinitely tougher though because the playoff race is as close as ever. The Stars only hold a tenuous two point lead over the Phoenix Coyotes for the division lead and are only three points away from dropping out of the playoff picture. Dallas sits one point behind the Blackhawks and currently hold a tiebreaker over them. Each team has 33 regulation+overtime wins and Dallas currently holds the season series. To say tonight's game has massive consequences would be, well, a massive understatement.

The game tonight is the start of a four game homestand for the Stars in which they'll play the Blackhawks, Coyotes, Canucks and Flames. The Stars have a huge opportunity to put ground between them and the other teams fighting for a playoff spot and must take advantage of it. They need to come out energetic tonight and take it to a Chicago team that is missing Jonathan Toews. Take advantage of their shaky defense and for the love of God please don't take too many penalties.

Dallas also needs to be wary of the speed of Chicago. The Stars were burned by how quickly the Jets skated and moved the puck in the last game and guys like Patrick Kane and Marion Hossa can do the same thing. Dallas has done a good job holding them quiet so far this season (Kane has two assists and Hossa has one goal and one assist) and need to do so again tonight.

Kari Lehtonen returns into net tonight. He started the first game between these two teams, a 2-1 win for the Stars. Chicago faced Andrew Raycroft and Richard Bachman in the subsequent games so the Hawks haven't seen Lehtonen since the first game of the year. Kari stopped 37 of 38 shots and was the first star of the game.

Dallas will be without the services of Sheldon Souray (lower body) and Radek Dvorak (ankle) again. Philip Larsen left the last game with a against the Jets with what looked like a knee injury and he's questionable for tonight. If he can't go, it looks like Jordie Benn would get some ice time.

Notes and thoughts:

• Dallas is 20-12-3 at home this season.

• The penalty kill finally had a hiccup in the game against the Jets, allowing a power play goal for the first time in nine games. Dallas is 26 of 27 on the PK in that stretch.

• Michael Ryder still sits one goal away from his career high. Jamie Benn is still one point away from setting a new career high.

• Dallas really really needs to win this one to keep ahead of the Blackhawks in case a tiebreaker situation comes up. As stated before, both teams have 33 regulation and overtime wins as of today and Dallas holds the season series right now at 2-1. If nothing else, Dallas needs to keep the head to head series over them.

• Lehtonen has won five straight games and is coming off back-to-back shutouts. He's allowed only six goals in those five games and has stopped 146 of 152 shots.

• The one thing that Dallas has done to this Blackhawks team is hit them. The Stars have outhit the Hawks 110-51 in the three games this year. Getting physical is a good way to deal with skaters like Kane and Hossa. Just stay in front of them.

more after the jump

Dallas Stars (39-26-5, 83 pts) @ Winnipeg Jets (32-29-8, 72 pts)

7:30 PM CT, March 14, 2012

MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The Stars just keep on rolling through their March schedule. They beat the Minnesota Wild last night to get to a season high six game winning streak and have now gotten 21 of a possible 22 points in the last 11 games.

Dallas has a tough test tonight though as they take on the Winnipeg Jets on the backend of a back-to-back, something that Dallas has really struggled with this season. The Stars are 1-9-1 on second nights but they are so hot right now that it probably doesn't even matter. The only win for the Stars in this situation (4-1 over the Wild) came in game three of this amazing points streak for the Stars. They get another chance tonight to gain some room against the other Pacific Division teams with a very winnable game.

Richard Bachman should be getting the start tonight so that Kari Lehtonen can be fresh for a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Bachman's last game was a 5-2 win on the road over the Vancouver Canucks. He's been great on the road this year, beating the Canucks, Blackhawks and New York Rangers. A tough road venue won't get to Bachman's head.

Dallas will be without Sheldon Souray again tonight unless he makes a miraculous recovery. Radek Dvorak is also questionable with an ankle injury that he suffered crashing into the boards.

Notes and thoughts:

• The Stars are 9-0-1 against Canadian teams this season.

• Dallas is 19-14-2 on the road. They've won six straight away from home.

• Jamie Benn is on a four game point streak. One more point will give him a career high.

• Michael Ryder needs one more goal to set a career high for him in that category.

