Dallas Stars (34-26-5, 73 pts) @ Calgary Flames (29-25-11, 69 pts)

5:00 PM CT, March 4, 2012

Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Stars:

As surprising as it might be, the Stars enter this game as one of the hotter teams in the league. They've gone 6-2-2 in the last 10 games and have won five of the last six games. Dallas has managed to get at least one point in each of those games though so the Stars enter tonight on a six game point streak. 

It's been firing on all cylinders for Dallas during this winning streak. The defense and goaltending (mostly goaltending) has held opponents to two or less goals in each of the five wins. The only loss occurred when the Stars were beaten in a shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The offense has been jstu as good as the Stars have scored at least three goals in six straight games. Scoring three against this Flames team and Dallas will be very tough to beat.

The game today presents an opportunity to knock out some of the competition. The Flames sit four points behind the Stars. A win by the Stars would almost certainly give them the tiebreaker so it would be extremely difficult for the Flames to pass them. Dallas also enters this game tied with San Jose and two points behind the Phoenix Coyotes for the division lead. It's crunch time now so Dallas needs to take care of the inferior teams. 

The last game between these two teams was won by the Stars 3-2 in overtime. It was one of the more memorable games of the season due to the six shades of sexy goal by Mike Ribeiro.

The key tonight for the Stars will be to just take the game to the Flames. They are a team that is struggling and the Stars need to show that they are the better. Start out strong, work Kiprusoff and crash the net for rebounds. Don't let Calgary get a foothold in this game while it's close.

Kari Lehtonen takes the start tonight.

Dallas will be without Brenden Morrow (back/neck/shoulder) and Jake Dowell (broken finger). Toby Peterson will also miss this game as he returned to Dallas to be with his wife, who just gave birth to their third child.

Notes and thoughts:

• Stars are 16-14-2 on the road this year.
  

• The Stars PK is 17 of 18 in the last six games.

• Michael Ryder has a goal in three straight and at least a point in five straight games.

more after the jump

Final

Dallas 3 - Edmonton 1

It wasn't pretty, but the Stars did what they had to do last night. They beat an inferior Edmonton Oilers squad despite not playing their most efficient game. Dallas got depth line scoring in this game through hard work, a little luck and sheer force of will.

This was a pretty sleepy game all-around. Dallas never recorded more than six shots in any period and neither team reached double digit shots in any of the periods. The two teams entered the first intermission tied at 0-0 before Dallas finally cracked open the scoreboard with a very rare Radek Dvorak goal. Dvorak worked hard around the net and found himself on top of a juicy rebound which he promptly put in.

The Stars followed that up with an even rarer Tomas Vincour goal which I'm still not quite sure how it happened. Dallas had put the puck behind the net and Nikolai Khabibulin and a couple of Oilers defenders went to get the puck. Ryan Garbutt charged his way through and sort of ran into one of the Oilers defenders, who in turn crashed into the Oilers goalie. The puck snuck by everyone and found Tomas Vincour, who was literally standing one foot away from the goal. That had to have been the easiest goal of his career.

From then on, Dallas just held onto the lead. They kept Oilers away from the net and avoided the huge mistakes. Kari Lehtonen stopped nearly every shot that the Edmonton put on him. The Oilers broke Lehtonen's shutout bid with only 30 seconds left in the game.

It was a game that Dallas had to, and was supposed to, win. They find themselves in Calgary to play the Flames on Sunday. A win for Dallas could then put the Flames out of the playoff race for good.

more after the jump

Dallas Stars (33-26-5, 71 pts) @ Edmonton Oilers (25-32-6, 56 pts)

8:30 PM CT, March 2, 2012

Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Stars:

Dallas has to be coming into this game riding a wave of confidence. Despite losing the last game 4-3 in a shootout against the Penguins (in the most exciting game of the season), the Stars showed a lot of toughness and moxie by not backing down in that game. Dallas has gotten at least a point in five straight games now and enters tonight in a very winnable game against the Edmonton Oilers. 

