Dallas Stars (18-11-1, 37 pts) @ New Jersey Devils (16-13-1, 33 pts)

7:00 PM CT, December 16, 2011

Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey

The Stars' cross-country, five game road-trip comes to an end tonight as Dallas takes on the New Jersey Devils. The two teams are both running hot coming into this game with Dallas having won three in a row and the Devils winning four of their last five games.

Dallas has been riding the hot hand of Richard Bachman in their run. The rookie has been spectacular in his NHL debut week, stopping 85 of the 88 shots he's faced while going 3-0-0. He's stabilized a team that looked lost while Andrew Raycroft was in net. Tonight is the second night of a back-to-back though, so Raycroft could get the call as Bachman has started the last three games.

The Devils, meanwhile, have been rotating their goalie situation. Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg have been alternating starts since the beginning of December and it doesn't look like it will change. Since Brodeur started the Devils last game (a 3-2 SO win over the Florida Panthers on Dec. 13), Hedberg will be getting the start tonight. He was the starting goalie in the previous meeting this season, a 3-1 win for the Stars.

Final

Dallas Stars 3 - New York Islanders 2

Is it time to start carving our Richard Bachman statues now? Ok, that's a bit overstated but the young man was huge again, especially in the third period as the Dallas Stars hung on to beat a tough New York Islanders team 3-2. Bachman's agility and movement in net resulted in huge saves as the Isles threw everything including the kitchen at him. Dallas got goals from Loui Eriksson, Brenden Morrow and a game winner from Jamie Benn tonight.

The Stars stopped Matt Moulson tonight, but gave up goals to Michael Grabner and Kyle Okposo. Bachman had a bit of trouble with the Okposo's goal as his shot dribbled past him and Okposo followed up his own rebound to stick the puck in the net. Dallas went into the third period down 2-1 but they scored early in the third to set the tone for the end of the game. Morrow scored a power-play goal one minute in and Benn followed that up with the game winner just three minutes later. Bachman actually made a huge save just before Benn's goal.

Dallas Stars (17-11-1, 35 pts) @ New York Islanders (9-13-6, 24 pts)

6:00 PM CT, December 15, 2011

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York

Matt Moulson, Matt Moulson, Matt Moulson, Matt Moulson. That's the name that showed up four times on the scoresheet in the last game between the Dallas Stars and the New York Islanders. The Andrew Raycroft show was put to screeching halt as he gave up rebound after rebound in the team's 5-4 loss to the Isles. In retrospect, all Stars fans might want to send a thank-you note over to Moulson as it was largely his doing that Raycroft was pulled in the third in favor of Richard Bachman.

It will be Bachman's task tonight to put a stop to the Moulson train. Bachman has been incredible in the two games that he has started, stopping 59 of 60 shots and earning the Stars first shutout of the year in their 1-0 win over the New York Rangers. After what he's done in his last two games, tonight should be no problem at all right?

Final

Dallas Stars 1 - New York Rangers 0

At this point, all Stars fans must be thinking why it took so long for Richard Bachman to get a shot to play in the NHL. Bachman was absolutely incredible last night, stopping all 34 shots that he faced in a 1-0 win over the New York Rangers, one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. The kid looked like Kari Lehtonen did earlier this season, staring down a gun barrel of unrelenting shots and swatting them all aside.

Trevor Daley scored the game winner with five minutes left in game off, get this, a Jeff Woywitka turnover (boy do Stars fans ever know how that feels). It was nice being on the other side of one of those for change and it undoubtedly was an endless resource of comedy for Stars fans.

Woywitka had the puck in his own zone and for an unknown reason shot the puck off the wall to a spot where three Stars were waiting at center ice while the rest of team was making a change. That lead to the Stars going into the Rangers zone with a 4-on-3 advantage. Slick passing from Morrow to Daley to Ribeiro back to a waiting Daley ended up in a goal as Daley went five-hole on Henrik Lundqvist, who had also been solid in goal (but not as good as Bachman).

Dallas Stars (16-11-1, 33 pts) @ New York Rangers (17-6-4, 38 pts)

6:00 PM CT, December 13, 2011

Madison Square Garden, New York, New York

Richard Bachman got his first win in the NHL in his first start in the Stars 2-1 win over the LA Kings. Tonight, he faces a much stiffer test as the Stars hit the East Coast for three games in the New York/ New Jersey area. Their opponent tonight? The New York Rangers, the team that Brad Richards went to in the offseason and a team that could be sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference if they win the game tonight.

The big story in the media tonight will be about Richards, who spent the last four seasons with the Stars before moving to greener pastures this year. Richards has been solid, but not his usual top of the NHL self. When's the last time you've seen Richards play every game three months into the season and not sit in the top 10 in any of the offensive rankings (goals, assists and points)? The Rangers have been successful this season because of the guys around Richards, so Dallas can't be too preoccupied with stopping him.

Dallas Stars (15-11-1, 31 pts) @ Los Angeles Kings (13-11-4, 30 pts)

9:30 PM CT, December 10, 2011

STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, California

Based on the first game of this five game road trip for the Dallas Stars, these next couple of weeks could be a downer. Dallas has a chance to get back on track tonight as they stay in California and take on LA Kings for the fourth time this season.

The Stars had serious goaltending problems in their 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Andrew Raycroft was stellar in his first game after Kari Lehtonen went down with an injury, but he has really struggle since then and it reached the tipping point in the game against the Sharks. Raycroft had a steel brick of a glove and couldn't seem to catch any shots or control any rebounds. He ended up getting pulled in the third period for Richard Bachman, who looked pretty good in his first full period of NHL action.

