ESPN

Friday was All-Star media day in Ottawa. Here are a few quotes from Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn as he chatted with various media outlets.

On not getting picked last in Thursday night’s All-Star Fantasy Draft

“I’m going to tell him (Zdeno Chara) that he owes me a car.” (Team 1200 Radio, Ottawa)

On whether being an All-Star gives him a sense of having arrived

“Definitely. You come here and you see who you are surrounded by. For young guys like us, we just have to take it in and have fun with it. It’s a pretty cool experience.” (TSN Radio)

On winning a gold medal at the the 2009 World Junior Championship, which was held in Ottawa

“It was unbelievable. Being down 3-0 against the U.S. and coming back, and then beating the Russians. It was one of the best, if not the best hockey moment of my life, winning that gold medal. It’s something I’ll never forget.” (Team 1200 Radio, Ottawa)

On the reasons behind his level of play this season

“I think it’s a little bit of everything. It’s my third year now. I’m confident out there now. I made the switch to center and I think I am really excelling at that position. I am playing with some good players and getting a good chance to play a lot of minutes. I’m having fun with it and it’s good so far.” (Team 1200 Radio, Ottawa)

If there’s a player he grew up watching that he is excited to playing with at All-Star weekend

“Definitely (Pavel) Datsyuk. He’s one of my favorite players to watch. He’s a magician out there. I am definitely looking forward to skating with him, too.” (Team 1200 Radio, Ottawa)

On Stars center Mike Ribeiro suiting up to play goalie once in a while

“He’s actually a lot better than you think. He skates with us in the summer and when we need a goalie he’s the first one to jump in there. He’s pretty good, but I might have to test him out there one training camp.” (NHL.com)

On whether he shoots high on Ribeiro

“Head hunting for sure.” (NHL.com)

Saturday night is the NHL All-Star Skills Competition, and Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn will take part in three events for Team Chara.

Benn will be in the accuracy shooting competition, will take the left-handed one-timer in the skills challenge relay and will be one of Team Chara’s shooters in the elimination shootout.

The full lineups for the Skills Competition are here at NHL.com.

A description of the events is here.

The Skills Competition is Saturday night at 6 p.m. (CST) and will be carried on the NBC Sports Network, formerly known as Versus.

Stars forward Jamie Benn was almost the last player selected in Thursday night’s NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft, but Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara decided that Benn would be the 37^th player selected and not the 38^th.

Benn and San Jose’s Logan Couture were the last two players left in the draft and it was Chara’s decision as to which player would be picked next and which player would be the last one left.

“It’s never easy to leave one guy standing, to be the last one,” Chara said as he made his selection. “But Jamie really deserves to be picked because he had surgery a couple days ago and he still showed up. That’s a big credit to him. So I am picking Dallas Star Jamie Benn.”

Couture, as the last player to be picked in the draft, received a car.

“It was a little bit of a win-win there. Get picked or get a car,” said Benn. “I’m happy I got picked.”

Benn said the experience was fun and a little tense.

“Coming down to the wire it was a little nerve-wracking, but fun at the same time. We’re here for a good weekend and I am looking forward to it,” Benn said. “I don’t think [where you get picked] matters. I think just getting the chance to be at an All-Star game is a pretty good honor. For Zdeno to throw out a shout out there was really nice of him.”

Chara had the first overall pick in the draft and selected Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk, meaning Benn will be teammates with one of the players he was looking forward to seeing at the All-Star festivities this weekend.

“Maybe Datsyuk, he’s pretty cool. He’s a player I like to watch,” Benn said when asked earlier this week about the players he was looking forward to skating with in Ottawa. “(Claude) Giroux, (Steven) Stamkos, all the top players in this league are pretty exciting to watch and to get a chance to skate with them is pretty cool.”

Giroux and Stamkos will skate for Team Alfredsson, which is captained by Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson. Alfredsson’s first pick and the second overall pick of the draft was his Ottawa teammate, defenseman Erik Karlsson.