• The Stars are 11-1-1 all-time against the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets. The change in venue makes all the difference in this team though. The Jets are a tough team to beat at home.

• The Stars PK is 24 of 24 in the last eight games. That number will be tested tonight as the Jets have the best home PP in the league.

more after the jump

Final

Dallas 1 - Minnesota 0

It certainly wasn't very pretty, but the Dallas Stars have now won a season high six straight games. The difference in this game once again was the stellar performance of Kari Lehtonen, who stopped 25 of 25 shots en route to his second straight shutout and fourth of the season, tying a career high.

The game last night got off to a frustratingly slow start, which I firmly blame Minnesota for (man do they play boring hockey). In the first period, there were few shots and even fewer scoring chances. Nearly every shot from the Stars was from far away and was not screened so Matt Hackett had an easy time stopping them.

The game went back and forth with slow play for much of two periods before it looked like the Wild were beginning to get the upper hand. Near the end of the second period, Minnesota began to put pressure on the Stars and had numerous point blank chances on Kari Lehtonen. Lehtonen was more than up to the task though and he was the reason why Dallas won this game.

Jamie Benn finally broke the deadlock when he scored just three minutes into the third period off a great feed from Brenden Morrow. Morrow was racing down the right wing and passed cross-ice to a wide open Benn. Steve Ott had been breaking towards the net and attracted all the defenders. Morrow used him as a decoy and his backdoor pass to Benn allowed him to easily put it past Hackett.

The goal would be all that Kari Lehtonen needed as he stopped all eight shots in the third period, including one with just three seconds left in the game. A Tom Gilbert shot was blocked by Adam Burish and the puck rolled into the slot, where Kyle Brodziak was waiting. Brodziak had no defenders around him and tried to go glove hand on Lehtonen. Kari though made a fantastic save to seal the win.

The win gives Dallas 83 points and keeps them four points ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes for the division lead. Dallas comes right back tonight for a game against the Winnipeg Jets

more after the jump

Dallas Stars (38-26-5, 81 pts) @ Minnesota Wild (29-30-10, 68 pts)

7:00 PM CT, March 13, 2012

Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota

The red hot Dallas Stars look to continue their point streak tonight in a game against their northern rivals, the Minnesota Wild. After grueling games against some of the NHL's best, today's game against the Wild might be considered simple competition so Dallas needs to not have a letdown today and play to the level of the competition.

Dallas needs to come out hungry in this game or they'll fall into a monotonous lull that can kill a team. They're playing an untested goalie so they need to just plaster him with shots. The game tonight is first of a back-to-back so Dallas just needs to take care of business and move on. Play their game like they should and a win should follow.

It's all been sugar and sweets for the Stars lately. The goaltending has been stellar (like it has all season, Raycroft aside), the defensemen have been doing a better job holding down the fort in front of the goalies and now all four lines of forwards are producing results, even if it's not in the box score. The Stars have held up their level of play for the last month and it's resulted in the best run of games Dallas has had since the '99 Cup winning team. I would expect a dropoff soon, even if it's just a slight one. It's too difficult to keep up this play for another month. Dallas just needs to put enough points between them and their nearest division competitors.

The one thing that has plagued Dallas though has been injuries. Just as Brenden Morrow and Jake Dowell come back into the lineup, Sheldon Souray and Radek Dvorak suffer injuries that are expected to keep them out for a few games. This team just can't seem to stay fully healthy. It's lucky that this year's team has solid depth to make up for it or Dallas would be experiencing another March swoon. With Souray out, the Stars called up Jordie Benn as an emergency in case he's needed.

Turnovers are also still a problem, but I don't ever expect thtat to be fixed with this team. Dallas just needs to try and make sure they don't constantly result in golden scoring chances.

Dallas can probably count on Souray being out of this game with a lower body injury. Dvorak is questionable with an ankle problem and Jake Dowell is questionable as well with an illness. Whatever the case, it seems like Ryan Garbutt will be back in the lineup tonight to fill in the spot in the fourth line. If Dvorak and Dowell are both out, I would think the third line would be Nystrom-Fiddler-Vincour and the fourth line to be Garbutt-Wandell-Peterson.

