ESPN

Richard Durrett has a column on how the Dallas Stars should approach matters with the NHL trade deadline less than three weeks away.

Here's an excerpt:

The smartest thing Dallas Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk can do the next few weeks is resist the temptation to let the standings be his guide.

The trade deadline is less than three weeks away, and the Stars are one of a gaggle of teams vying for one of the final playoff spots. One night they look like they're capable of getting there, behind strong goaltending from Kari Lehtonen and just enough key plays at the right moments, but the next night they can't score a big goal or finish off an opponent to get a win.

So it's safe to say more than halfway into the season that the Stars are an inconsistent team. They aren't good enough to compete for the Stanley Cup, but they haven't given up hopes of making the playoffs, either.

For a team in danger of missing the postseason party for a fourth consecutive season, it might sound odd to advocate even more patience. But that's what's needed now. Making a move or two to bolster this current edition only -- at the price of some young talent, for instance -- won't help create a big winning window of opportunity in the future.

You can read the full column here.

FRISCO – The Dallas Stars have been in a bit of a funk lately and Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said the only way the team is going to get out of it is by bearing down and working their way out of it.

“There’s no magic elixir or potion that is going to come,” Gulutzan said. “It’s about digging in. This game is still about that, working together and doing the same things within our structure. That’s what it is about.”

The Stars haven’t come out of the All-Star break the way they wanted. The record is 2-2-0. It could be worse if not for the goaltending of Kari Lehtonen. They’re actually a point closer to eighth place than when they came out of the All-Star break, sitting only two points out of the final spot. But teams have pushed ahead of the in the standings, leaving the Stars in 12^th place at the end of play Wednesday.

The Stars were expecting more, and they’ll need more as they move ahead. That was the message Wednesday as the Stars prepared to head off on a brief road trip.

“The message is we’ve got to dig in here and get to work to right this ship,” Gulutzan said.

The Stars didn’t practice Wednesday, saving some energy now that they are in a stretch where they play at least every other night and travel between each game for the next couple weeks.

The Stars hit the road for the next two games and while the opponents are out of the playoff picture, they won’t be easy matchups. Thursday’s opponent – the Columbus Blue Jackets – are sitting 15^th in the Western Conference, but have been playing better and are on a two-game winning streak.

“They beat Minnesota (Tuesday) night. They are a team that works very hard, they got skilled guys and at this juncture this is an even matchup,” said Gulutzan. “We’re going to have to make sure that we’re ready to play.”

And Friday’s opponent – the Buffalo Sabres – are on a bit of a roll. They’ve picked up points in five straight games (4-0-1) and are coming off a 6-0 rout of Boston Wednesday night. That will be a tough matchup on the second night of a back-to-back, something the Stars have struggled with this season.

Back-to-back No. 10

Thursday’s game at Columbus and Friday’s game against Buffalo will be the Stars’ tenth set of back-to-back games this season. The first nine haven’t gone well. The Stars have a 4-12-2 record in those games, including a 4-4-1 mark in first games of the back-to-back and a 0-8-1 record in second games. Excluding the goal awarded for a shootout victory, the Stars have been outscored 36-14 in those second games.

Dallas Stars at Columbus Blue Jackets
Thursday February 9
6:00 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports Southwest
Radio: KTCK-1310 (AM)

About the Stars

The Stars (27-23-2) lost 4-1 to Phoenix Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. The Coyotes, who were playing their second game in as many nights, jumped two points ahead of the Stars in the standings.

“We weren’t very good again. Even with a real good goalie performance, we got outworked by a team that played last night,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “When you get outplayed and outworked and your goaltender stands on his head to keep it close, I’ve got a big problem with that.”

The Stars are 2-2-0 since the All-Star break.

Injuries: Brenden Morrow (neck/shoulder) is out.

About the Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets (15-32-6) defeated Minnesota 3-1 Tuesday night. It was the second straight win for Columbus following a six-game winless streak.

“What we’ve done is wipe the slate clean and try to be the best team we can be the rest of the way,” said Blue Jackets forward R.J. Umberger. “It’s about pride. Pride in your job, and pride in the sweater you’re wearing. We played like that tonight.”

The Blue Jackets signed veteran forward Vinny Prospal to a one-year, $2.5 million contract extension on Wednesday.

