Stars News and Notes: Morrow out, Grossman comes off IR
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
The Dallas Stars will be without left wing Brenden Morrow for Monday's game against the Minnesota Wild, but defenseman Nicklas Grossman appears to be closer to returning to the lineup.
Morrow is out due to an upper body injury he suffered in the first period of Saturday's 3-2 shootout win against the Detroit Red Wings. Morrow did not skate Sunday and Stars coach Marc Crawford said the Stars captain is day-to-day.
Right wing Jere Lehtinen, who also suffered an upper body injury in Saturday's game, is listed as questionable for Monday. Lehtinen did not take part in the team's optional skate on Sunday.
Defenseman Nicklas Grossman, who has missed the last five games due to a lower body injury, was on the ice for the optional skate Sunday afternoon. He was taken off injured reserve later in the afternoon Sunday. He is listed as questionable for Monday.
Stars call up Sawada
With the injuries to Brenden Morrow and Jere Lehtinen, the Stars have called up right wing Ray Sawada from the Texas Stars of the AHL.
Sawada, 24, has two goals and five assists in 30 AHL games this season. Sawada, the Stars' 2nd round pick (52nd overall) in 2004, played five NHL games last season, picking up one goal.
Nieuwendyk meeting with pro scouts this week
Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk and his management staff began meetings with the Stars' pro scouts in Frisco on Sunday morning as he looks at how he wants the organization to move forward.
"It's important to have some good meetings. It's always an ongoing evaluation of our club," Nieuwendyk said on the Stars television broadcast Saturday afternoon. "We have some guys that are unrestricted free agents, so we have to take a look at that. I'll get some feedback from these guys on what they're seeing in the field. I can certainly share my thoughts with them on our team. I just really want to build a team I think it should be in a couple of years."
Stars Notes
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Alex Auld is expected to get the start Monday against Minnesota.
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Auld, Marty Turco and seven other players took part in an optional team skate at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter in Frisco Sunday afternoon. The other seven players on the ice were Mark Fistric, Jeff Woywitka, Krys Barch, Brian Sutherby, James Neal, Nicklas Grossman and Fabian Brunnstrom.
Points pace standings
The points pace for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference hasn't changed much over the past week. It was 97 points last week and it's still 97 points this week.
That 97 point pace is being set by both the Los Angeles Kings, who are holding steady, and the Calgary Flames, who have slipped over the past week.
The Stars' points pace fell from 89 points to 87 after they picked up only two of a possible six points over the week.
The points pace could go up or down, but here's a look at what the Stars would have to do if it were to take 95, 96 or 97 points to make the playoffs in the Western Conference this season.
To hit 97 points over their final 34 games the Stars would have be 12 games over .500 over their final 34 games to gather the 46 points necessary. The record would need to be 23-11-0, 22-10-2, 21-9-4 or some other combination where they have 12 more wins than regulation losses.
To hit 96 points the record would need to be 11 games over .500 over the final 34 games. This would require a record of 22-11-1, 21-10-3, 20-9-5, etc.
To hit 95 points the Stars would need to be 10 games over .500 over their final 34 games, which would take a record of 22-12-0, 21-11-2, 20-10-4, etc.
Here's a look at the Western Conference teams with their points percentage, points pace and how they've gone up or down over the past week. Teams are ranked by points percentage and with division leaders getting the top three spots.
| RK | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | PTS% | PTS Pace | 1 WK Ago | Diff |
| 1 | Chicago | 49 | 34 | 11 | 4 | 72 | .735 | 120.5 | 117.6 | +2.9 |
| 2 | San Jose | 49 | 31 | 10 | 8 | 70 | .714 | 117.1 | 114.8 | +2.3 |
| 3 | Colorado | 48 | 27 | 15 | 6 | 60 | .625 | 102.5 | 99.9 | +2.6 |
| 4 | Nashville | 48 | 29 | 16 | 3 | 61 | .635 | 104.2 | 100.2 | +4.0 |
| 5 | Phoenix | 49 | 28 | 16 | 5 | 61 | .622 | 102.1 | 101.7 | +0.4 |
| 6 | Vancouver | 48 | 28 | 18 | 2 | 58 | .604 | 99.1 | 102.0 | -2.9 |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 48 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 57 | .594 | 97.4 | 96.6 | +0.8 |
| 8 | Calgary | 49 | 26 | 17 | 6 | 58 | .592 | 97.1 | 103.8 | -6.2 |
| 9 | Detroit | 48 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 56 | .583 | 95.7 | 96.9 | -1.2 |
| 10 | Dallas | 48 | 20 | 17 | 11 | 51 | .531 | 87.1 | 89.3 | -2.2 |
| 11 | St. Louis | 47 | 21 | 19 | 7 | 49 | .521 | 85.5 | 80.2 | +5.3 |
| 12 | Minnesota | 49 | 24 | 22 | 3 | 51 | .520 | 85.3 | 85.6 | -0.3 |
| 13 | Anaheim 9 | 49 | 22 | 20 | 7 | 51 | .520 | 85.3 | 83.8 | +1.5 |
| 14 | Columbus | 50 | 18 | 23 | 9 | 45 | .450 | 73.8 | 78.5 | -4.7 |
| 15 | Edmonton | 47 | 16 | 26 | 5 | 37 | .394 | 64.6 | 68.9 | -4.3 |
Quotable
"The basis of my game is the details and positioning. When it is that, you can focus on that a lot in practice and work on that. You don’t necessarily have to see the game situations to still feel like you’re sharp. I guess when you have experience and have success in not playing a ton and still being able to come in and play a good game, you can fall back on that and know that you have the confidence going in that you’ll be fine."
Stars goaltender Alex Auld, who is expected to get the Stars Monday night against MInnesota