The All-Star Skills competition is Saturday and the NHL All-Star Game is Sunday. The selections in Thursday’s draft are below.

January wasn’t a good month for the Stars. They won only four of eleven games and lost ground in the race for a playoff spot. Here are a few statistical notes.

*The Stars were 4-6-1 in January and lost three points in the race for the final playoff spot. They started the month holding down 8th place and ended the month in 10th place, three points back.

*For the most part, the Stars were middle of the pack or better statistically. They allowed 2.55 goals against per game in January, ranking 14th in the league. They were 13th in shots against at 28.3 per game. They were tied for 15th in team save percentage at 91.0 percent. The penalty kill ranked 11th at 85.3 percent.

*Offensively, it was another story. The Stars scored 2.27 goals per game in January, ranking 19th in the league for the month. Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro being out for extended time played a role in that. The power play ranked 30th in the league at 6.9 percent.

*The Stars were outscored 22-21 in five-on-five play during the month.

*The Stars lost 32 man-games to injury during the month, and have now lost 110 for the season.

Player notes

*Despite missing extended time during the month, Mike Ribeiro and Jamie Benn were tied with Loui Eriksson for the team lead with four goals in January.

*Eriksson led the team with nine assists and 13 points.

*Eriksson, Ribeiro and Trevor Daley were tops with plus-five ratings.

*Radek Dvorak had a team-low minus-seven rating. He was followed by Eric Nystrom and Vernon Fiddler, who were both a minus-five.

*Alex Goligoski was tops in average ice time at 23:10.

*Steve Ott was the team’s best faceoff guy, winning 73 of 119 draws (61.3%).

*Kari Lehtonen was 3-6-0 with a 2.66 goals against average and .906 save percentage.

*Richard Bachman was 1-0-1 with a 1.66 goals against average and .938 save percentage.

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars will be getting a little rest and relaxation for the next several days as the NHL takes a break for All-Star Weekend.

The Stars won’t be back on the ice until Monday, when they’ll practice in Frisco to prepare for their first games out of the break – at Anaheim (Wednesday) and at San Jose (Thursday).

Until then, it’s time to recharge the batteries in preparation for the stretch drive.

“Just going to relax, get away from the game a little bit,” said defenseman Alex Goligoski, who will spend some time in Minnesota. “The mental grind is probably more grueling than the physical one. It’s good to get away.”

Goaltender Kari Lehtonen was unsure of his plans following his shutout of Anaheim on Tuesday, but he was looking forward to a few days off as well.

“Just stay away from the rink,” said Lehtonen. “It’s been a long year. This is good that halfway you get a little rest, and then you get to go work again.”

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan wants the players to enjoy their break, but to be prepared to hit the ice skating when practice resumes next week.

“I haven’t dared to ask them all their plans. I’m sure guys are going to where it’s warm. I told them to take four days and don’t think about the game,” Gulutzan said. “But come Sunday let’s make sure that Monday isn’t a complete, OK, I’ve got to practice today. Start thinking about it Sunday and make sure you’re prepared to be at your best Monday.”

The Stars, who are in 10^th place in the Western Conference and three points out of the final playoff spot, will have a key stretch of hockey when they return. In February they play 16 games in 29 days, including four sets of back-to-back to games.

“February and March are going to be crazy for us,” said center Mike Ribeiro. “February is going to be playoff mode for us. We are going to have to win night in and night out. It’s a tough schedule, but guys will be ready. The break will be good for guys.”

The last two seasons the Stars have struggled out of the break. They were 1-8-1 following the All-Star break last season. In 2009-10 they were 1-5-1 coming out of the Olympic break. Both slides were key to them missing the playoffs. They can’t afford another post-break slip this season.

“We have to be focused to because the last few years after the break we really didn’t do well,” said Ribeiro. “The good thing is that it happens now that we’re not doing well, maybe we’ll do well after the break. The last few years we’ve been doing well before the break and then we collapse. I think guys will be mentally different and prepared for the last stretch here, and give it a push.”