Injuries: D Brett Lebda (hand), D James Wisniewski (ankle), D Nikita Nikitin (knee), D Radek Martinek (concussion), LW Kristian Huselius (groin) and C Mark Letestu (hand) are out.

Series notes

*This is the fourth and final meeting between the two teams this season.

*The Stars are 2-1-0 in the series.

*The Blue Jackets are 1-2-0 in the series.

*October 15, at Dallas: Stars 4, Blue Jackets 2
October 18, at Columbus: Stars 3, Blues Jackets 2
December 29, at Dallas: Blue Jackets 4, Stars 1

FRISCO -- The Dallas Stars didn't skate today. With the schedule picking up and the Stars playing every other day and traveling between each game for the next few weeks, rest is key right now.

"Pregame and our work day is tomorrow," said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. "We’ve got some bumps and bruises and some guys not feeling well. This time of the year rest is as important as practice."

Gulutzan was asked what the message for the team was today following Tuesday's 4-1 loss to Phoenix. The Stars are 2-2-0 since the All-Star break and haven't played well.

"The message is we’ve got to dig in here and work to right the ship," Gulutzan said.

The Stars head off to Columbus this afternoon. They'll play the Blue Jackets Thursday and then they'll travel to Buffalo for a game against the Sabres on Friday.

Although the Stars have some bumps and bruises, Gulutzan said everybody should be ready to go Thursday against the Blue Jackets. That doesn't include Brenden Morrow, who is still on injured reserve with neck/back problems.

Gulutzan said he hasn't made a decision on the goaltenders yet, but is leaning towards playing Kari Lehtonen against Columbus and Richard Bachman in Buffalo.

All-Star left winger Jamie Benn, 22, talks about the current state of the Stars, his relationship with Mike Modano and expectations moving forward.

 

DALLAS -- In a key game against a team they are battling for a playoff spot, the Dallas Stars came out flat Tuesday night, losing 4-1 to the Phoenix Coyotes at American Airlines Center.

“We weren’t very good again,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “Even with a real good goalie performance, we got outworked by a team that played last night.”

“Awful. Atrocious.,” said Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray. “We’ve gotten by on a real good goaltender in our last three or four games, and it’s just not good enough. We can talk about it, try to figure it out, point the finger, but as a whole we’ve really been letting each other down the last three or four games, especially with how important this stretch of games is and what it means.”

Tuesday’s loss dropped the Stars into 11th place in the Western Conference, but they remained only two points out of the final playoff spot.

The Stars seemed to be an advantage heading into Tuesday’s game. They were well rested and Phoenix was playing its second game in as many nights. But it was the Coyotes who looked like the fresher team and they were on the Stars early.

“Our game plan was to play hard, play physical against that team, they played last night. We didn’t do a good job of that,” said Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas. “We lost a lot of one-on-one battles. When you lose those you always end up on the wrong side, and that’s exactly what happened tonight. They played a simple game. It was right there for us, but it comes right back to the work ethic.”

The Coyotes scored 4:43 into the game when a Keith Yandle shot from the point hit traffic and got past Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen.

The Stars tied the game 2:34 into the second when Michael Ryder scored off the rush, ripping a shot from the right circle past Coyotes goalie Mike Smith.

The Stars had a great opportunity to take the lead when they went on a four-minute power play, but they couldn’t take advantage.

“Any time a team kills a four-minute power play it gives them a big boost,” said Robidas. “It gives them some momentum. We had some good movement (on the power play), but just couldn’t get one to go in.”

The Coyotes then took the lead with 4:11 left in the second, not long after the Stars turned over the puck in their own end and allowed Phoenix to keep pressure in the offensive zone. Rusty Klesla centered the puck and Radim Vrbata put it in the net to give the Coyotes a 2-1 lead.

“A turnover, almost the same play from two nights ago, cost us a goal,” said Gulutzan. “That’s it, that’s all they need. They know who they are.”

The Coyotes, who improved to 21-1-0 when leading after two periods, closed the game out in the third period. Raffi Torres scored early in the third to make it 3-1 and a Derek Morris goal late in the period rounded out the scoring for the Coyotes, who won their third straight game and moved into the ninth place in the Western Conference. They’re tied with eighth-seeded Minnesota in points, but the Wild have played one fewer game.

