With the season over and the offseason starting for the Stars, it's time for a player reviews! Yay~. Rather than pick and choose who I go with each day, I'll just go through the roster alphabetically. Aside from the goaltenders, I'll only be reviewing players that played at least 20 games with the team this season so most of the call-ups won't be getting reviews. First up on the list is Richard Bachman.

Bachman played better than anyone could have possibly hoped for this season. When Kari Lehtonen went down with his groin injury, this team was the terrible position of having to rely on Andrew Raycroft to be the starting goaltender. No need to say just how poorly that went (He lost eight of the ten games he played in last season). Bachman's first game this season was on Dec. 8 when he replaced Raycroft in 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Raycroft allowed all five goals in two periods and Bachman came in and stopped all 11 shots that he faced. From that moment on, it was clear that Bachman would not go back down to the AHL while the season was still going on.

His first game was a fantastic 2-1 shutout of the LA Kings in which he stopped 26 shots. He would go on to win games at Vancouver, Chicago and the New York Rangers while also counting a home win against the Nashville Predators among his eight victories this season. Just looking at his numbers this season (8-5-1, 2.77 GAA, .910 save %) doesn't tell the story on how well Bachman did this year. As any Stars fan would know, this defense was putrid for much, if not all, of the year. Opposing forwards would always be left wide open in the slot and turnovers would always (always!) happen right in front of the goalie.

Bachman's not the biggest goalie but he has great movement in the crease. He made a bunch of saves this season that were practically Lehtonen-like in their quality. He wasn't someone that gave a lot of rebounds (which is a huge difference from Raycroft) and had a pretty solid glove. His positioning was excellent and he really bailed out this team when it looked like things were falling apart in December.

He does have a little bit of trouble though with the high shots because of his stature. There were a good amount of goals that fluttered in over his shoulder even as he was trying to shrug off the shots and a good screen will really throw him off. There's really nothing he can do against those high shots except react quicker and count on his defensemen to clear out the forwards (which there was too little of this season).

All-in-all though, Bachman had a solid season and gets a B+ from me. There's really not too much you could ask for from his first season in the NHL and he'll only get better as he continues to learn the game. He's firmly entrenched in the backup role for next season for this team and I have no problem giving him some more games in order to rest Lehtonen a bit more.

Bachman is a restricted free agent going into this offseason though, so Dallas will have to re-sign him. I don't think that there's any question that they will do so and we'll see more of Bachman next season in a Stars uniform.

Another gut-wrenching season in the books and the Stars are once again just out of the playoffs. It's clear that the talent level in Dallas just isn't quite up to par with the other playoff teams in the West, as evidenced by what happened to this team in the late stages of the season. The roster situation for next year provides an opportunity for a lot of turnover and with the resources that Tom Gaglardi will be able to provide, the offseason will definitely be an interesting one. Here's the roster breakdown for the offseason and who I believe should be gone come opening day.

Signed and Set To Go For Next Year

• Kari Lehtonen

• Loui Eriksson

• Michael Ryder

• Steve Ott

• Vernon Fiddler

• Brenden Morrow

• Mike Ribeiro

• Eric Nystrom

• Tomas Vincour

• Trevor Daley

• Adam Pardy

• Alex Goligoski

• Stephane Robidas

There's also a couple of younger guys that played in the very last game of the season that are signed on for next season: Scott Glennie and Brenden Dillon. If those two make the roster for next year, these 15 guys would take up roughly $43 million in cap space. That leaves somewhere between $20-$25 million of cap space for next season, depending on whether or not the cap moves up (There is still a tricky CBA issue to get around for the NHL). That number will take a big dent because I'm sure that Jamie Benn will get a big deal and there are still a good amount of free agents on Dallas that can provide some good production for the Stars.

Now the question is will all of these folks be on the roster at the start of next season? In my opinion, all but four of these players should be here for sure. The Stars should take a hard look at sending Morrow, Ribeiro, Pardy and Robidas packing. Morrow and Ribeiro are making a ton of money ($4.1 million and $5 million respectively), money that can be spent towards free agents that actually provide a difference to this team.