Final

Dallas Stars 2 - San Jose Sharks 5

The Stars fell to the Sharks 5-2 last night in a game in which the outcome was pretty much decided within two minutes. San Jose scored twice on Andrew Raycroft in the first minute and a half of the game, setting the tone for the rest of the night. Raycroft was actually doing a fine job stopping the first shots that the Sharks had. The problem was that he was giving up juicy rebounds on each shot and it wound up costing the Stars.

Raycroft just couldn't block the puck over to safe areas and the defense was beaten to the loose puck by the Sharks forwards. Dallas fell behind 2-0 after the first couple of minutes but were able to fight their way back into the game. Brenden Morrow made his return memorable with an assist on a Mike Ribeiro goal late in the first period and then scoring a power-play (power-play!) goal of his own in the second.

Dallas Stars (15-10-1, 31 pts) @ San Jose Sharks (14-9-1, 29 pts)

9:30 PM CT, December 8, 2011

HP Pavilion, San Jose, California

The four day break between games for the Stars has done wonders for the team. Brenden Morrow, Trevor Daley and most importantly Alex Goligoski will be returning to the ice tonight, just in time for a big divisional game against the San Jose Sharks.

The Stars have missed the three, Goligoski especially, as the offense and the PP took a nosedive. Goose should be thrust right back into the point position on the PP so hopefully that gets things kickstarted again. The Stars just haven't been right with the man-advantage since Goose was injured. One interesting thing of note is that Goose will be paired with Philip Larsen, a guy that the Stars hope turns into a mini-Goligoski.

Tonight marks the start of a five game road-trip for the Stars, one that will take them from the West Coast to the East Coast. It couldn't start with a much bigger than this one as Dallas takes on a tough divisional foe.

Dallas is coming off a very odd 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders. The game included a second period where seven goals were scored as defense and goaltending took a nosedive. If they play a poor defensive game against the Sharks tonight, they'll get a severe beating from one of the most explosive teams in the league.

Three news stories of note came down about the Stars today, the biggest one being the return of three injured players. Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoski will be returning for tomorrow's big game against the San Jose Sharks, the start of a five game road trip for the Stars. Brenden Morrow is likely to return.

Goligoski hasn't played since a November 11 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, when he broke his thumb on a blocked shot. Morrow has been out since Nov. 21 and Daley hasn't seen the ice since Nov. 26. The biggest return might be from Goligoski as he'll be immediately be thrust back into the point on the power-play. The Stars have been terrible with the man-advantage since he was injured, going 2 of 27 in 11 games.

Also coming down today was Mark Fistric's punishment of his hit on New York Islanders forward Nino Niederreiter. Fistric was suspended for three games as Shanahan deemed that Fistric charged on the hit. Fistric can be seen leaving his feet and getting his shoulder right into Niederreiter's face. Nino suffered a concussion and will be out for an undetermined amount of time.

The suspension wasn't that surprising, but it lacks consistency. Tomas Vincour took an identical hit from Luke Schenn of the Toronto Maple Leafs in their game on November 25. Schenn left his feet as well, though not as much as Fistric and elbowed Vincour right in the mouth. Vincour didn't suffer a concussion, though he did leave the game for a while before returning. Schenn didn't receive a suspension from the league office.

Fistric will miss games against the Sharks, LA Kings and New York Rangers. His comeback game? Against the New York Islanders of course. Adam Pardy should see more time with Fistric out of the lineup.

The final (12:30 CT) piece of news that came down for the Stars (per @andrewdsp) was that they traded little used forward Krys Barch and a 6th round pick to the Florida Panthers for Jake Hauswirth and a 5th round pick. Barch wasn't getting any playing time here and the roster depth as well as the recent play of Eric Nystrom and Tomas Vincour have made him expendable. This year would have been Barch's 6th year with the Stars., a time when he has mostly been the Stars designated fight guy.

Hauswirth, 23-years-old,  is a minor leaguer in the Panthers system and has yet to see time in the NHL. He's a 6'5", 215 lb forward so he's definitely got some size to him. He went undrafted and first signed on to play with the Washinton Capitals minor league system. He was traded earlier this year to Florida and now makes his way to the Stars system. He'll be somewhere in the Stars minor league teams, probably on the Idaho Steelheads as he stays in the ECHL.

Final

Dallas Stars 3 - Ottawa Senators 2

Maybe this injury situation isn't as bad as everyone previously thought. Playing without five key players for the second straight game, the Stars made a fantastic comeback in the third period to beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2. The Stars stuck true to the nickname that they have given themselves lately, the PeskyStars, by just hanging around the whole game and playing tough.

Ottawa took the initial lead when Philip Larsen was run over near the team benches by Jared Cowen. The rest of the Stars were making a line change in anticipation of Larsen getting out of danger so that left Erik Condra wide open on the right side of the ice. Condra took a pass from Cowen, skated into the Stars zone and fired one over Raycroft's glovehand into the top corner.

The Stars would answer quickly, getting a power-play (power-play!!) goal for the first time in nine games as Steve Ott tipped in a Toby Petersen shot. With the injuries to important power-play guys like Alex Goligoski, Trevor Daley and Brenden Morrow, the Stars had gone 0 of 20 on the man advantage in their previous eight games so this power-play goal was a once in a blue moon kind of deal.

A boring second period followed the first (really, it was boring, I think I fell asleep). The team combined for only eight shots and both sides just got stuck in a bog.