Tonight marks a big chance for Dallas to put some miniscule distance away from the teams behind them in the playoff race. Dallas has 71 points, one ahead of the LA Kings and Colorado Avs. A win tonight would put Dallas in a tie with the San Jose Sharks for seventh place in the West. It's the first game in a three game Western Canada road trip for the Stars. They will also play Calgary and Vancouver in the coming days.

This Stars team is playing as well as they have all season. There's an energy there that was missing for most of the past couple of months and all four lines have been clicking. The line of Eriksson-Ribeiro-Ryder has been one of the hottest in the entire league and the addition of Ryan Garbutt to the lineup has really energized the fourth line. He and Vincour have been wrecking balls on the forecheck.

The key for tonight's game will be to continue to work the boards. Dallas won the previous two games by dominating the run of play and keeping control of the puck. Oilers leading scorer Jordan Eberle has been held to only 1 assist and Ryan-Nugent Hopkins has 1 goal (he missed the second game with an injury). Dallas has to be able to control the speed of the Oilers young forward core or Kari Lehtonen will be facing point blank shots all night.

Kari Lehtonen will be getting the start tonight. He is 5-2-0 in his career against the Oilers with a 2.44 GAA and a .918 save percentage. He only started one of the two games in the season series so far. He stopped 17 of 18 shots in that game (a 4-1 win).

Dallas is still without the services of Brenden Morrow (neck/shoulder/back) and Jake Dowell (broken finger).

Notes and thoughts:

• Dallas is 15-14-2 on the road this season. They have won the last two road games by a combined 6-1 score.

• Dallas won both matchups 4-1. Both games were in Dallas.

• Loui Eriksson has 4 assists in the season series so far. Jamie Benn has 2 goals while Mike Ribeiro also has 2 goals and 1 assist.

• The Stars PK is 17 of 18 in the last five games. Their PP in that time is 1 of 9.

• Dallas had four PP opportunities in the last game. It's only the second time in the last nine games that the Stars have had more than two PP chances in one game.

• Michael Ryder has at least a point in ten of the last eleven games (7 goals, 4 assists).

• Mike Ribeiro has at least a point in eight straight games (3 goals, 8 assists).

• Loui Eriksson has at least a point in nine of the last eleven games (4 goals, 9 assists).

more after the jump

Compared to how poor Dallas played in January, the Stars played much better hockey this month. They got off to a shaky start, alternating wins and losses before going on a show losing streak. However, Dallas rediscovered its game and fired off five wins in a row near the end of the month. That win streak tied their longest of the season and puts Dallas back into a playoff spot.

Overall, Dallas went 8-5-3 in February. They had three games go into a shootout and another three games that ended in overtime. Injury troubles showed up again as Brenden Morrow, Sheldon Souray and Jamie Benn all missed games (Morrow is still out). As a result to injuries to the forwards, Ryan Garbutt got some time with the team and made a huge impression.

Dallas was 7 of 39 on the PP this month and 45 of 54 on the PK. In January, Dallas had 29 PP chances and were on the PK 34 times so the special teams got a lot more work this month.

Kari Lehtonen started 14 of the 16 games in February. Richard Bachman started the other two. Bachman was 1-1-0 while Lehtonen was 7-4-3. Most of the skaters had their best months of the season due to the amount of games in February. They still managed to produce though.

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 24:49 of TOI/G. He has 1414:35 total time on ice on the season. His time on ice is really quite incredible. He's the only non-defensemen in the top-64 players in the league in terms of ice time per game (he ranks 15th in the NHL). For defensemen, the league leaders are Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi and Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell with 26:59 of TOI/G. They have totals of 1646:11 and 1672:36, respectively.

more after the jump

Final SO

Dallas 3 - Pittsburgh 4

Man, that was a lot of fun wasn't it? I don't even mind that the Stars lost. Playoff atmosphere hockey in what had to have been the most exciting game of the year for the Stars. This past week of hockey has been as fun as any this season. Dallas took everything, EVERYTHING, that the Penguins threw at them and gave it right back. Dallas didn't back down from anything in this game, which really took off after the Nystrom-on-Letang hit which I'll get into a bit more later.