Morrow dealt with an injury plagued season and is on a clear downside (it might be a sheer cliff) of his career. He's not in a position to be more than a third or fourth liner and it's a travesty that he played most of his time this year on the top lines. There are guys that can take his spot next season (Reilly Smith, Vincour or even Ryan Garbutt if he keeps progressing) and the captain patch should go to Ott or Benn. As much as it might hurt to see the captain sent off, it's the right thing to do. His time is up in Dallas.

Ribeiro is tricky because he is a valuable piece to the team. He was tied for second on the team in points with 63 (though that probably should have been much more considering he was top line) and the Stars have no real replacement waiting in the wings. He is making a substantial amount of money for next season though with the $5 million cap hit and Ribeiro has an odd ability to disappear at the most inopportune times. He's pretty much absent in huge games, a big problem considering his position on the team and who he plays with. Dallas needs to shop him around this offseason and see if there are any takers out there for a guy that can produce, just not when you need him to.

Adam Pardy was just plain bad and has a big cap hit ($2 million) considering what he gives on the ice as a third pair defenseman (though he really should be eighth in the pecking order). It might be better to just release him, especially with someone like Brenden Dillon waiting to make his mark on the team. Robidas has just reached the point in his career where everything has passed him by. He can't keep up with forwards anymore and is really starting to get outmuscled for the puck and in front of the net. He's taking up space on the power play unit and the Stars have excellent talent waiting in the AHL that should be up here by 2013-2014 if not by late next season. I've always liked Robidas for his toughness but that can only get you so far and he's no longer up to his first d-pairing duties.

If nothing else, these four guys need to go so Dallas can re-sign their own valuable (and young) free agents and still make a splash in the offseason with signing other guys. Moving these four frees up $14.4 million in cap room.

Dallas Stars (42-33-5, 89 pts) @ Nashville Predators (46-26-8, 100 pts)

7:00 PM CT, April 5, 2012

Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee

Stars:

The Stars' playoff hopes are teetering on the edge heading into tonight's game. There's one foot over the cliff and the second is already making a step, but this team is yet alive (even of just barely). It's going to take a miracle to get them into the playoffs and the best thing that the Stars can do is to take care of things on their end. This means beating a solid, Cup contending Nashville Predators team.

Dallas failed miserably in the series finale against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. The 5-2 loss put the Stars into a three game losing streak, their longest such streak since a three game stretch from Feb. 10 to Feb 14. It came at the worst possible time in the season and it knocked the Stars from a division lead to dying a slow death in the ninth spot in the Western Conference. 

Dallas just has to play hockey tonight. Simple, smart hockey. It's what's been eluding them in the past week so if there's ever a team to find that again, it's tonight. They've actually managed to beat the Predators twice so far this season so it's more than possible to get done.

It's Kari Lehtonen back in net tonight. He's 1-1-0 against Nashville this season, but hasn't done very well in the past two weeks of the season. He's given up five, one, four, three and then four goals in the past five games. Tough to win like that.

Radek Dvorak is questionable with an ankle injury.

Notes and thoughts:

• For the love of everything that is holy, CHANGE. THE. POWER. PLAY. It's already pretty much too late for this team, so why not experiment.

• Loui Eriksson has done pretty much nothing on the offensive side of the ice for two weeks now. In seven games, he only has two points (both assists in the same game). He's still been doing good defensive work though and a lot of his offensive troubles can be attributed to Mike Ribeiro.

• Ribs has really struggled in the past week, getting only one point during the three game losing streak. He's barely getting shots on net (about two per game), losing a bunch of face-offs (11 of 28) and turning the puck over at an alarming rate. He was pretty much invisible in the home-and-home against the Sharks.

• Dallas won't have to worry too much about help tonight. First off, they have to win. The Sharks and Kings happen to play each other and Phoenix is idle. Ideally for Dallas, the Sharks would lose tonight in regulation. As long as it stays out of overtime, it's a good deal for Dallas.

• The Stars penalty kill, which was so good in March, has given up at least one power play goal in four of the last five games.

• Dallas' big guns have done well against the Preds this season. Benn has two goals and two assists in two games played. Ribeiro has three goals and two assists in three games and Eriksson has one goal and four assists in three games. They have to score if Dallas wants to win.

more after the jump

San Jose Sharks (40-29-10, 90 pts) @ Dallas Stars (42-32-5, 89 pts)

7:30 PM CT, April 3, 2012

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

Stars:

No detail is needed to explain just what tonight means for the Stars. It's a do-or-die, win-or-it's-over game against a team that has owned the Stars this season. The Sharks easily handed the Stars a 3-0 defeat in the last game, so it's obvious that things need to change.