Kari Lehtonen is in goal tonight. He's 2-1-0 against the Wild this year with a 2.19 GAA and a .927 save percentage. He's stopped 76 of 82 shots. 

Notes and thoughts:

• Michael Ryder has points in nine straight games and 15 of his last 16. He's scored a goal in six of the last seven games. One more goal will set a career high for him. He had 30 goals in his second and third years with the Montreal Canadiens.

• Jamie Benn is two points shy of a career high. He currently has 55 points on the season and he still has 13 games to go. There's going to be plenty of career highs on the team this year.

• Brenden Morrow made a quick impression on the team in his return from his back/shoulder/neck injuries. He scored a power play goal and had six penalty minutes. It was a nice welcome back for the captain, though he really needs to stop taking penalties. He's played only 44 games this season but is still somehow second in the team in penalty minutes with 80 PIM. Steve Ott is first with 124 but he's played 62 games.

• The Stars' PK keeps on rolling. It's 20 of 20 in the last seven games.

• The power play is particularly effective but it has produced some results. Dallas is 3 of 14 in the last four games with the man advantage.

• Dallas is 18-14-2 on the road this season and have won five road games in a row by a combined 17-6 margin.

more after the jump

There's only three weeks left in the season as of today, the Stars are still sitting in the third spot in the Western Conference. The ledge is still quite precarious though. Only five points seperate the Stars from the ninth spot and a ticket out of the playoffs. A short losing streak and all that the Stars have worked for in the past three weeks will have gone for naught. There's no margin to relax, even if the schedule seems easier this week.

Here's a look at the schedule this week for Dallas and closest opponents to the Stars in the playoff race. Just about all these teams have back-to-back situations this week.

Final SO

Dallas 4 - San Jose 3

Let the good times roll! The Stars continued their winning streak with a comeback 4-3 win in a shootout over the San Jose Sharks last night. The Stars are playing with a confidence that I haven't seen in years and they showed that again last night when they fell behind twice in the third period. They didn't give up when the game was on the line and were determined to take this to the extra period.

Kari Lehtonen allowed three goals but still had a game for the ages. He had one of the busiest games he's had in a long while, stopping 42 of 45 shots and it wasn't just the quantity of the shots that he faced, it was the quality. For the first two periods, nearly every shot that he faced (20 shots through 40 minutes) was a golden scoring chance for the Sharks. Joe Pavelski alone had four or five point blank to near point blank shots that Kari was able to turn aside. Turnovers from the defense continuously put him in bad positions and he continuously bailed out the team. He stepped up in the overtime and shootout by stopping all five shots in OT and all five SO attempts from the Sharks. He made enough incredible stops to fill an entire week's quota of highlights. He was the very well deserved number one star of the game.

The hero in this game wasn't the usual suspect. This time it was Tomas Vincour. Vincour scored the game tying goal in teh waning minutes of the third period and was the only guy that scored in the shootout. The goal in the third was a wild one. There was a five or six player pileup literally right around the crease of Antti Niemi and Vincour somehow found the puck in the mass of humanity and scored the goal the biggest goal of the game. He was then as cool as the other side of the pillow during his shootout attempt. He skated right down the ice, stared down Niemi and calmly fired the puck right by him.

Dallas started out this game pretty well until Ryan Garbutt was assessed a penalty 12 minutes into the first period. He went in for a forecheck and hit a player after the whistle blew for an icing call. THe only problem was that the whistle could barely be heard until official blew his whistle a second time, which was after Garbutt had already delivered a hit. He received a roughing call and the Sharks pretty much dominated the next 20 minutes of game time.

Dallas actually scored first as Michael Ryder continued his incredible season. Kari Lehtonen made a great pad save on Ryane Clowe and the puck found its way to Jake Dowell. Dowell made a nice pass over to a breaking Ryder, who sped past two defenders and slid the puck by Niemi. It all looked great for the Stars until the very last seconds of the second period when Torrey Mitchell took a pass and absolutely abused Alex Goligoski in a one-on-one situation. Kari Lehtonen attempted to poke check the puck but Mitchell was able to get the puck by him.