The forward lines were great up and down the lineup, 1st-4th. There was no one that had a subpar game among in this group. The Ribs line has been great in the past week and proved their worth again tonight. All three of the guys on this line kept their point streaks going. Kari Lehtonen was solid, but was let down by a couple of defensive lapses.

Dallas actually struck first as Jamie Benn scored a goal in his first game back. He was wide open in the slot and no Pens defender tried to stop him as he put it past Fleury, who actually got a glove on it. From then on, it was a back and forth game all the way until the shootout. It looked like the Pens had all the momentum in the third period as they scored twice in a minute to take the lead but Dallas was again able to fight back.

Marc-Andre Fleury allowed three goals but still might have been the number one star of this game. He made three saves on Stars breakaway chances and stoned numerous point-blank chances. Dallas could have easily had at least seven goals if Fleury had been even a bit off his game today. When Letang left, the Pens blue line was an absolute mess.

There was a huge talking point in this when Eric Nystrom put a hit on Kris Letang in the corner. Letang and Nystrom were both going for the puck and Nytrom hit Letang. Letang went down to the ice and was taken off with what's probably a concussion. In my opinion, Nystrom did not put a dirty hit on Letang. He kept his elbow tucked in and hit him with the side of his arm.

Letang was reaching for the puck in the corner and had his body leaning and his head down as a result. It was as much of him running into Nystrom as it was Nystrom hitting Letang. I can totally understand how people could see this differently though and would not be surprised or angry if Nystrom gets a suspension.

more after the jump

Pittsburgh Penguins (36-21-5, 77 pts) @ Dallas Stars (33-26-4, 70 pts)

6:30 PM CT, February 29, 2012

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

Stars:

As improbable as it seemed just two weeks ago, the Stars have somehow rallied together and enter tonight's game on a four game win streak. They remain tied with the LA Kings and the Colorado Avalanche for the eighth spot in the West but sit in the last playoff spot due to tiebreakers (Dallas has more regulation and overtime wins).

The opponent tonight is another tough one as the Pittsburgh Penguins come into town. Dallas lost 3-1 in the previous matchup between the two earlier this season. That game was noteworthy because Alex Goligoski was injured and subsequently missed a month of games. Fingers are crossed for a healthier showing tonight.

The Stars have been riding this win streak with solid goaltending and a sudden explosion of offense. They have outscored the opponent 13-4 during the four game win streak and have played stellar throughout the games. There's no huge lapse in concentration and effort that had plagued this team earlier this month, which is a huge relief. They need to come out with that same passion again tonight against Pittsburgh.

The Stars get a boost to the team as Jamie Benn returns tonight from his lacerated leg. He had missed the last six games due to it. Dallas managed to persevere and went 4-1-1 in Benn's absence so tonight should only help the team. As a result of his return, Tom Wandell goes back to his fourth line centering duties which causes a bit of a logjam. Wandell is pretty much assured his spot on that line but Toby Peterson, Ryan Garbutt, Adam Burish and Tomas Vincour are all fighting for time on that line. Vincour and Burish might see time on the first or second lines as Brenden Morrow is still injured, but things will get crazy once he and Jake Dowell return.

Morrow has neck/shoulder/back issues and Dowell has a broken finger. Both should be returning in the next couple of weeks.

Kari Lehtonen gets the start tonight. He probably had the worst performance of his season last game against the Canucks (though he still stopped 24 of 26 shots). He let in two very soft goals (one off his glove and another straight through his armpit) but the Stars offense picked him up for once. He's had some trouble against Pittsburgh lately, going 1-3-0 with a 3.53 GAA in the last four games. He'll need to be stellar tonight.

Notes and thoughts:

• Dallas is 18-12-2 at home this year. 

• Dallas is looking for its first five game winning streak since Oct.10 - Oct.21. Those were five of the first seven games of the season.

• The win over the Canucks was the first time since Feb. 4 that the Stars were able to win consecutive games on home ice.

• The Stars PK is 12 of 13 in the last four games.

• Sunday marked the seventh time in the last eight games that Dallas has had two or less PP opportunities during a game. To say that the refs have not been kind would be an understatement.

• Dallas is 8-6-2 against the Eastern Conference this season.