So what do the Stars need to do tonight? Step one would be to not have a terrible start. The Sharks scored just 58 seconds into the game on Saturday, 58 seconds. There's barely even time for fans to settle into their seats before the Stars are already chasing the game. In all four of the Sharks wins in the series this season, they have scored a goal in the first five minutes of the game. In the second game of the series, they scored twice in the first minute and a half of the game. The one game that the Stars won? They were the first team to score and that goal didn't happen till midway through the second period. If the Sharks score a quick goal today, you can go ahead and start ushering the fat lady onto the stage and have her warm up.

2nd key to the game for Dallas is to work Antti Niemi. In three of the five games in the season series, the Stars have barely reached 20 shots on goal (20, 21 and 22 shots to be exact). In the one win for Dallas, they were still outshot by a ton but still managed to put 35 shots on Niemi, the Stars most in the series. That lack of shots just means that there's a lot of time spent in the Stars zone, time in which the defenders and Kari Lehtonen are scrambling to cover the net. The Sharks have gotten at least 34 shots on goal in every game. As good as Lehtonen is, he can't hold out long against a team with players this explosive.

To keep the puck and the pressure off of Lehtonen, Dallas needs to slow the game down. Play patient and work the passes. Hurrying through the game has only led to turnovers for this team and that directly leads to goals against the team. There's no need for the tight angle shots out of desperation. Dallas needs to work the puck back from the blue line and forecheck like they have never forechecked before. Just be able to hold onto the puck for extended periods of time and things will be alright. The less that San Jose has the puck, the less they have a chance to work their offense and bury Lehtonen under an avalanche of shots. Puck possession is key.

I've seen this team long enough to know that there will be some bad turnovers and missed defensive assignments. The key will be to limit those. Smart puck possession will limit the turnovers in this game and the best way to make up for the bad defense is to check the hell out of the Sharks forwards. Don't give them more than a second to look around the ice to pick out their pass. As patient as they should be on the offensive end of the ice, they have to be just as aggressive on the defensive end. This could be the season ender for Dallas. The Stars need to show some passion in their game tonight with a nothing is going to be easy attitude. If nothing else, the Stars have outhit San Jose in each game of the series, but a lot of those hits have come out of frustration as those games have gotten away. Hit aggressive and smart tonight. Don't throw the body around recklessly that leads to penalties.

And that leads to the last key of the game for Dallas. For the love of God, stop taking bad penalties. Continuously going on the penalty kill destroys any chance of momentum for Dallas. Being on the PK doesn't exactly give a lot of chance to take over the game and work the opposing goalie. The Sharks have gotten five, three, five, three and then six power play opportunities in each game of the series, repectively. San Jose has a great power play, fourth best in the league, so the last thing the Stars need is to give them even better chances to score.

Kari Lehtonen gets the nod tonight. He'll have to be incredible in this game if things are looking poor again. He's only started two games in this series (the last two) and has a 1-1-0 record. If he's forced to be the MVP in tonight's game, things aren't likely to be going well.

Dallas should be getting both Eric Nystrom and Radek Dvorak tonight so there won't be anyone missing this game due to an injury.

Notes and thoughts:

• In each game this series, the second period has really been where this thing struggles for Dallas. They are outshot by an average of eight shots on goal. Nine of the Sharks 20 goals in this series have been scored in the second period. San Jose has scored a goal in the second period in every game so far this series.

• The Stars PK has been bad this past week. They've allowed a power play goal in three of the last four games, going 14 of 19 (73.6%) in that span. Not by coincidence, Dallas lost the three games in which they allowed a power play goal and won the game that they didn't.

• The power play has been horrendous in the mean time. Dallas has dropped to 30th in the league on the power play, dead last.

• This is the last true chance to affect the standings directly for Dallas. Leave nothing on ice, effort is everything.

more after the jump

It was a tale of two months for the Dallas Stars. They started March on fire by winning six games in a row, their longest such streak of the season. Things kind of fell apart after that though as Dallas would lose six of the next nine games. Their standings reflected that shift in play as they went from division leaders to now sitting in the ninth spot in the Western Conference, just out of the playoffs (boy does that sound familiar).