The Stars should be healthy as well. Ribeiro returned Tuesday after missing seven games with a knee injury. Jamie Benn, who has missed the last five games following an appendectomy, will play in the NHL All-Star Game Sunday and will be ready to go after the break. Brenden Morrow, who missed Tuesday’s game with a neck injury, is expected to be ready as well.

“We’re in a battle to get one of those spots. February will be a telling month for us,” said Gulutzan. “We haven’t had any excuses, we haven’t made excuses for ourselves and we have no excuses coming back. We’ll be healthy and rested and we have to make a run at it.”

Notes

*Jamie Benn skated again Wednesday. The Stars activated him from injured reserve. Benn will now head to Ottawa where he’ll take part in NHL All-Star Game activities this week.

*The Stars assigned D Philip Larsen, RW Tomas Vincour and LW Matt Fraser to the Texas Stars of the AHL on Wednesday.

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

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

*RW Reilly Smith (3rd round/2009) was named Inside College Hockey’s National Player of the Week after scoring four goals as Miami University swept a two-game series from then-eighth ranked Western Michigan. Smith, a junior, had a hat trick in one of the games and scored the game-winner in each contest. Smith, who has 18 goals in 24 games, is tied for third in the nation in goal scoring and leads the nation with 7 game-winning goals.

*F Austin Smith (5th round/2007) scored had two goals and one assist in two games over the weekend. Smith now has 38 points (24 goals, 14 assists) in 24 games for Colgate. Smith, a senior, leads the nation in goal scoring and is tied for second in points.

*LW Alex Guptill (3rd round/2010) scored a goal in both games he played for the University of Michigan this week, running his goal scoring streak to five games. Guptill has 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) in 28 games and leads the nation in rookie goal scoring and points.

*RW Alex Chiasson (2nd round/2009) has points in seven of his last eight games for Boston University and has 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) during that stretch. Chiasson, a junior, has 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) in 21 games this season.

*D Jamie Oleksiak (1st round/2011) had three assists and RW Brett Ritchie (2nd round/2011) had one goal and one assist as Niagara routed Peterborough 9-0 in OHL play on Sunday. Oleksiak has four assists over the last two games for Niagara and Ritchie has one goal and three assists over the last three games.

*D Troy Vance (5th round/2011) has been out with a hip injury for Victoriaville of the QMJHL.

*D John Klingberg (5th round/2010) has left Jokerit of the Finnish Elite League and is now playing for Skelleftea of the Swedish Elite League. He has played one game in Sweden and has no points.

The Dallas Stars have activated Jamie Benn from injured reserve and assigned Tomas Vincour, Philip Larsen and Matt Fraser to the Texas Stars of the AHL.

Benn, who has missed the last five games following an appendectomy, will be heading to Ottawa to take part in this weekend's NHL All-Star game.

Vincour and Larsen will get in a couple of games this weekend with Texas and then it will be interesting to see what happens with them once the NHL All-Star break is over. Dallas should be healthy, but will still have a roster spot open. It will be particularly interesting to see what they do with Larsen, who has been getting the call lately with the defense completely healthy.

Fraser, called up over the weekend due to injuries, made his NHL debut Tuesday night and played just 3:57. He is scheduled to play in the AHL All-Star Classic in Atlantic City early next week.

Here's a link to some photos of last night's Dallas Stars-Anaheim Ducks game. You can see all the photos by Shannon Byrne here or by clicking below on the image of Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen, who posted his first shutout of the season, making one of his 27 saves.

DALLAS -- When the Anaheim Ducks rolled out their top line of Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry to start Tuesday’s game, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan answered with his checking line of Eric Nystrom, Vernon Fiddler and Radek Dvorak.

