| Considering the players that were missing,
Saturday's effort was a solid one by the Stars. It came
down to one bounce off the endboards late in the third
period and that ended up being the difference in the
game.
Outside of a stretch early in the second period, the
Stars pretty much outplayed the Flames. They were
particularly strong in the third, but just couldn't get
anything past Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.
"It was a hard-fought game. The third period was our
period but we couldn't get it to go in the net and they
got a bounce off the boards and finished it," said Stars
forward Stu Barnes. "Kiprusoff played well tonight, but
we've got to find a way with all that pressure in the
third period to get one in the net."
The only way the Stars were able to get on in the net
was on the power play. They did that twice, but they
only got three chances with the man-advantage. The
Flames were fairly disciplined and the refs weren't
exactly calling a tight game.
The Stars did not get a lot of quality chances at
even strength. They got some traffic in front of the
net, but Kiprusoff was still able to see just about
everything Dallas threw at him and under those
circumstances he is going to stop it a vast majority of
the time.
After shortening his bench the past two games on the
trip, Stars coach Dave Tippett pretty much rolled four
lines in this one and stuck with it through the entire
game. Every forward logged more than minutes on the
night.
He kept the defensive minutes pretty balanced as
well, which was surprising with Sergei Zubov sitting out
with back spasms.
All that seemed to keep the Stars energy level high
and seemed to give them some extra jump in the third
period on a night when they where playing their third
road game in four nights.
The Stars got another strong effort from rookie Loui
Eriksson, who had two assists and was one of the Stars'
best players on the night.
They also got a solid game out of a line made up of
Jussi Jokinen, Patrik Stefan and Matthew Barnaby.
Overall, they got a good enough effort to win a game.
"We have to continue to compete
hard to give ourselves a chance to win, and I thought we
did that tonight," Tippett said. "But you also have to
find ways to win and get that goal or that one save."
On this night those two elements
belonged to the Flames. They found a way to win.
Kiprusoff helped them weather the storm in the third
period and Dustin Boyd ended up being in the right place
at the right time to grab a rebound off the endboards to
knock home the game-winning goal.
"We talk more about finding ways
to win," said Stars goalie Marty Turco. "It wasn't
enough tonight. It was close but you don't get much for
that."
Said Stars defenseman Darryl
Sydor: "We played well for a majority of the game
but we needed to play well for a couple more minutes to
take it into overtime."
A couple more minutes and the
Stars could haven't gotten at least one point out this
game, which would have given them at least four on the
trip and perhaps five. Instead they ended up getting
three of a possible six points. Not bad considering all
the injuries.
The Stars now return home, where
they will play the next four games. |
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