Overall, Dallas went 9-6-0 in March, so it wasn't a total loss. It's just disappointing that such an amazing start would turn out to be nothing more than a buffer that would inevitably vanish. They had three games go into a shootout and won all of them so no loser points for the Stars in March. Dallas was free of injuries for most of the month, but they all seemed to pile up at the same time. Radek Dvorak, Eric Nystrom, Brenden Morrow and Mark Fistric all missed time due to various injuries.

Dallas was 5 of 41 (12%) on the PP this month and 48 of 55 (87%) on the PK. In February, Dallas was 7 of 39 (18%) on PP chances and were 45 of 54 (83%) on the PK last month so their special teams were worked even harder in March despite playing one less game.

Kari Lehtonen started 13 of the 15 games in March. Richard Bachman started the other two. Bachman was 1-1-0 while Lehtonen was 8-5-0.

For the PP and SH stat boxes, I first put the amount of time that they had in the month and the total time that the player has on the season in parentheses.

As a small comparison, the league leader among forwards in ice time this season is Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk with 24:30 of TOI/G. He has 1813:31 total time on ice on the season. For defensemen, the league leader is Florida Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell with 26:55 of TOI/G. He has a total of 2,127:03 ice time this season.

more after the jump

Dallas Stars (42-30-5, 89 pts) @ Vancouver Canucks (47-21-9, 103 pts)

9:00 PM CT, March 30, 2012

Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Stars:

Here we are, one week left in the season and the most critical stretch of games still to come. The Stars are still clinging to their Pacific Division lead (and playoff spot) only due to tiebreakers now. Only one point separates them from ninth in the West.

With all that in mind, Dallas plays the Vancouver Canucks tonight in the first game of their toughest back-to-back all season (it concludes tomorrow against the San Jose Sharks). The game today isn't as important as what comes tomorrow and Tuesday, but it's still one with enormous implications. The game tonight will be the last one that Dallas has in hand over Phoenix and San Jose. All the Pacific Division playoff hunting teams will have played 78 games after tonight.

Dallas is coming off of a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The top line of Michael Ryder, Loui Eriksson and Mike Ribeiro showed up big in that game as they combined for eight points and Kari Lehtonen did what he's done all season, make huge saves. All of those guys will have to show up big again tonight if the Stars want to win tonight and have a lot of momentum going into tomorrow. Dallas has done well against the Canucks this season, winning two of the three games so far and playing tough in all of them.

To win this game, Dallas has to play smart, physical and controlled. The physical play will be there tonight. Dallas has outhit the Canucks 94-73. It's the playing smart and controlled that will make the difference tonight. In the last game between these two teams, the Stars got caught up in the after-the-whistle stuff. They were throwing some extra punches, getting gloves into faces and doing some extra shoving that only detracted from their game.

They didn't concentrate enough on just playing the game and it led to nine penalties and 21 penalty minutes. All it did was keep key guys off the ice (Ribeiro and Ryder took two penalties each) and halted momentum for the team. Tempers might still be flaring from that last matchup so the Stars just need to play hockey. Let the game take care of itself and let the scoreboard do the talking.

Kari Lehtonen gets the start tonight and it looks like for the rest of the games this season. He's 1-1-0 against Vancouver this season stopping 50 of 54 shots. He did poorly in the last game, allowing two very soft goals but I would Kari to be his usual self today.

Dallas is without three guys: Mark Fistric (abdominal), Eric Nystrom (leg laceration) and Radek Dvorak (ankle).

Notes and thoughts:

• Dallas is 20-16-2 on the road this year.

• The top line has been big in the two wins this season and did nothing in the loss. They need to show up tonight. Ryder has three points (one goal, two assists), Ribeiro has five points (three goals, two assists) and Eriksson has four points (two goals, two asissts) in the season series.

• The power play. Gully really needs to change up the power play. It's too ugly to even watch it right now. It went 0 of 5 in against the Oilers and was actually outchanced by the Oilers penalty kill.

