I don't care what anyone says: This team is fatigued. I don't know how you can't be with the way this schedule was set up on this trip:
Tomorrow is their fifth game in seven days. It's also the second back-to-back they've had to play on this trip alone (yes, I know the first one was Manhattan and Long Island, but two in a row is two in a row).
Anyway, they need fresh bodies, so don't be surprised if Antti Miettinen and Brad Winchester are back in tomorrow.
Guessing Marty's in goal, too.
Evgeni Malkin makes it 4-1 on some great work by Petr Sykora. Smith had no chance on this one, with Sykora streaking down one side of the ice and Malkin down the other.
Pens extend the lead at 14:28.
Well, it could've been worse. The Pens had a few choice shots at the end of the period, or at least a few choice setups. Stephane Robidas saved one with a nifty poke-check (he's been playing great lately). Smith is stopping things now, but Crosby is pretty entertaining right now.
Would've been nice if the Stars got something out of that power play late. We'll see how it turns out.
Any wonder if this kid's good? Crosby's at it again, throwing back a Darryl Sydor rebound to put the Pens up by two again, 3-1, at 8:34. Sydor with the primary assist, Armstrong with the other.
Not good, kids.
Mike Ribeiro can apparently play with the puck a while in open ice, too.
He did that early in the second, then slapped one high and tight on Marc-Andre Fleury to cut the Pens' lead to 2-1. It was Ribeiro's 10th of the season, and Philippe Boucher gets the assist.
Not the best start. You can tell the Pens have had six days off and the Stars have been playing nonstop.
Hopefully a little more fire in the second period. Credit Steve Ott for coming close, though, hitting the post late in the first period. Modano was close on one, too.
There was a bit of a timeout because they had to replace a pane of glass behind Smith.
Game on again.
Sorry, they're scoring faster than I can blog.
Sidney Crosby first, basically allowed to go right on Smith and he slipped it between the pipe and Smith. Just 24 seconds into the game there.
Then Tyler Kennedy got into the act, slipping one 5-hole on Smith at 3:38.
Not a good start by Mr. Smith, or the rest of the Stars for that matter.
Miettinen skated and Dave Tippett said he'd talk with him this afternoon about the possibility of playing. He may not be quite ready yet. Mattias Norstrom is "raring to go," according to Tippett, but still can't do anything until Monday.
Smith in goal tonight. They'll revisit it tomorrow to see who starts against Philly.
It looks like the NHL is willing to change. A little, at least. Check out the story on TSN about the board of governors approving some changes in the NHL schedule next season. If nothing else, each team will see each other once a year.
Go to www.tsn.ca for the story.
Mattias Norstrom joined the team this morning in Pittsburgh and skated. He still won't be eligible to play until Monday against Columbus, but it's an opportunity for him to get in there and get some contact in again.
Antti Miettinen skated on Thursday morning and coach Dave Tippett said he looked good out there. They'll continue to evaluate his progress.
It's chilly (not surprising) and a bit windy (somewhat surprising) here in the Steel City. We'll try to stay warm.
It's hard to get too down in the dumps after the loss. After all, a six-game win streak isn't too shabby. But the Stars had some choice chances in this one that went by the wayside. Mike Ribeiro said that scoreless 5 on 3 was the difference. It didn't help that Martin Brodeur got tougher as the game went on after allowing two early.
Now here comes the weird part. The Stars are going through this lengthy road trip and playing basically every other day. Meanwhile, on Friday they'll play a Penguins team that hasn't played since Saturday.
Saturday!
No word on whether the Stars practice in Pittsburgh on Thursday. It may be a good day to rest up.
Dainius Zubrus puts the Devils up 3-2 at the 8:57 mark. Modano had tried to pass to Jokinen at the other end, but it bounced off his skate and to the Devils, who had a 3 on 2 at the other end. Great pass by Langenbrunner set up Zubrus.
It looked like Niklas Hagman was going to get off another sweet one but Brodeur had a great poke check on him.
The Stars had the momentum early with those two goals. But the Devils had some fire in the second period. The Stars ended up outshooting the Devils 10-9 in the period, thanks in part to the five shots on the 5 on 3. They've had some close chances, little bounces that just missed here or there.
We'll see if those bounces come back in the third.