San Jose would score again in the opening minute of the third period as Patrick Marleau got a goal just 25 seconds into the period. Dallas would make two comebacks in the third as Jamie Benn would score to tie the game at 2-2. Benn had a fantastic game of his own as he was all over the ice. Steve Ott missed the game due to a back issue and Benn had to line up with Ryan Garbutt and Adam Burish. Benn was pretty much the entire line for the whole game. Pavelski finally scored a goal with four minutes left in the game before Vincour got the game tying goal with one minutes left.

The win got the Stars to 79 pts, tied with the Chicago Blackhawks, and gives the Stars a small cushion for the division lead.

more after the jump

Final

Dallas 5 - Vancouver 2

Is it too crazy to think that Dallas is possibly the hottest team in the NHL right now? The Stars continued their surprising run towards the playoffs with a huge 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks last night. The win completed a three game road trip across Western Canada that the Stars owned, winning each of the games to get a perfect six of six points.

Dallas took a while to really get into the game but when the Stars warmed up midway through the second period, they took over the game. Dallas began to win the puck battles along the boards and were just the mroe aggressive team on the night.

The Eriksson-Ribeiro-Ryder line continued to play like the hottest line in the NHL and found themselves with scoring chance after scoring chance. The trio combined for seven points last night. It's even more impressive considering that they were going up against the Sedin line the entire night and absolutely dominated them.

The game got off to a crazy start last night as the Canucks had a penalty shot just 24 seconds into the game. Zack Kassian found himself on a breakaway after the  Canucks won a face-off in the defensive zone and he was hauled down by Mark Fistric while he was breaking towards the net.

He would go on to miss the shot, but that wild start would set a tone for the rest of the game. Both teams missed golden opportunity after golden opportunity to score goals. It was seriously bad. Guys were missing wide open nets or just plain whiffing on pucks. The score could have easily been 10-7 if all those easy missed chances had been converted.

Vancouver would get on the board first with a Chris Higgins goal. Michael Ryder had the puck in the offensive zone and attempted a no-look backhand pass that led to a turnover. Alex Goligoski fell down on the play and Higgins found himself on a semi-breakaway. He took a long shot that got by Richard Bachman, who did not have good position on the play.

Dallas would finally wake up after that and started to take over the game. They got goals from Loui Eriksson (on the power play) and Mike Ribeiro just three minutes apart at the end of the second period to take all the momentum heading into the final period.

Dallas would take a two goal lead five minutes into the third period when Jamie Benn finally got himself a goal off a wild play around the net. Adam Burish missed an empty net shot from about 10 feet away and the puck richoceted to Steve Ott, who found Benn in the slot. Benn fired a wrister by Roberto Luongo to give the Stars a two goal lead that they would never relinquish.

Alex Edler made things a little more interesting when he cut the lead to 1 goal when he scored three minutes after Benn, but a Mike Ribeiro goal reestablished the two goal lead off a great pass from Ryder before Stephane Robidas got himself an empty-netter to seal things.

Richard Bachman had the start in this game and played pretty well, stopping 29 of 31 shots. He'll want to have the two goals back though, as they each were soft goals. Other than those two miscues, he was pretty solid the rest of the night and had good backup from his defense when he needed the help. It's refreshing to know that the backup goalie can hold his own instead of having to deal with the likes of Andrew Raycroft.

The win put the Stars two points ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes and three points ahead of the San Jose Sharks for the division lead and kept them entrenched in third place in the West.

Dallas has a massive home game against the Sharks on the Thursday.

more after the jump

Dallas Stars (35-26-5, 75 pts) @ Vancouver Canucks (41-17-8, 90 pts)

9:00 PM CT, March 6, 2012

Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Stars:

The Stars woke up to a little gift today as they suddenly find themselves sitting in the third seed in the Western Conference. A Pittsburgh Penguins win over the Phoenix Coyotes yesterday put a tiebreaker into effect between the Stars and Yotes; a tiebreaker that the Stars win. The vault into third place suddenly makes this game a battle between division leaders and a chance for the Stars to put a little separation between themselves and the rest of the pack.

