Stars-Canadiens thoughts

I’d like to be team positive here and point out all the good things they did Thursday night and say, “Golly gee, this was a good effort and the best one they’ve rolled out on the road during this dismal streak.” But I can’t because it really wasn’t and end result shows it wasn’t. They lost the goaltending battle, they lost the special teams battle and they got outscored at even strength too. They gave up five goals to a team that struggles to score on most nights. The only positive is that it wasn’t as ugly as the Philadelphia loss or the loss to the Rangers, but it was still a loss for a team that desperately needs some wins.

This was a game they were in a position to win or at least get a point, but couldn’t find a way to get it done through a variety of ways, which has been the reason they have lost six of their last seven games overall and are now just two games over .500. Whether it’s not getting the big save, or making the costly turnover or not staying disciplined or any combination of them that is killing them right now.

The line juggling? The so-called fourth line was pretty effective in the game, scoring two of the Stars’ three goals. I’m not so sure about the Jamie Benn at center experiment. We’ll see how long Marc Crawford sticks with it.

These next two games - Detroit on Saturday and Minnesota on Monday - are big.  They are back home and need to stop the bleeding and get some points. The Red Wings and Los Angles both won, so the Stars are five and six points behind those teams respectively. St. Louis is within two points with a game in hand after beating Minnesota. The teams ahead are pulling away and the teams below have basically caught up.

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