Brian Gionta, sliding to the ground, still gets the shot off and past Turco to tie it at 18:48. The Devils are dictating the pace more during this period, and it's showing.
The Stars missed a golden opportunity a few minutes before this, going scoreless on 1:37 of 5 on 3 play. The Stars did get five shots, but just couldn't get one past Brodeur. He's looking much better, by the way.
David Clarkson wraps one around and beats Turco 5-hole to get the Devils on the board. John Madden and Dainius Zubrus with the assists at 8:52. The Devils are outshooting the Stars 16-9 at the moment.
The Devils have a pretty new building in the Prudential Center... but where are the fans? I don't know what they'll announce the attendance as, but if it's anything more than about 5,000 there's a conspiracy.
It's a shame, really, because this is a sweet new place.
Jussi Jokinen gives the Stars a 2-0 lead. Sharp angle on the shot, but one that Brodeur typically gets. The Stars will take it, at 13:40.
Yes, it's Stu Barnes on a shorthanded goal. Barnes gobbled up the puck along the boards and beat Brodeur, who was standing up, through the skates.
1-0 Stars at 10:42. Assist from Philippe Boucher.
Nothing very new here:
Hagman-Modano-Jokinen
Morrow-Ribeiro-Eriksson
Halpern-Ott-Barnes
Winchester-Lundqvist-Barch
The Devils had a quick tribute to Martin Brodeur to celebrate his 500th victory, which he achieved last week. Nice presentation, showing Brodeur's first, 100th, 200th, 300th, 400th and 500th triumph. Pretty impressive feat, when you think about it. He's just the second netminder to do it behind Patrick Roy.
And he probably has a few years in him.
Hey folks, allow me to play devil's advocate here for a second:
I know the big thing entering this season was the Stars needed more scoring. Just a question to everyone: Is that still a huge issue? Checking the stats today, the Stars are currently sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 2.96 goals a game. Not too shabby, especially considering the Stars finished last season 22nd in that category.
So is this team OK as is on that front?
Marty Turco will be in net tonight against the Devils. Antti Miettinen skated today and is still listed as day to day.
Mattias Norstrom got the OK for contact and should be joining the team soon. He probably won't play until Monday at the earliest, but it still gives him a chance to work out with the team.
To anyone who has been a Stars fan since the Bob Gainey era -- or to anyone who admired Gainey back to his playing days -- there's a story on TSN you should read. The former Stars GM broke his silence on the death of his daughter last year.
Turns out the announcement was true last week. Just early.
Jere Lehtinen will have surgery for that sports hernia that took him out of the lineup beginning last Friday. Apparently, Lehts had a bit of an inflammation, and they were waiting for that to diminish before going ahead with surgery. He'll be out 8-10 weeks.
The Stars have been working some of the younger guys into the lineup more with this injury, and they haven't been doing too bad. Looks like they'll get a little more work now.
Yeah, I had to type that to realize that the Stars really are on a six-game winning streak. That's their first since Jan. 23-Feb. 1, 2006, when I believe they had the second best record in the league. I was most impressed with the Stars in overtime. There have been times in the past where it just looked like they were trying to get to the shootout, but not on Monday. They got that puck and didn't let go, and their skating cycles looked like they were driving the Islanders nuts.
I know we've all be talking about winning ugly games, and they have been. But here's the question: Isn't winning those the sign of a good team? We always assign the "snakebit" or "bad luck" tags to the teams who lose those icky ones, so where do the Stars fall? Are they for real after all?
Mo wins it 35 seconds into the extra frame. Robidas shot it in, and Mo got the rebound high over DiPietro.
Make it six in a row.
It's been a while since we've had overtime, so why not? Speaking from a journalistic standpoint, I have no problem with OT when the deadline time is on my side.
Now if this were L.A. ...
By the way, Robidas came close to ending this one with that last shot. Great stop by DiPietro.
Miroslav Satan knocks home a rebound a few seconds into the power play, and the Islanders and Stars are tied 2-2. Here we go, kids.
Another ticky-tack call, this time on Matt Niskanen. The Isles are getting some icky calls their way after getting some against them earlier in the game.
I guess this is what they call evening the playing field.
This is the second time Philippe Boucher has had to make a big save with Marty out of position, but he comes through again with a stick clear through the crease. Wow. It was an interesting two minutes, for sure.