“That’s three games we’ve played how we want to play or how we have to play. We’ve got a lot of people really committed into doing things that make you win hockey games,” said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett. “We had two good games against San Jose and Detroit. We come in here on a back-to-back, I give our guys a lot of credit. They competed hard. They did a lot of little things right that make you win games.”

The Coyotes got points from ten different players.

“That’s the key to our team. That’s who we are. That’s how we play,” Tippett said. “That’s how we’re going to have to continue to play if we’re going to be successful.”

Gulutzan, meanwhile, said the Stars are still trying to determine exactly who they are, and they need to get it sorted it out soon.

“We do and we don’t (know who we are) at times. We do and we don’t. We haven’t played well since the break. We’ve to get going,” Gulutzan said. “Record aside, whatever it was, three wins in the last four or two of the last three (coming into Tuesday), we need to be better. That’s not asking too much, that’s reality.”

Notes

*The Stars are now 3-5-1 against teams playing in the second game of back-to-backs.

*The Stars were 0-4 on the power play in the game and 1-1 on the penalty kill.

*Stars captain Brenden Morrow missed his second game with a neck/shoulder injury. He is expected to miss at least the next two games.

*Mark Fistric and Jake Dowell were healthy scratches for the Stars.

*Tuesday’s attendance was 11,162

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan on the game

“We weren’t very good again. Even with a real good goalie performance, we got outworked by a team that played last night.”

“If you put up 45 shots and lost 2-1 against an outstanding goaltender, you’ve got to live with those. But if you get outplayed and outworked and your goaltender stands on his head to keep it close, I’ve got a big problem with that.”

“A turnover, almost the same play from two nights ago, cost us a goal and made it 2-1. That’s it, that’s all they need. They know who they are.”

“We do and we don’t (know who we are) at times. We do and we don’t. We haven’t played well since the break. We’ve to get going. Record aside, whatever it was, three wins in the last four or two of the last three, we need to be better. That’s not asking too much, that’s reality.”

Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray

“Awful. Atrocious. We’ve gotten by on a real good goaltender in our last three or four games, and it’s just not good enough. We can talk about it, try to figure it out, point the finger, but as a whole we’ve really been letting each other down the last three or four games, especially with how important this stretch of games is and what it means.”

Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas

“Our game plan was to play hard, play physical against that team because they played last night. We didn’t do a good job of that. We lost a lot of one-on-one battles. When you lose those you always end up on the wrong side, and that’s exactly what happened tonight. They played a simple game. It was right there for us, but it comes right back to the work ethic.”

Coyotes coach Dave Tippett

“That’s three games we’ve played how we want to play or how we have to play. We’ve got a lot of people really committed into doing things that make you win hockey games. We had two good games against San Jose and Detroit. We come in here on a back-to-back, I give our guys a lot of credit. They competed hard. They did a lot of little things right that make you win games.”

“Well, what we’re doing is we wanted to push back. We knew that they were going to try to come at us hard because of the back-to-back and we wanted to push back. Coming out of the first period up 1-0, that was a good push back.”

Here are some notes and a statistical update on Dallas Stars prospects playing junior hockey, in Europe and in college.

*F Austin Smith (5^th round/2007) scored four goals in Colgate’s 8-3 victory over RPI Saturday. Smith, a senior, now has 30 goals and 15 assists in 28 games this season and leads the nation in goals and ranks second in points.

*RW Alex Chiasson (2^nd round/2009) has points in eight of his last nine games for Boston University and has 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) during that stretch. Chiasson, a junior, has 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 25 games.

*RW Brett Ritchie (2^nd round/2011) has six goals over the last six games for Niagara of the Ontario Hockey League. Ritchie has 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) in 36 games this season, playing for both Niagara and Sarnia of the OHL this season.

*C Emil Molin (4^th round/2011) scored his first career Swedish Elite League goal over the past week. Molin has 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 28 games with Brynas of the SEL this season.

*D Troy Vance (5^th round/2011) remains out with a hip injury for Victoriaville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars have a key game tonight as they take on the Phoenix Coyotes, a team they are battling in the Western Conference playoff race. The Stars and Coyotes are deadlocked at 56 points, two points behind eighth-seeded Minnesota.

"Every game is important for us, but some have different meanings. This is a team we're tied with. This is direct competition. This is a team that wants what we want," said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. "This is a big game for us. They played last night. We're fresh. This is a real big game for us."