• Michael Ryder has at least a point in nine of the last ten games (6 goals, 4 assists).

• Mike Ribeiro has at least a point in eight of the last nine games (3 goals, 8 assists).

• Loui Eriksson has at least a point in eight of the last ten games (4 goals, 7 assists).

more after the jump

After fielding fielding calls and talking trades and scouting players GM Joe and the Dallas Stars ended the deadline yesterday by doing...nothing. That's right. Zip, zilch, not one damn move was made by the Stars yesterday despite having attractive trade chips and numerous UFA's (unrestricted free agents) that would have been solid rentals. Soom of the moves I understand (translation: one of the non-moves).

I can understand the high price for Steve Ott (which was rumored as James Van Riemsdyk for the Flyers or top-shelf prospects from other teams) that was asked from the 10 teams that asked about his availability (10 teams though? Didn't expect Otter to be that popular league-wide). Ott has been a staple of this organization, has captain potential for this team and would just plain look wrong in any other sweater besides the Stars black, green and gold.

The non-moves I'm not sure I get though is in keeping Sheldon Souray, Radek Dvorak and Adam Burish (and to a lesser extent Mike Ribeiro). Tom Gaglardi and Stars management had made it clear that this trade deadline would be about the long-term future of this team and there would be no short term fixes for a playoff run this season. I have to ask then, what kind of long-term future do Souray and Dvorak have on this team.

Vancouver Canucks (40-16-6, 86 pts) @ Dallas Stars (32-26-4, 68 pts)

2:00 PM CT, February 26, 2012

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

Stars:

If Dallas wants to prove that it belongs in the playoffs, the game today provides an opportunity to make a statement. The game today is the first of four this season and could be a probable matchup for the first round of the playoffs if Dallas makes it (either the Canucks or Detroit).

Dallas has struggled mightly with the top teams in the West this season (Dallas has oddly done well against the top teams in the East). The Stars are 1-8-1 against Detroit, San Jose and St. Louis this season and will face an equally difficult game against Vancouver (who could be the best of the group).

The good thing for Dallas is that they enter today as hot as they have been in the past two months. Dallas has won three in a row, been scoring goals and the goaltending has been fantastic. It's all the more incredible because Dallas has been doing this without Jamie Benn (and to a lesser extent, Brenden Morrow).

The key to the game today will be to limit the effectiveness of the Sedin twins, especially Henrik. Dallas has to clog up the passing lanes or Henrik will tear the defense apart. He can find those little lanes that lead to easy tap-in goals. It would probably be better to turn the Sedins into shooters instead of passers.

Key number two in this game will be to stay out of the penalty box. The Stars get destroyed on the PK by puck movement and it's tough to find a better puck moving PP unit than what the Canucks throw out. If Dallas ends up on the PK five or more times in this game, it will be a mark in the loss column.

On the offensive end, Dallas has to crowd Luongo and obscure his vision. He'll give up rebounds and has a propensity of melting down. Get a couple of early goals by him and he'll capitulate. Put bodies around him, give him that feeling of claustrophobia and force him to be perfect if he wants to keep the puck out of the net.

Kari Lehtonen gets the start today. He's struggled in his career against the Canucks. He is 1-5-0 with a 4.16 GAA and a .866 save percentage.

Dallas will be without Jamie Benn (leg laceration), Brenden Morrow (back/neck/shoulder) and Jake Dowell (broken finger). Philip Larsen took a puck to the helmet last game and had to leave with a cut, but it looks like he will be good to go for this game.

Notes and thoughts:

• Dallas is 17-12-2 as home this season. It has alternated wins and losses in the last eight home games. If it continues to follow that pattern, today would be a loss.

• Dallas has been scoring a good amount of goals lately (surprising without Jamie Benn). It has outscored the opponent 10-2 in the last three games.

• Dallas only has four PP opportunities in the last four games. It is 0 of 4 in those games.

• Dallas is 11 of 13 on the PK in the last four games (84.6%).

• Michael Ryder has at least a point in eight of the last nine games (5 goals, 4 assists).

• Mike Ribeiro has at least a point in seven of the last eight games (2 goals, 7 assists).