It was a matchup that tilted in the Stars favor on this night. Ryan, Getzlaf and Perry were held off the scoresheet and combined for two shots on goal in Dallas 1-0 victory over Anaheim. Keeping the Getzlaf line off the scoresheet was big for the Stars. The The Ducks came into the game on a roll and that line had been leading the offensive charge.

“That’s a tough job. That’s a really tough job,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “That line, not only are they one of the best, if not the best the line in the league, they are playing like it right now. Maybe they weren’t at the beginning, but you can’t hold those great players down. I thought Fiddler’s line did a good job on them tonight. I thought (Sheldon) Souray and (Stephane) Robidas did a good job on the back with them as well. Sheldon was physical and wasn’t going to give them an inch.”

The Stars work against the Ducks’ top line was effective enough that Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau broke up the trio at one point during the game.

“That’s one of the best lines in the league and if you have a good night defensively against them, you are going to have a lot better chance of winning,” said Nystrom. “If we go into a game know that’s going to be our job, we just go in focused on that. That was a big part tonight. We kept those guys off the board. You know you’re doing a good job when notice how the other team is trying to shuffle the lines around to get them away from us because they haven’t done anything. That was huge for us.”

DALLAS -- It wasn’t pretty, but it was two points and it was a win the Dallas Stars needed as they headed in the All-Star break. Kari Lehtonen stopped 27 shots for his first shutout of the season as the Stars snapped a five-game winless streak with 1-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center Tuesday night.

“I thought we certainly got outchanced in this game, but our best player was our goalie,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “We got a few lucky bounces as well that were nearly on their tape and in our net, but it was a good game to get.”

It was the Stars’ first win since January 12 when they beat the Kings 5-4 in a shootout.

“It feels good,” said Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski, who scored the game’s only goal. “The last two days guys have been itching to get at this game. We all said let’s put this behind us and get a win here.”

The victory puts the Stars (25-21-2) in 10th place at the All-Star break, three points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

“We’re in a battle,” said Gulutzan. “We haven’t made any excuses for ourselves and we’ll have no excuse coming back. We’ll be healthy and rested and we’ll have to make a run at it.”

The Stars won Tuesday despite registering a season-low 16 shots on goal and not getting one power play chance in the game. The Ducks, who had 27 shots, put 69 pucks towards the net, including shots on goal, shots that were blocked and shots that went wide. The Stars put just 33 shots towards the goal.

But the Stars got a break on one of those shots and it turned out to be the difference on the scoreboard.

Center Mike Ribeiro dropped the puck to Goligoski off the rush and Goligoski’s shot bounced off Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler’s head and into the net with 3:19 left before the first intermission.

“It was bouncy-ball I guess,” said Goligoski. “It felt good to get that one and get a lead. We have played with the lead much lately, so that was nice.”

It was also nice for the Stars to get some bounces, something they haven’t had during their recent winless streak.

“You go back to the St. Louis and Detroit games, where we played as hard as we could and probably at our max, and we probably deserved more than one point out of there and didn’t get them,” said Gulutzan. “Even parts of the Colorado game and Tampa game we played well, but couldn’t get anything. Tonight we didn’t play as well and we got everything.”

They got a solid performance from Lehtonen, who came up big in the first period with quality stops on Saku Koivu and Bobby Ryan. Lehtonen’s shutout was his first this season and the 18^th of his career.

“I haven’t gotten many lately, so it was nice to get one,” Lehtonen said of the shutout. “I don’t know why it’s been tougher the last couple of years to get them, but I just have to keep working hard. This was a nice win.”

His teammates were sharp in the third, giving the Ducks few opportunities.

“I thought the third was our best,” said Gulutzan. “We didn’t give them a lot.”

Said Goligoski: “It was great. We were very comfortable. No turnovers, just playing smart hockey with a lead. That’s encouraging to see. We have a lot of guys on this team who know how to win. It’s good stuff.”

The Ducks had a five-game winning streak and a nine-game points streak end with the regulation loss.