The Coyotes are coming off a 3-1 win over Detroit Monday night. They beat San Jose 5-3 Saturday as well. Those are two big wins, but this will be their third game in four days, including their second in two days.

The Stars, by the way, haven't fared all that well when playing teams that are in on the second game of a back-to-back set. The Stars are 3-4-1 in those games, according to the team's PR staff.

As for the Stars lineup, Toby Petersen will be back in after being a healthy scratch the last four games. Based on the lines in this morning's skate, it looks like Jake Dowell could be the odd man out among the forwards.

Kari Lehtonen in goal.

Here's the projected lineup for tonight.

Ott-Benn-Ryder
Nystrom-Ribeiro-Eriksson
Burish-Fiddler-Dvorak
Petersen-Wandell-Vincour

Souray-Robidas
Grossman-Daley
Goligoski-Larsen

Lehtonen

FRISCO -- With the Dallas Stars about to kick out a key part of their schedule, coach Glen Gulutzan is trying to balance pushing and prodding his team to raise its level of play, and keeping the message positive at the same time.

After Saturday’s 2-1 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild, Gulutzan‘s demeanor wasn’t exactly upbeat. He was not pleased with some elements of his team’s performance.

Gulutzan was happy with the win, which cut into the Wild’s lead over the Stars in the standings, but was irritated with his team’s first period, when they turned the puck over too much and gave Minnesota a few too many scoring chances. The stellar goaltending of Kari Lehtonen kept them out of trouble.

“We relied on our goalie a lot. We have to be better. We have to be better,” Gulutzan said after Saturday’s game. “I’m ecstatic about the two points and it’s going to help us, but we have a different level we need to get to.”

Monday, after looking at some video and talking to some of his players, Gulutzan had a different outlook on things.

“The most positive thing I got was from the video was that we played physical, and some guys had some good games. The positive thing I took from today in talking to Benny (Jamie Benn) and (Eric) Nystrom is how dead they were Saturday,” Gulutzan said. “When you hear it from a majority of your guys and your workers that they didn’t have much energy in them, but we came out physical and we played hard. Yeah, we turned some things over and it just goes to show you how important rest is. That three (games) in four (days) and travel to LA, they felt dead Saturday.

“I come away from it now thinking maybe that I shouldn’t have been, in my own mind and not to them, so down on them. I felt for the most part they worked that game and that’s all we can ask for.”

The Stars have won two of three since the All-Star break and three of their last four games overall. But in a 1-0 win over Anaheim just before the break and Saturday’s win over the Wild, Lehtonen was the reason the Stars got the two points. Lehtonen’s teammates know they have to ramp it up during a stretch where the Stars play 12 games in 20 days leading up to the trade deadline.

“We definitely need to play better than we have lately. We know how big these games are. This is the month we have to start winning and play real well,” said Stars forward Loui Eriksson. “The last game we had too many turnovers early and gave them too many chances. We have to clean that up, the turnovers and just overall play I think.”

The Stars' next four games are against Phoenix, Columbus, Buffalo and Los Angeles. Phoenix and Los Angeles are two teams the Stars are battling for those final two playoff spots in the West. Columbus and Buffalo are two teams who are out of the playoff picture.

"This is a big stretch for us. The next three, four games are games we’ve got to have," said defenseman Alex Goligoski "We know we have a tough month coming up schedule-wise. Realistically this month is going to make or break us. We’ve got to go on a little run here and pick up points in all these games."

And that's why right now is good time for the Stars to get their game in order. Gulutzan said getting the level of play up at this point of the season is the like the season itself – it’s a grind. But he and his team have to keep plugging away if they want to climb up the standings and into the top eight in Western Conference.

“It’s millimeters now. You just have to keep pushing and coaxing and encouraging. That’s your job as a coach,” Gulutzan said. “Not so much asking for more, but just keep heaving up in different directions. Heave up one side that might be sagging a little bit, just keep pushing the team forward. But you have to stay positive because these are grinds. It doesn’t get easier if you’re negative all the time. You’ve got to look for push and good things.”

Notes

*Brenden Morrow is expected miss the next three games with neck/shoulder problems. Morrow will miss Tuesday’s game and then isn’t expected to be on the Stars’ upcoming two-game road trip to Columbus and Buffalo.

