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Stars News & Notes: Battle lines being drawn Friday, May 09, 2008 After Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings, it appears the battle lines are being drawn and a key one is in front of Stars goalie Marty Turco. The Red Wings scored two goals by getting in front of Turco and deflecting pucks into the net on their way to a 4-1 win Thursday night. "All goalies get frustrated when you get guys in front of the net all the time," said Red Wings forward Johan Franzen, who scored one of those goals. "It's tough for goalies if you play that way. That's why you try to get to the front of the net as much as you can." The other Detroit forward who scored a goal by setting up shop in front of Turco was Tomas Holmstrom, a master at it. The Stars weren't thrilled with Holmstrom, whom the Stars thought might have been in violation of the rules on his goal. "I think the officials will take notice of where he is, Turco said. "He's good at what he does, even to sell it. But I think you can be fooled only so many times." But the Stars will need to do more than just look to the officials for help in dealing with Holmstrom, Franzen and the other Wings who want to crowd Turco and keep him deep in his net. "Our goaltender has to battle harder to get us space," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "Obviously, if they're going to be allowed to stand in the paint, then we have to battle harder to push them out. Simple as that." That's not as easy these days, especially with the new rules imposed after the lockout. Those rules made it a lot easier for players to set up in front of the net and a lot more difficult for defenseman to clear them out of the way. "It's the new rules. You can't battle or wrestle a guy in front," said Stars defenseman Mattias Norstrom. "You play position or try to get in front of him or get in front of that shot, instead of focusing on moving him. From Marty's standpoint, or most goaltenders, if you are standing in front and battling with them, then they've got two bodies in front of them instead of one. It's not a good situation either." Said defenseman Trevor Daley: "I think we have to get in front of them and knock pucks down ourselves. We have to get into the shooting lanes, and take away as much as possible. They are going to get chances to score and we have to eliminate that as much as we can." Stars hope to improve faceoffs The Red Wings won 35 of 56 (63 percent) of faceoffs in Game 1, giving a great puck possession team the puck off almost two-thirds of all faceoffs. "When your top three centermen are all 30 percent in the draws, you're chasing a lot from right there," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "So it's a good place to start." Brad Richards was 5-17 in the game, including 1-9 against Valtteri Filppula. Mike Modano was 3-10 on the night, including 0-5 against Henrik Zetterberg. Mike Ribeiro ended up 3-10, including 3-8 against Zetterberg. But there's more to winning faceoffs than just the guy taking the faceoff. Steve Ott won a faceoff in his own zone in the second period, pulling back to the corner, but Tomas Holmstrom got the puck to give Detroit possession and 12 seconds later Holmstrom scored off a deflection of a Nicklas Lidstrom shot from the left circle. "They were beating us to pucks out of faceoffs," said Stars center Brad Richards. "That was a product of how we played. We were a little behind in every aspect of the game." Defense juggling ahead? The Stars could juggle their group of defensemen for game two, including putting Matt Niskanen back in the lineup and taking Mark Fistric out. "We'll visit that tomorrow," Stars coach Dave Tippett," said. The Stars juggled their defensive pairings late in Game 1, using the pairings of Niklas Grossman-Sergei Zubov, Fistric-Mattias Norstrom and Trevor Daley-Stephane Robidas. Niskanen took Fistric's place with Norstrom during Friday's practice. Injury update: Barnes getting closer Stars forward Stu Barnes, who has missed the last four games due to concussion-like symptoms, practiced Friday. He is listed as day-to-day, but is getting closer to a return. "It's day-to-day. He looked better out there," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "We'll evaluate him in the morning." Defenseman Philippe Boucher (hip) remains doubtful at this point in the series. Stars make Brunnstrom signing official The Stars made it official Friday: Swedish forward Fabian Brunnstrom signed a two-year entry-level deal with the club.
"We are very excited to get the caliber of player
that Fabian is under contract for the next two seasons," Stars co-GM
Les Jackson said in a statement. "He is a very good prospect and
will definitely be a nice addition to our group of younger players."
The Stars beat out several other teams for the services of Brunnstrom, an undrafted free agent. "All of the other teams and clubs, like Montreal and Detroit, were good but I just felt that Dallas was a little bit better for me," Brunnstrom said. "I really enjoyed the town and the people around the Dallas organization. I got a chance to visit the practice facility and the American Airlines Center and I thought everything was great." Brunnstrom, a 23-year-old left wing, had 37 points (nine goals, 28 points) in 54 games with Farjestads of the Swedish Elite League this past season. "He's young, he's big, he's fast, and he has skill," Stars co-GM Brett Hull told USA Today. Brunnstrom's contract pays him $787,500 in base salary and $87,500 in signing bonus money each year for a total of $875,000 per year in compensation. There are also individual bonuses -if he were to hit them - that give him the potential to earn over $2 million per season.
Quotable "You want to get one here, go home with a split and go from there. We know what we have to do to play better and show up differently." Stars center Mike Ribeiro
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