Andrew's Dallas Stars Blog

Stars lineup today

Ott-Richards-Eriksson
Morrow-Ribeiro-Segal
Neal-Benn-Lehtinen
Petersen-Modano-Barch

Fistric-Robidas
Woywitka-Daley
Skrastins-Niskanen

Turco
Lehtonen (backup)

Scratches: Sutherby, Brunnstrom

Injured: Grossman, Wandell

Sunday morning playoff race update

Stars-Kings photos

Shannon Byrne took several photos of Friday’s Stars-Kings game and you can find them here. 

THN ranks the Stars’ top prospects

The Hockey News Future Watch 2010 is out and here’s how it ranks the Stars’ top prospects. The list is only nine players now because the guy who was No. 2 now on the list when the publication went to press is now with the Atlanta Thrashers organization. That would be defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy, who was traded as part of the Kari Lehtonen deal. So, taking him out, here are the Stars’ top nine prospects according to THN.

1. Scott Glennie, RW, Brandon (WHL)
2. Tyler Beskoroway, G, Kington (OHL)
3. Philip Larsen, D, Frolunda (Sweden)
4. Alex Chiasson, RW, Boston University (Hockey East)
5. Colton Sceviour, RW, Texas (AHL)
6. Reilly Smith, RW, Miami (CCHA)
7. Tomas Vincour, RW, Vancouver (WHL)
8. Curtis McKenzie, LW, Miami (CCHA)
9, Richard Bachman, G, Idaho (ECHL)

A couple of other notes, Glennie was the only Stars prospect ranked in the top 50 overall. He came in at No. 27. Vishnevskiy, by the way, came in at No. 51.

As for the Stars’ prospects overall, they rank 24th in the league with a grade of C+, up from a C a year ago. Los Angeles and St. Louis are No. 1 and No. 2 in prospects, respectively, and both get a grade of A.

The Stars rank 8th in the league in adjusted rank. That compares their average draft position (29th) with their ranking (24th) and they get a +5. Colorado is tops in adjusted rank with a +15. 

Saturday practice update

A few notes from Saturday’s practice in Frisco:

Marty Turco will start in goal tomorrow against Colorado.

Nicklas Grossman skated after practice, but is out for tomorrow’s game.

Mike Modano and Brenden Morrow did not practice today. They were both given the day off.

Tom Wandell was around today and said he is doing fine as recovers from ACL surgery. He spent a little time in Sweden during the Olympic break, but has been diligently rehabbing the injury to get ready for next season.He expects to be ready to go when the season starts. I’ll have more on him tonight in the update on the main site.

Saturday morning playoff race update

Stars-Kings thoughts

It’s hard to knock the effort the Stars rolled out Friday night against the Kings. They played well against a very good team and battled them to a draw through 65 minutes of hockey. It got settled in the shootout and they came up short. A few years ago shootouts were almost an automatic win for them, not these days. They are now 5-9 in the post-overtime skills competition. If they were 8-6 or 9-5, things would look a lot different right now, but they aren’t and things don’t.

Give them credit though, they righted the ship defensively. They were very, very good in that regard. The quality chances for the Kings were minimal. Their play in the defensive zone was excellent.  After the first five games of the break, the one goal against and 28 shots against were steps in the right direction. Marty Turco was sharp in goal as well.

Scoring, of course, was another matter. They had some good chances, but give Jonathan Bernier credit too. He played a heck of a game for the Kings. Los Angeles didn’t miss a beat with Jonathan Quick out of the lineup due to he and his wife experiencing the birth of their first child early Friday morning.

LA’s a good team. There are two teams playing out there and they are a good defensive team as well and got solid goaltending. There’s a reason they are where they are in the standings.

Overall, I thought the Stars played a good game. Unfortunately that doesn’t always equal two points in the National Hockey League.

One point is better than no points, but they need wins. Nashville won again, beating Anaheim so the Predators don’t appear to be slipping. Detroit and Calgary play each other on Monday, so one of those two teams will be picking up points here soon to keep the pressure on the Stars.

All the Stars can do is worry about themselves, build on what they did Friday, throw out another good effort Sunday against Colorado and try to get two points. They can’t control the other teams right now, just their own game. 

Postgame notes and quotes

Here are some postgame notes and quotes from the Stars PR staff.