*The Stars sent defenseman Adam Pardy to the Texas Stars on a conditioning assignment. Pardy will play games with Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday and then is scheduled to rejoin Dallas in Columbus on Thursday.

Phoenix Coyotes at Dallas Stars
Tuesday February 7
7:30 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports Southwest
Radio: KTCK-1310 (AM)

About the Stars

The Stars (27-22-2) are coming off a 2-1 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild Saturday night. The win cut the Wild’s lead over the Stars for the final playoff spot in the West from three points to two points.

“We would have liked to have picked up two points on them, but we closed the gap and that’s what we’re trying to do,” said Stars forward Eric Nystrom. “There’s a lot of hockey left.”

Kari Lehtonen stopped 33 of 34 shots in the game and two of three in the shootout. The Stars scored on the power play for the third consecutive game and are 3-7 on the PP since the All-Star break.

The Stars are 2-1-0 since the All-Star break and have won three of their last four games.

The Stars on Monday assigned defenseman Adam Pardy to the Texas Stars (AHL) on a conditioning assignment.

Injuries: Brenden Morrow (neck/shoulder) is out.

About the Coyotes

The Coyotes (24-21-8) followed up a 5-3 win over San Jose on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over Detroit on Monday. It pulled the Coyotes into 10^th place in the West, two points out of the final playoff spot.

“It’s huge (beating San Jose and Detroit in consecutive games). To be the best you’ve got to beat the best,” said Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith. “We’re going to have to beat teams ahead of us to get into the playoffs. We’ve got to find ways to get wins right now, and that’s obviously a huge one for our team.”

The Coyotes are 2-1-0 since the All-Star break and have won three of their last four games.

Injuries: D David Schlemko (foot) is out.

Series notes

*This is the third of six meetings between the Stars and Coyotes this season.

*Dallas is 2-1-0 in the season series.

*Phoenix is 1-0-2 in the season series.

The past week

The Texas Stars went 0-2-0-0 last week and are 20-22-1-2 on the season. They currently rank 15th in the AHL’s Western Conference, eight points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Stars lost 3-1 at Houston on Thursday. Ryan Garbutt scored the lone Texas goal and Andrew Raycroft stopped 32 of 34 shots. It was Texas’ third straight loss.

On Saturday, the Stars saw their losing streak hit four games as they lost 4-3 to Charlotte at Cedar Park Center. Garbutt, Angelo Esposito and Travis Morin scored goals. Raycroft stopped 21 of 25 shots.

The week ahead

Tuesday February 7, vs. Milwaukee
Wednesday February 8, vs. Milwaukee
Friday February 10, at Rochester
Sunday February 12, at Hamilton

Notes

*Texas ranks 12th in the AHL in scoring at 2.93 goals per game.

*Texas ranks 25th in goals against at 3.09 per game.

*Texas has the AHL’s 6th ranked power play at 20.5 percent.

*Texas’ penalty kill ranks 11th at 83.2 percent.

Transactions

*2/6: D Adam Pardy assigned to Texas (AHL) on conditioning loan by Dallas (NHL)

*2/3: RW Tomas Vincour recalled by Dallas (NHL) from Texas (AHL)

*2/1: D Jace Coyle assigned to Texas (AHL) from Idaho (ECHL)

Idaho Steelheads

The Idaho Steelheads went 1-1-0-0 over the past week. The Steelheads are 21-20-2-3 and are currently 6th in the ECHL’s Western Conference.

The Dallas Stars are 18th in this week's ESPN NHL Power Rankings, the same spot they held one week ago.

Scott Burnside, who put together this week's rankings, said this about the Stars:

"The Stars are hanging around the playoff picture in the West. It's time for Kari Lehtonen to prove he's a franchise netminder."

The New York Rangers are No. 1 in this weeks rankings. Detroit, Vancouver, Nashville and St. Louis round out the top five. The full rankings are here.

Dallas Stars defenseman Adam Pardy, who has been a healthy scratch the last 10 games, is heading to the AHL on a conditioning assignment.

Pardy will play two games with the Texas Stars, who play Milwaukee Tuesday and Wednesday, and then is scheduled to rejoin Dallas in Columbus on Thursday.

Pardy, who signed a two-year, $4 million contract in July, has one assist and a minus-eight rating in 22 games with Dallas this season. He has been a healthy scratch in 25 games.