Stars-Penguins thoughts

Well, the Stars had their moments Saturday in Pittsburgh, but not enough of them and not many in the second half of the game, if any. When all was said and done it was the same old story that we've seen since play resumed following the Olympics. Too many quality chances for the opposition and too many pucks going into the net.

They've given up 17 goals in three games, 5 in the first one and 6 in the last two. They aren't going to win many doing that. It's not rocket science.

The bottom line: teams are stepping it up a notch as the season heads down the stretch, and the Stars just can't seem to match it. They seem overwhelmed at times. They seem to crack when things go wrong. That's the way they looked once the Penguins got rolling after falling behind 3-1.

Kari Lehtonen looked rusty, as you'd expect. This is his second NHL game and his first start in almost one year. He's not going to be up to speed in any area. It's going to take him a few games to get into game playing condition. You can't simulate that in practice. It's unfortunate that he gets thrown into the mix when things are a mess in front of him.

And a lot of it is execution, including key saves. Pittsburgh made the plays to win the game. If you watched Marc-Andre Fleury play today he didn't look particularly sharp early in giving up three goals, but he came up big when the game was on the line. He made a great stick save on Brad Richards to keep it a 3-2 game and Pittsburgh would go on to tie later in the 2nd period. He made a big save on Brenden Morrow with the Stars on a five-on-three power play and Pittsburgh clinging to a 4-3 lead. It's not always about stats, but making key saves at key times. Fleury has a knack for doing that. It's why he has a Stanley Cup on the resume.

That five-on-three power play early in the third was huge. The Stars had a chance to tie, missed on the five-on-three and then Sidney Crosby scored on the remaining five-on-four to extend the Penguins' lead to 5-3. That seemed to take what ever wind was left out of the Stars' sails. The Stars missed on two more power plays where they could have cut into the lead, and missed on them. The Stars were 0-6 on the power play and 1-14 in the last three games.

The road doesn't get any easier. Monday they'll be in Washington to take on the Capitals, the highest scoring team in the league and the best home team in the league based on points percentage.

It doesn't matter what gets said by whom. The simple fact is they have to find a way to get it done on the ice or they are going to continue to find themselves slipping into a tougher spot in the playoff race.

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