• I would like to see Reilly Smith get some more time on ice. He had a pretty good game in his debut and looked lively. He needs to get moved up with Jamie Benn in place of Adam Burish. Benn needs some scoring wingers with him. He's doing too much on his own and even as good as he is, needs some help.

more after the jump

Dallas Stars (41-30-5, 87 pts) @ Edmonton Oilers (31-36-9, 71 pts)

8:30 PM CT, March 28, 2012

Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Tonight's game provides one thing for the Stars, a chance to get back on track. The loss to the Flames on Monday night was a big setback for the Stars in their playoff hopes. Calgary was supposed to be one of the last remaining easier games (though they were a desperate team) for the Stars in their final stretch of games, which is the toughest in the NHL. Instead of a win, Dallas was undone by costly turnovers and thoughtless penalties and found themselves on the wrong side of a 5-4 scoreline.

Tonight is the last of the "gimme" games for the Stars. The Oilers are one of the worst teams in the league and are dealing with injuries to significant players. If there was ever a crushing loss in a season, it would be if Dallas were to somehow lose tonight.

Dallas just needs to do one thing in this game, play smart. The Stars are a better team and need to play like it. Cut the penalties, limit the turnovers and don't leave the slot area wide open for opponents to skate through. The Stars just have to take of business tonight and not let the Oilers play the ultimate spoiler role. That comes down to one thing, the top line for Dallas. Mike Ribeiro has had a bad stretch of games in the past week and needs to return to form and provide some passes for Loui Eriksson and Michael Ryder (if the lines stay the same that is). Jamie Benn will undoubtedly show up ready to go tonight so there's no worries there.

There are some injuries to deal with though. Mark Fistric is still out with his abdominal strain and it looks like Radek Dvorak (ankle) and Eric Nystrom (leg laceration) will be out tonight. Both are listed as questionable but I don't think they'll be in the lineup. That means a big opportunity for recent callup Reilly Smith. Smith could possibly see time with Jamie Benn and will immediately be a more effective scoring winger than Steve Ott or Adam Burish. The youngster has a ton of offensive skill and it will be fascinating to see what he does tonight.

Kari Lehtonen gets thrown into the frying pan again. He's 2-0-0 against the Oilers this season. He's only faced 38 shots combined in the two games and stopped 36 of them.

Notes and thoughts:

• Dallas is 19-16-2 on the road this year.

• It's critical that Dallas wins the game tonight. The next two games on the schedule are a back-to-back against the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks. There's no more room for slip-ups in games that the Stars should win (not that there are anymore to begin with).

• Dallas sits in seventh in the Western Conference coming into this game.

• Monday provided the first huge slip up for the penalty kill in a long time. Dallas allowed three power play goals in six tries. In the previous 14 games, the Stars had allowed a total of three power play goals.

• As a result of that poor showing, Dallas absolutely has to stay out of major penalty trouble tonight. The Oilers have the second best power play in the NHL (though they will be missing some players) and the third best on home ice. The last thing Dallas needs to do is get in their own way again.

more after the jump

Final

Dallas 3 - Calgary 5

Ugly. That's really all you can say about this game. It was flat out ugly. Numerous stupid penalties, egregious turnovers and all-around foolish play doomed the Stars in their 5-3 loss to the Calgary Flames. It really was a game that the Stars should have handily won but they just couldn't get out of their own way. The game last night just proved to be a huge waste. The Stars went into the game yesterday with an opportunity to effectively end the Flames season. Instead, Calgary now finds themselves back into the playoff hunt and the Stars are in the seventh spot in the West with their most difficult portion of the schedule still coming up.

The game got off to a great start for the Stars as Jamie Benn scored just 26 seconds into the game with a wrister from near the blue line. It looked like an easy catch for Miikka Kiprusoff but he had a failure of hand/eye coordination and watched as the puck just flew over his glovehand and into the net. The start wouldn't last too long though as the Flames would capitalize on the Stars first mistake of the game. Trevor Daley took a high-sticking penalty six minutes into the period and Olli Jokinen would end up with a power play goal. That would be the flow of the game. Dallas would score a goal, take a penalty and then the Flames would either score a power play goal or get enough momentum to tie it up later.

Jamie Benn continued his dominant play from the first period when he scored in the second just 44 seconds in. Things would swing back and forth until Mike Ribeiro made one of the worst mistakes you'll ever see. The Stars were in the defensive zone and Ribeiro had the puck along the boards. Jarome Iginla was skating towards him and Ribs just lost his mind. He panicked and fired the puck through the slot, where Blake Comeau was literally waiting all by himself. If this had been in the offensive zone, it would have been a great pass but here, it was just a horrible mistake. Comeau one-timed the puck by Lehtonen and tied the game at 2-2. That goal would be the turning point of the game.