The Bottom Line:

The Dallas Stars earned one point in the standings in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night at American Airlines Center, moving their record to 29-25-13 on the season for 71 points. Dallas’ next game will be Sunday afternoon against the Colorado Avalanche (2:00 p.m. CT – No TV; Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket).

 

Stats and Stuff:                          

·         The Stars are 7-3-1 in their last 11 games at American Airlines Center, and 10-4-1 in their last 15.

·         Brenden Morrow potted his 15th goal of the season.

·         Mike Modano earned his 13th assist of the season and second in as many games. He is now one assist shy of 800 in his NHL career. His 1,355th career point moves him past Brendan Shanahan into sole possession of 23rd all-time.

·         Stephane Robidas picked up his 26th assist of the season and third assist in four games (0-3-3).

·         Marty Turco stopped 27-of-28 shots over regulation and overtime, and five-of-six shooters in the shootout.

·         THREE STARS OF THE GAME: 1) Jonathan Bernier, 2) Fredrik Modin, 3) Marty Turco

 

Stephane Robidas:

(Overall) "The bottom line is we came up short. The good news is we didn't give up five goals tonight, so that's a positive sign, and their shots were a little lower than they've been in the past few games. I think we've got to keep bearing down defensively and try to be a little better, and try to limit the turnovers. We need to play really hard, and when we get our chances offensively, we've got to make them count."

(On the slump)

"The only way we're going to get out of it is by all pulling in the same direction and all playing for one another and trusting each other, and knowing that we can get the job done. That's possible. I believe in the guys in this dressing room and we've got to believe in ourselves, and that's the only way we're going to get out of that slump."

(On building pressure)

"We're fighting for our lives. It's like game seven of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and that's the approach we've got to have every night. It's a tough one tonight, and we've got to get ready for Sunday afternoon."

Brenden Morrow:

(On tonight)

"When you have a good, solid effort defensively like we did, you like to capitalize on your opportunities, and we fell one short."

(On playoff race)

"We're in a fight for our playoff lives. We have been for awhile. Whatever it takes to get you motivated -- we're certainly living a do-or-die situation every night. Looking at the six-game home stand, we like to think we need at least 10 points. We let one slip tonight. We're still in a position, I think we can take care of our own lives. If we let too much slip, we're going to have to get some help from people against those teams. Right now, they're all collecting points, and we're not keeping pace."

Marty Turco:

(On the better defensive effort tonight)

"Even though our game was a lot better than it has been since the Olympic break, it's still tough to score in this league. You've got to pay the price in front, which our guys did at times. They did a great job of holding guys up and grabbing rebounds. There really weren't too many rebounds."

(On if the pressure is mounting)

"Personally, what I'm thinking about is just winning and hoping someone loses to gain a little bit of ground. But you can't do that unless you win every night, and tonight was a great step in that way. I'm pretty sure if we win the rest of our games this season, we'll be in the playoffs, and that's something that we have control over. We've got to continue this home stand like we did tonight, and score a couple of goals, and squeak 'em out, or do whatever we have to. It doesn't really matter. This team is going to give everything they have. It'll be interesting to see how things shape up."

Marc Crawford:

(On tonight's game)

"We played a lot better tonight. That's probably the easiest game Marty's had maybe all year. I thought our guys battled hard. We got the net presence that we needed in the third period and it ended up resulting in the goal. I thought that we deserved a power play in the overtime - we didn't get it. In the shootout we hit a post and a crossbar. We had a hard-working effort throughout. Guys played with a sense of desperation, the way that we needed to."

"We did a lot of good things in the defensive zone. We really protected well. We blocked a lot of shots, we were in lanes. They didn't get anything easy, which is really positive. On the other side, I think our offense will be better as we move forward."

"We didn't lose at all tonight; we got a point. Now we've got to get ready for the next two that are available."

Segal, Brunnstrom scratched

Brandon Segal and Fabian Brunnstrom are the scratches at forward for tonight. Nicklas Grossman is out with back injury.

Morrow on BaD Radio

Stars captain Brenden Morrow was on BaD Radio earlier this afternoon. Here's the audio:

Here's an alternative link if the player doesn't work: http://www.andrewsstarspage.com/3-12-10morrow-bad-radio.mp3

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