• Loui Eriksson has at least a point in seven of the last nine games (3 goals, 6 assists).

more after the jump

Final

Dallas 4 - Minnesota 1

Three straight wins. A win on the second night of a back-to-back. Two points clear of ninth place in the playoff race and three points out of the third spot. Unless I'm terribly mistaken, the Stars are actually one of the hotter teams in the NHL right now.

Dallas just took the game to the Minnesota Wild last night with an effort that finally looked like they were not a dead tired team working two days in a row. In a welcome change, it was the opposing team that looked lost and confused (Minnesota playing two days in a row helped that undoubtedly). 

The Stars got off to a quick start against what must have been a tired Niklas Backstrom. Backstrom had faced 91 shots in his last two games and he didn't last too long in this one. Goals from Tom Wandell and Loui Eriksson put the Wild down 2-0 going into the first intermission. The Eriksson goal was a thing of beauty. He received a pass from Michael Ryder near the slot and skated to his left, cutting across the crease. He waited patiently as Backstrom went to the ice expecting a shot and calmly roofed the shot for the second goal for Dallas.

Backstrom would only play four minutes of the second period as an Eric Nystrom goal chased him from the game. It was mostly smooth sailing for the rest of the game after that. Things did get a little rocky in the middle of the third period as the refs went whistle crazy and called three penalties in three minutes against the Stars. Dallas would end up allowing one goal on a 5-on-3 powerplay, killing Kari Lehtonen's chances of a deserved second straight shutout.

Dallas did what they had to do in this game, protect home ice against a team that was depleted from injuries and tired from a tough game. The Stars actually looked like a team that didn't miss Jamie Benn too much (though that can't last). Dallas gets a day of rest before taking on the Western Conference leading Vancouver Canucks.

more after the jump

Final

Dallas 3 - Chicago 1

For one day at least, the Stars can say they were sitting in a playoff spot. Dallas made a fantastic comeback (a very rare one) in the third period last night to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1. Coupled with the Phoenix Coyotes win over the Calgary Flames, the Stars wake up this morning sitting in the eighth spot in the West.

A combination of a physical game and Richard Bachman playing like Kari Lehtonen proved fruitful for the Stars.

Dallas started the game with a purpose. They played with more urgency than the Hawks and were flying to the puck. Dallas didn't put much pressure on the net in the first period but they were the much more physical team on the night. Dallas outhit the Hawks by an enormous 41-15 margin. Out of the 18 guys who suited up (aside from Kari) all but Trevor Daley, Radek Dvorak and Loui Eriksson recorded a hit. They limited the Hawks chances in the first while providing a tone that would last the rest of the game.

The intimidating start didn't turn into much for Dallas though and it came back to hurt them in the second period. Marion Hossa took over the game in the second, scoring a goal and providing the Hawks with numerous chances to improve on their lead. The Hawks ended up with 16 shots on net in the second period as they tried to take the game by the throat, but Bachman proved to be more than up to the task.

Bachman single-handedly kept the Stars in the game. The only shot that got past him was off a wild mess in front of the net. There were at least five or six bodies on the ice in front of him and the puck ended up on the stick of Hossa, who had a near point blank shot that found the back of the net. That would be the only blemish on Bachman's record though. The fault was not his though as the play started off a Mark Fistric turnover.

Corey Crawford had managed to stop everything thrown at him so far (not that it was much. Dallas only had 10 SOG through two periods), but he proved to be vulnerable in the third. Dallas came out with energy again and took over the game. They peltered Crawford with 15 shots (3 of which found the net) and continued to pound Hawks players on the glass. Steve Ott, Michael Ryder and Loui Eriksson all scored tip-in goals (it's amazing what happens when you put players near the net).

The third period comeback is rare for Dallas. It's only the third time this season in which they've come back in the third period to win the game. The fact that they did that last night was one part joyous, one part shocking and one part confusing (as in you couldn't believe what was happening). In fact, seeing the comeback was so great, it gave me Ron Swanson giggles.

Dallas has no time to celebrate the win though. They have to come back today and play against the Minnesota Wild, who are coming off their own game last night.

more after the jump