Points are points

Tonight was a bottom line kind of game for me. They got a much needed two points. It would have been nice if they could have done it in regulation, but two points are better than one point or no points. It wasn’t pretty, as Dave Tippett pointed out in his postgame comments, but it wasn’t awful either.

They played a good first, Marty Turco was great in the second, gave up a goal in the third that allowed Phoenix to tie and then they found a way to win it in overtime. Add it all up and it comes out to an important two points and right now it’s all about points as they try to climb out of this hole they’ve dug for themselves through the first third of the season.

Considering where they are as far as position in the standings and with the injury situation, it’s all about finding ways to win games.

Loui Eriksson came up big with two big goals. Eriksson does a lot of little things and he doesn’t have to score to contribute, but they needed the goal scoring tonight and he delivered. He’s become a key player on this team, not just because of the offense but because of all the stuff he does in all three zones in all situations.

One way they are going to be in a position to win every night is to get good goaltending and they are starting to get that right now. This was the fourth time in the last six starts that Turco has allowed just one goal. That increases their chances of winning significantly. The penalty kill has been better lately. That increases the chances. The power play continues to struggle, and if they can get that straightened out at some point that will help increase their chances on a nightly basis as well. Some of these injured guys start getting back and things start looking a little better too. There should be an update on that front tomorrow.

But again, it’s just one game. Columbus is another game on Thursday and it’s a big one. The Blue Jackets host San Jose Wednesday night so they’ll be on the tail end of a back-to-back and chances are they’ll be coming off a high pace game with the Sharks. The Stars need to take advantage of a situation like that and take two points away from Columbus. The Stars have been getting hammered on back-to-backs so far this season, so maybe they can turn the tables a bit on Thursday.

Here are the postgame quotes provided by Stars PR: 

Loui Eriksson: “Both my goals were in front of the net, and that’s where you have to be to score goals. That’s how you score all the goals, you have to get out there and someone will make a play for you. It’s always tough at the end when they tie it like that. It’s pretty tight there are a lot of teams in there. Tonight we got two good points and we have to build on that. It’s always good to have that confidence, and we need all the points we can get. It was a good win and a good two points for us.”

Marty Turco: “Points are points and it’s really about the little things the guys are doing so well lately. We were disciplined and every shift, we showed a lot of desperation. Loui has a knack around the net and I see that all the time in practice. He works so hard and likes to score goals, no doubt about that. I have an opportunity to make a big difference in the game every night and I want to provide the guys with a chance to win. It’s about stopping pucks, communicating and taking pride in doing all the little things right.”

Mike Ribeiro: “We will try and look ahead of this and what happened at the beginning of the year. We know the four games before Christmas are huge for us, and that was game one.

(On Marty:) That’s what we need from our best player, we need him to stop pucks. He was great on the penalty kill and we need to keep pushing forward. We need to take those two points and look ahead. I think these teams coming up are teams that we can beat and teams that we should beat. These next games before Christmas are huge.”

Dave Tippett: “It’s not pretty right now but points are effective. Loui stepped up, he hasn’t been on the scoreboard the last five to six games, but he willed a couple good goals in and came up big for us. Ribs and Richy are pressing a little bit, and they need to get rewarded for their hard work. Marty was excellent and needs to be there, its coming and its a big part of who we are.”

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