Mike Cammalleri scored a goal just one minute later and the Stars suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of the score board. Ribeiro was the culpirt in this one as well as he lost the face-off that led to the goal.

He would make some ammends by scoring the tying goal three minutes later but that tie didn't last. Immediately after that goal, Stephane Robidas would take a tripping penalty and the Flames would score a power play goal. Two minutes before the end of the period, that would happen again when Steve Ott took a tripping penalty. A 2-1 lead at the beginning of the second period would be 5-3 in the Flames favor by the time it ended.

Dallas scored a power play goal (by Philip Larsen) in the third to make things interesting, but they would never fully make the comeback.

The Stars just continue to get killed by their own mistakes. They say all the right things after the game ("We took stupid penalties", "We're upset at ourselves", etc...) but none of that really matters unless they make it count on ice. Dallas returns to the ice on Wednesday to take on the Edmonton Oilers.

more after the jump

It's the penultimate week of the season and the Stars are still, somehow still, in a prime position to finally break their playoff drought. Dallas enters this week tied with the Phoenix Coyotes for the division lead and just one point ahead of the ninth and tenth place teams so any lapse in play can still kill the Stars. Only four points separate Dallas from the Calgary Flames, the eleventh place team in the Western Conference.

The Stars have seven games left on the season and they face the last difficult portion of their schedule as they go on a four game road trip.

So here we are with the schedule for week 26 of the season.

more after the jump

Dallas Stars (41-29-5, 87 pts) @ Calgary Flames (34-27-15, 83 pts)

8:00 PM CT, March 26, 2012

Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The game tonight means one thing for the Stars, opportunity. It's an opportunity to put themselves further ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes (a team that they have two games in hand on), a team that lost last night. It's an opportunity to bury the coffin and shovel the dirt onto the Calgary Flames playoff chances for good. Most of all, it's an opportunity to start out a season decinding four game road trip with a win.

The Stars beat the Flames 4-1 on Saturday on the first of their home-and-home series. The score line is quite deceiving though. The Stars were outplayed for pretty much the entire game and won simply because Kari Lehtonen played an amazing game (as usual) and Miikka Kiprusoff was decidedly less effective. Timely goals from Jamie Benn and Michael Ryder in the first eight minutes of the game proved to be all Dallas would need, though Benn and Brenden Morrow would provide daggers in the third period.

Those beginning eight minutes were pretty much the only moments in this game that the Stars had control of the game. In the second and third periods, the Stars were outshot 29-12 and could barely get a scoring chance to save their life. Dallas could not get any extended puck possession and were losing those battles along the boards. It really was the least convincing 4-1 win I've ever seen.

Dallas needs to get back into the saddle tonight. This will be a desperate Flames team, one that has their home crowd behind them this time. The Stars have to match the Flames intensity and give back just as much as they take. Lehtonen will definitely have to be on top of his game again tonight and the top line has to, absolutely has to, show up and put pressure on Kiprusoff tonight. He's shown how quickly things can fall apart on him if he's bombarded with shots.

Lehtonen gets the start. He's 3-0-0 against the Flames this season with a 1.60 GAA and a .951 save percentage. He's stopped 96 of 101 shots.

Dallas is only dealing with one injury. Mark Fistric will probably miss the rest of the road trip with an abdominal injury. That means more Adam Pardy, unless somehow Jordie Benn gets the start.

On the signing front, the Stars purchased the contract of Reilly Smith yesterday. The youngster will be brought to the team as soon as possible, though he'll most likely miss tonight's game because he needs to get an American work visa. Smith is one of the Stars best forward prospects and will hopefully make a strong impact on this team as a scorer.

Notes and thoughts:

• Dallas is 19-15-2 on the road this season. They've won six of the last seven road games.

• Michael Ryder and Steve Ott have a point in all three games of this series so far. Ryder has two goals and an assist while Ott has a goal and two assists.

• Lehtonen has two of his three assists this season against the Flames.

• Dallas is 41 of 43 (95%) on the penalty kill in the last 13 games. The Flames power play has been pretty bad at home all season so there shouldn't be a power play goal for Calgary tonight (there better not be).

more after the jump