Brad Winchester takes a hooking penalty at 12:46. Isles' third PP coming up.
Jeff Halpern gets a pass from Zubov that hits at least one, possibly two sticks on the way into him. Now keep in mind, this is Zubov, so of course that pass still lands directly on the tape for Halpern.
It's 100 for Halpern's career, and puts the Stars up 2-1.
The Stars will have about 52 seconds remaining on their fifth power play when we resume in the third.
The Isles are still getting sticks in the way a lot. But they're tied, thanks to Mo, so the third should be a pretty close tussle. Other than that gaffe out of the net, Marty's looking pretty darned good.
Modano comes through to tie it up 1-1.
It started with the pass from Niklas Hagman, who was coming down the left side and found Mo pretty wide open in the middle. He beats DiPietro glove side at 11:37.
Marty Turco made an ill-advised trip out of the net -- way out of the net -- and it was costly. Richard Park stole a pass and had a breakaway, but it looked like Marty thought about trying to cut him off. Didn't work. Basically Park had a wide-open net at which to shoot.
1-0 Islanders. Short-handed, by the way.
The Islanders had some good chances, and Marty's looking good early. Lot of blocked shots on both sides, especially at the Stars' offerings.
Miettinen and Lehtinen are the scratches; Modano's centering with Niklas Hagman and Jussi Jokinen. Joel Lundqvist is centering with Brad Winchester and Krys Barch.
Marty's back in net tonight.
Starting line is Jeff Halpern, Steve Ott and Stu Barnes.
The Islanders pre-broadcast gave some kudos to Mike Modano for breaking the U.S. points mark; very nice of the Isles.
Talk again after the puck drop.
Goalie Mike Smith was one of the Three Stars of the Week by the league on Monday. This is for his 3-0-0 mark and I think it includes yesterday's game against the Rangers.
Not too shabby of a week for the backup, eh?
The Stars weren't in prettiest form on Sunday but they'll take this one and run. Can't give enough credit to Mike Smith for the job he did. It can't be easy seeing Brendan Shanahan, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury and Jaromir Jagr skating toward you shift after shift. But he did well.
Even winning these so-so games has to be encouraging for this bunch. Seems like months ago when we were talking about a yo-yo team, no scoring and struggling goaltending. All is good right now.
No word on who's starting in net tomorrow, by the way. See you on the Island.
Smith stopped 39 of 41 on this one. Great game by him. Will come back with more.
The Stars PP not so bad, either.
Brenden Morrow gives the Stars a 3-2 lead on their second power play. This was all Ribeiro and his crazy moves, skating past one guy, then another, then floating a beautiful pass to a wide-open Morrow on the left side of the goal.
This was after Brendan Shanahan and Steve Ott got into a little tussle. Actually, it was more of a bearhug for a while there.
But it was fun, anyway.
The game's tied 2-2 entering the third, and I'm not sure how. I guess the Stars have just done a lot with a little. Nine shots through the first two periods, and they've scored twice. They had just three shots in the second period, the third resulting in a goal. The Rangers? 17 shots in the period.
Smith has been huge on the other end, and the Stars have killed off four power plays. They've killed off 45 seconds of a fifth one, which will resume in the third.
Loui Eriksson ties it for the Stars on the power play, on just the Stars' ninth shot of the game, third of the period.
Sergei Zubov had a great pass to Eriksson, and he split the defenders to beat Lundqvist 5-hole. Modano on the secondary assist.
Mike Smith has been pretty darned good today, and he's had to be. We're 10:10 into the second period and the Stars still don't have a shot on Henrik Lundqvist. They haven't been down on this side much at all.
Wait, their first shot. At 10:46. The Rangers whistled for a penalty, too, so the Stars are on the PP.
Brendan Shanahan gives NY a 2-1 lead about a minute into the second. He got a pass from Sean Avery, but it looks like Avery's pass hit Mike Ribeiro's skate first and then went right to Shanahan.
The Stars are being terribly outshot right now, 18-6 just past the 5 minute mark of the second period.
Stephane Robidas started this, sliding down and poking the puck away from Scott Gomez. Then Jokinen was off and running, and lulling Henrik Lundqvist with those patented moves.
Goal was at 19:08. It's a nice end to the period, in which the Stars didn't get a lot of time around Lundqvist.