The Stars are arguably the hottest team in the NHL right now. Dallas is 7-1-2 in the last 10 games and has won six of its last seven games (one of those was a 3-2 OT victory over these Canucks). The only loss in that time span was a shootout loss to the Penguins so Dallas is on a seven game point streak. Another tough test shows up tonight as the Stars take on the conference leading Vancouver Canucks.

This is going to be obvious, but the Stars need to do exactly what they did in the last game if they want to win this one. In that previous game, the Stars fought hard for every puck and won battles along the boards. They forced the Sedin twins to give up the puck in areas that they wanted and rendered them ineffective. The Swedish pair combined for only one shot on goal and neither twin registered a point.

The only reason that game went into overtime was because Kari Lehtonen had a bad game. Both of the goals that he let in were very soft goals (one dribbler off the glove and one that went through his armpit) and Tom Wandell missed a point blank open net shot in the first period. If Dallas can come out motivated and strong tonight, there's a great chance to extend this point streak to eight games. Dallas also did not have Jamie Benn in that game so he'll be a very welcome addition tonight.

Glen Gulutzan switched things up today as he decided that backup goalie Richard Bachman would be getting the start tonight instead of Kari Lehtonen. Bachman has started two games since Feb. 1, a 5-2 loss to San Jose Sharks and a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Bachman is 4-2-0 on the road this season.

Dallas will be without Brenden Morrow (back/neck/shoulder), Jake Dowell (broken finger) while Toby Peterson is still not with the team as his wife just gave birth. He should be with the team when the Stars return home to play the San Jose Sharks.

Notes and thoughts:

• Dallas is 17-14-2 on the road this season. Dallas has won its last four road games. The Stars have scored three goals in each of those games and outscored the opponent 12-4.

• Dallas is 8-0-1 against Canadian teams this season.

• Mike Ribeiro and Loui Eriksson each had a goal and an assist in the previous matchup.

• Loui Eriksson has mulitple points in four of his last six games while Ribs has at least a point in nine of his last ten games.

• Michael Ryder has a goal in four straight games and at least a point in six straight (and 12 of his last 13).

more after the jump

Final SO

Dallas 3 - Calgary 2

The Stars continued to move up the standings with a fantastic 3-2 shootout win over the Calgary Flames last night. For much of the game, Dallas didn't look so great, but the Stars managed to hang on and then win the game in a shootout. Dallas would have liked if this game didn't go into a three point situation but the Stars didn't compound the situation by losing the game.

Loui Eriksson continues to be the best player on the team as he had another great performance. He had one of the goals of the season with his undressing of Alex Tanguay and subsequent backhand by Miikka Kiprusoff. He  also showed up on the defensive end of the ice with two takeaways and a number of crucial plays where he just got into the way of players.

The Stars started very slow in this game as Calgary took control of the run of play for much of the first period. The Flames outshot the Stars 13-9 in the first, had a lot of good scoring chances and forced turnover after turnover from the Stars. Kari Lehtonen was up to the task though and kept it scoreless going into the first intermission.

The Flames got on the board first after a weird sequence of events. Stephane Robidas had his stick broken as the puck went along the boards behind Lehtonen. An attempted clearance hit the ref and bounced right to David Moss, who passed it to Curtis Glencross who had a point blank goal. Glencross was being covered by Robidas, who had no stick and no real way to defend Glencross.

Dallas answered back with the Eriksson wonder goal and then Michael Ryder scored on some tic-tac-toe passing on the Stars first power play of the game. Mike Ribeiro backhanded a pass from the boards on Kiprusoff's right side over to Eriksson. Loui shot a pass through two defenders to a streaking Ryder who had his first tip-in chance stopped, but he got the rebound and lifted it over a sprawled Kiprusoff.

The Flames would tie the game in the third before the Stars would find a way to win it in the shootout. The win put the Stars into seventh place, two points ahead of the San Jose Sharks and tied with the Phoenix Coyotes for the division lead. They end their Western Canadian road trip against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.

Kari Lehtonen was great in this game as he stopped 36 of 38 shots and redeemed himself in the shootout after his poor showing in the Penguins game. The two points were crucial for the Stars as they try to break a three year streak of no playoffs. Kipper wasn't bad himself as he stopped 38 of 40, but his offense couldn't quite bail him out in this game.

more after the jump