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A step forward, but in need of execution Sunday, May 11, 2008 The Stars may have fallen behind 0-2 in the Western Conference Finals when they lost in Detroit Saturday night, but they are still looking at the 2-1 loss as a step forward in their series with the Red Wings. "We’ve been growing in this series against these guys," said Stars goalie Marty Turco. "We know it’s been a lot closer than anybody gives us credit for. That’s a good feeling to have in the locker room, regardless of what others say or do, and it’s going to be pretty interesting game come tomorrow night." The Stars were better in Game 2 than they were in Game 1, but they still came up on the wrong end of the score and find themselves down 0-2 in the series. Now, they are hoping to build on the positives of Game 2 and turn that into some wins as the series shifts to the American Airlines Center for the third and fourth games. "I thought we took a step forward in getting ourselves back into the competitive issues of the series last game, but it will still have to go up another step," Tippett said Sunday in Frisco. "I thought we had much better jump. Our legs looked like they were back to normal a little bit. Now we need some more execution. "We have to find ways to win games and get opportunities, we’ve got to capitalize on them." The Stars have scored just two goals in the first two games against the Red Wings. In Game 2, there were some excellent opportunities but the Stars didn't finish them. "I think the first game, as our lines as a team, we weren’t creative enough. We were a little bit yesterday," center Brad Richards said Sunday. "But we definitely have to take it another step now and get some goals and propel the team to a win." There was also the issue of missing the net in Saturday's loss. The Stars have several great chances where they never got the puck on Detroit's net, including several in the first period. "We had a lot of chances to score one or two goals on those chances. I think first period we have six, seven chances, no shot on net," said Stars center Mike Ribeiro. "So details and I think we can work a little harder and then when you have a chance to shoot on net, shoot on net." Said center Mike Modano: "Just a little more execution, a little more getting hungry around their net." The Stars will get some advantages at home like the last line change and that will give them some matchups they would prefer. Home ice should help in another area where the Stars need to improve. That's the faceoff circle, where the Red Wings dominated the first two games. Detroit won 35 of 56 in Game 1 and then 39 of 55 in Game 2. That's 74 of 111 over the first two games, or two of every three faceoffs. The Stars want to try to negate that as the series shifts to Dallas for Games 3 and 4. The Stars' top three centers - Ribeiro, Richards and Modano - are 26-83 (31 percent) on faceoffs through the first two games, but there's more to it than just the centers. "Their wingers are really good at collapsing in the circle and helping out and getting possession of the puck, which is usually a big key to any team’s success to generate offense or get it out of your zone defensively," said Modano. "It’s a key area that we’re going to try to get better at." "The faceoff issue is something that we’re talking a lot about, because we have to get better," said Tippett. "It’s not just the guys in the faceoff. It’s the compete levels around those." The Stars are hoping winning some of those battles around the draws and the advantage the home center has will also help in turning the tide on faceoffs. "We’ve got to be on the same page and win those team battles," said Richards. "And that’s something we definitely got to clean up. And it will help coming in second into the faceoff, that’s always an advantage." But most of all the Stars, who are down 0-2 in the series, need to win the hockey game. "We know it’s a hole we dug but one that we’re pretty sure we can get out of and we’re going to need to at home with our fans," said Turco. And it has to start with a win on Monday. "We feel if we go out to win a game tomorrow, we’re back in the series," said Tippett.
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