“You don’t like to end something like we’ve got going on a situation like that,” said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau. “You could tell early on that Lehtonen was really on his game and it was going to take something special But again, we had open nets and we missed the net. We get those chances and we put them in no matter how good the goalie is we’re probably going to win the game. It didn’t happen that way.”

Notes

*Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen earned his first shutout since April 5, 2011 (vs. Columbus). It was his 18th career shutout.

*Mike Ribeiro returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a knee injury. He assisted on the game’s only goal and led all Dallas forwards with 20:55 of ice time.

*Stars left wing Matt Fraser made his NHL debut Tuesday and played 3:57 in the game.

*Stars center Jamie Benn (appendectomy) missed his fifth straight game.

*Stars captain Brenden Morrow missed Tuesday’s game with a neck injury.

*Tuesday’s attendance was 12,141.

Here are some postgame quotes following the Dallas Stars’ 1-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center Tuesday night.

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan on getting the win before the break

“I thought we certainly got outchanced in this game, but our best player was our goalie. We got a few lucky bounces as well that were nearly on their tape and in our net, but it was a good game to get.”

Gulutzan on getting the bounces in the game

“You go back to the St. Louis and Detroit games, where we played as hard as we could and probably at our max, and we probably deserved more than one point out of there and didn’t get them. Even parts of the Colorado game and Tampa game we played well, but couldn’t get anything. Tonight we didn’t play as well and we got everything.”

Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski on the victory

“It feels good. It’s been a while. I think as the game went on we got a little more comfortable. You can tell that club is playing good hockey right now. They didn’t turn the puck over, they played a good game. It comes down to Kari (Lehtonen), he was great. We got the one goal, and that was all we needed tonight.”

Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen on getting his first shutout of the season

“I haven’t gotten many lately, so it was nice to get one. I don’t know why it’s been tougher the last couple of years to get them, but I just have to keep working hard. This was a nice win.”

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau, whose team’s five-game winning streak and nine-game points streak ended

“You don’t like to end something like we’ve got going on a situation like that. You could tell early on that Lehtonen was really on his game and it was going to take something special. But again, we had open nets and we missed the net. We get those chances and we put them in no matter how good the goalie is we’re probably going to win the game. It didn’t happen that way.”

The Dallas Stars snapped a five-game winless streak and headed into the All-Star break on a winning note, defeating the Anaheim Ducks 1-0 at American Airlines Center Tuesday night. Kari Lehtonen stopped 25 shots for his first shutout of the season and Alex Goligoski scored the lone goal of the game late in the first period. The Stars won despite registering a season-low 16 shots on goal and not getting a power play in the game. Anaheim had a five-game winning streak and nine-game points streak snapped with the regulation loss.

First period

The Ducks outshot the Stars 10-3 in the first period, but the Stars got the only goal of the period with 3:19 left.

Mike Ribeiro dropped the puck off to Alex Goligoski off the rush and Goligoski’s shot from the left wing bounced off Anaheim defenseman Cam Fowler and into the net.

Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen was sharp in the period, making nice stops on Saku Koivu and Bobby Ryan to keep the Ducks off the scoreboard prior to Dallas scoring.

Second period

The Ducks outshot the Stars 9-4 in the second period, but there was no scoring.

The Ducks had two power plays in the period, but were unable to cash in on the chances.

Stars forward Jake Dowell and Ducks forward Rod Pelley dropped the gloves and picked up fighting majors in the period.

Third period

The Stars did a nice job of limiting the Anaheim chances in the third period. The Ducks pulled goaltender Jonas Hiller with 1:44 remaining for the extra attacker, had a lot of zone time but couldn’t get a puck past Lehtonen.

