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Stars News & Notes: On to Detroit Wednesday, March 12, 2008 After two days of practice the Stars hit the road for one game, and it's a big one. The Stars will meet the Detroit Red Wings for the final time in the regular season Thursday and the Red Wings appear to be back on track. The Stars are expecting to see a different Detroit team than the one they beat 1-0 in Dallas on February 17. Back then the Red Wings were in the middle of a slide that would see them go 1-8-2 over an 11-game stretch. Now they are on a four-game winning streak. "They've got a lot of injured players back here after going through a bit of a tough stretch. They are starting to get their game in order and we've still got a lot to do on our game," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "We expect a very intense game. We are going to have play very well to win. We've had a couple of good days of practice, so hopefully we can do it." And a game against another top team like Detroit is always a good barometer for the Stars as they try to get their game in order heading down the stretch. "We talk about getting better every day and when a play a team like Detroit, who is the leader in our conference, those are great challenges. If you can go in there and play well and do things you want to do as a team, those will help you improve," said Tippett. "You hope to get results in that game, but you hope your team feeds off that success or how you play to make you a better team in the future. That will be our focus [Thursday]." The Stars are hoping to continue to build on the effort they put on the ice in Sunday's 3-0 win over Colorado and carry that into Detroit against the Red Wings. "Beating them would obviously good for this hockey club, but it's more about us playing well and doing the little things necessary," said goalie Marty Turco. "We like to think that leads to a lot of wins for us and if we continue to do that tomorrow it won't be any different." And right now wins are important. The Stars will head into the game in second place in the Pacific Division, one point behind the red hot San Jose Sharks, who ran their winning streak to ten games Tuesday night with a win in Nashville. "With San Jose winning ten straight now, to have any chance in our division I think we need to get on a big roll here," said captain Brenden Morrow. Practice Notes: Replacing Ott; Niskanen good to go With forward Steve Ott out of the lineup the next three games due to a suspension, Stars coach Dave Tippett will have to do some shuffling among his forward lines. Ott spent the last game centering Loui Eriksson and Jere Lehtinen. Tippett said there are some options while Ott is out of the lineup. "We are looking at a couple of situations. There's [Joel] Lundqvist, [Stu] Barnes and Toby Petersen that could all fit in there," Tippett said. "We've switched Brad Richards up to that right side and he's a centerman who can slide in there. We'll tinker with that and see what we can come up with [Thursday]. During Wednesday's practice Lundqvist took several shifts between Eriksson and Lehtinen. Here's a look at the forward line combinations that were used Wednesday.
Defenseman Matt Niskanen, who missed Sunday's game with a sore foot, went through second straight full day of practice Wednesday and is expected to play Thursday in Detroit. "He is good to go," said Tippett. Stars sign three The Dallas Stars announced the signing of three players on Wednesday. Left wing Chris Conner and goalie Tobias Stephan were both signed to one-year, two-way contracts. Forward prospect Sergei Korostin was signed to a three-year, entry-level deal. Conner, who has spent most of the season in Iowa, signed a deal that will pay him $500,000 at the NHL level and $100,000 in the minors for the 2008-09 season. Stephan, who has been the No. 1 goalie in Iowa and played in one NHL game this season, signed a contract that will pay him $485,000 at the NHL level and $100,000 in the minors next season. Korostin, the Stars' 3rd round pick (64th overall) in the 2007 draft, came over from Russia recently and is now playing for the Texas Tornado of the NAHL. He received a $240,000 signing bonus that will be paid out $80,000 annually over the life of the deal. His NHL level salaries will be $500,000 (2008-09), $550,000 (2009-10), and $670,000 (2010-11). His minor league salary will be $65,000 each year of the contract. He also has potential bonus money for games played and making the NHL All-Rookie Team.
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