Stars lineup

Eriksson-Ribeiro-Ryder
Ott-Wandell-Burish
Nystrom-Fiddler-Dvorak
Fraser-Dowell-Vincour

Souray-Robidas
Grossman-Daley
Goligoski-Larsen

Lehtonen (starter)
Bachman

Injured: Benn (appendectomy), Morrow (neck)
Scratched: Petersen, Fistric, Pardy

The past week

The Texas Stars won all three of their games over the past week to improve to 20-18-1-2 on the season. They currently rank 11th in the Western Conference, three points out of a playoff spot.

Texas opened the week with a 4-3 win at Chicago. Brad Lukowich, Jordie Benn, Matt Fraser and Maxime Fortunus scored goals, and Scott Glennie chipped in two assists. Andrew Raycroft stopped 25 shots to get the win in goal.

The Stars won 6-2 at Peoria. Fraser had four assists in the game and Texas got goals from Stephen Schultz (2), Glennie, Fortunus, Ryan Garbutt and Mike Hedden. After Peoria rallied to tie the game at 2-2, the Stars rattled off four unanswered goals. Raycroft had 21 saves.

On Saturday, the Stars rallied to beat Houston 4-3 in a shootout for their third consecutive victory. Colton Sceviour scored a power play goal midway through the third period to tie the game. Sceviour, Hedden and Garbutt scored in the shootout. Raycroft had 22 saves in the game and then stopped three of five in the shootout.

The week ahead

Friday January 27, at San Antonio
Saturday January 28, at Oklahoma City

Notes

*Before being called up to Dallas Sunday, LW Matt Fraser had registered 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in his last 20 games. Fraser currently ranks fourth in the AHL in goal scoring with 21 in 40 games.

*C Scott Glennie has 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists) and a plus-4 rating in his last 12 games.

*RW Colton Sceviour has points in 12 of his last 14 games and has registered 18 points (5 goals, 13 assists) during that stretch.

*G Andrew Raycroft is 6-2-1 with a 2.41 goals against average and .914 save percentage since joining the Texas Stars.

Transactions

*LW Matt Fraser recalled by Dallas (NHL)

Idaho Steelheads

The Idaho Steelheads went 1-1-0-0 over the last week and are now 18-18-2-1 on the season. The Steelheads currently rank fifth in the ECHL’s Western Conference.

DALLAS - Stars forward Jamie Benn, who has missed the last four games due to an appendectomy, skated at the American Airlines Center this morning. He's not ready to play tonight against Anaheim, but Benn said he'll be heading to Ottawa later this week for the NHL All-Star game.

"I think I am going to go," Benn said. "It will be a good experience for me and it will be fun, so I am looking forward to it."

The first piece of business will be the NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft, which is Thursday. Benn joked that he has his eye on that car that goes to the player who gets selected last in the draft.

"If I walk in there on crutches, I figure I might key in for that car," Benn said.

The All-Star skills competition is Saturday and the NHL All-Star Game is Sunday.

DALLAS -- Stars center Mike Ribeiro, who has missed the last seven games with a knee injury, will return to the lineup tonight when the Dallas Stars take on the Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center.

"He's ready to go tonight," said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. "He's had three days of skating and he's a pretty quick healer. He's a game player tonight."

Ribeiro is expected to center a line with Loui Eriksson and Michael Ryder.

Matt Fraser, called up from the AHL on Sunday, will make his NHL debut tonight. Fraser, who ranks fourth in the AHL in goal scoring (21 in 40 games) is expected to play on a line with Jake Dowell and Tomas Vincour.

"He's an All-Star in the American Hockey League, he's got a great shot," said Gulutzan. "He's a high quality, character guy. He has the ability to score and we thought we'd give him a chance, especially with our goal scoring. We haven't scored much lately."

The Stars will go with the same six defensemen as last game, meaning Mark Fistric and Adam Pardy will be scratches on the defense.

Here's the projected Dallas lineup for tonight.

Eriksson-Ribeiro-Ryder
Ott-Wandell-Burish
Nystrom-Fiddler-Dvorak
Fraser-Dowell-Vincour

Souray-Robidas
Grossman-Daley
Goligoski-Larsen

Lehtonen