Mike Smith was whistled for tripping Sean Avery. Three seconds later Jagr went to the box for hooking.
I'm sure the Stars will enjoy that 3-second power play.
By the way, former Rangers goaltender Mike Richter is at the game today. Got a big ovation from the crowd.
Jaromir Jagr gets one past Smith for a 1-0 NY Rangers lead. Philippe Boucher was trying to clear the puck but it was kept in by Brandon Dubinsky. Jagr's shot may have gone off one of the Stars and in.
Krys Barch and Antti Miettinen (groin) are the scratches.
Joel Lundqvist is LW with Steve Ott and Brad Winchester. Stu Barnes is on the right wing with Hagman and Jokinen.
Some pretty good stops already by Smith. Stars haven't had much time in their zone.
Hey folks,
I have arrived in the city that never sleeps. At least according to Mr. Sinatra. Anyway, Smitty is starting in net. Guessing it'll be Marty tomorrow night in Long Island.
By the way, the media seats here are unbelievable. I'm sitting about seven rows up from the glass, just to the left of the goaltenders' net. Fantastic. If I miss anything today (at least on this end) I have a problem.
Sorry, folks:
I tried to post this before I left DFW today, but the connection wasn't working very well. Anyway, Brad Winchester and Joel Lundqvist were called back to the Stars today before they left for the long trip up here. Lundqvist spent some time in Iowa these last few weeks, and if he plays tomorrow, it'll be the second time he and his twin brother, Henrik, the Rangers goalie have squared off.
Sibling rivalries can be fun, can't they? I'm shivering here in NYC, so take a sip of cocoa for me!
It's hard to believe this is the same team from earlier this month. The Stars are looking sharp, they're not panicking if they're down a goal and they're shutting down opponents. As Brenden Morrow said, "we've been a lot more help for our goaltenders."
Speaking of the netminder, Marty Turco was solid tonight. Dave Tippett figured he would be. "He's had a week to work on his game. He knows what he's doing. We have to keep both guys up and running because of the schedule ahead."
There's nothing new to say about Mike Ribeiro, except he's been fantastic. Doesn't hurt that he was playing his old nemesis, Toronto. Shocking the Montreal kid has nine career goals against the Leafs.
So now we hit the road to New York. Gotta admit I'm excited, especially for a trip to New York! But the Stars are playing well and I'm intersted to see them against some different squads.
We'll talk to you from the road beginning tomorrow.
This is a screwy thing. Now the Stars are saying the MRI wasn't so bad, he's got an abdominal strain, and the announcement about surgery was, in Tippett's words, "premature."
That's all we got for now. Lehtinen will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
Steve Ott gets flattened, but Halpern gets the puck and the empty netter for the victory.
Game over. 4 in a row for Stars.
I don't think his is as serious as Lehtinen's, but Antti Miettinen sustained a lower body injury in the third period and did not return.
Poor guy couldn't even finish the game after that great goal.
The prognosis on Lehtinen just got a lot worse:
Lehtinen, who was out of the lineup tonight, will have sports hernia surgery on Monday. This is the same injury that took Sergei Zubov out of Game 7 against Vancouver last spring (Jamie Langenbrunner also had it, and had surgery in September).
Anyway, Lehtinen will be out for a while. And the Stars are going to miss him terribly.
The Stars were looking much better this period. They're giving Toronto some fits and they're getting a few back-to-back shots against Toskala.
Only catch, possibly: Niklas Hagman blocked a shot off his right leg and he was hobbled. he got off the ice on his own, but he was limping all the way up the hall.
Stay tuned...
Antti Miettinen gets his second goal of the season off a prime Toronto turnover. Miettinen looked pretty Jokinen-like, taking that puck on both sides of his stick before slipping it in high on Toskala.
Stars up, 2-1.
Leave it to Mike Ribeiro to find an equalizer. He had a nice little move and got one to dribble through Vesa Toskala at 3:11. The Stars killed off those penalties at the start of the period and they're looking a little livelier.
The Stars might want to forget this first period. Quickly. They committed three penalties, two in close proximity at the end of the first period. So Toronto will have 30 seconds remaining on a 5-on-3.
Meanwhile, they had a back-to-back power play and only 2 shots. Brenden Morrow and Mike Modano got away at the end of one power play and were all alone, but Morrow couldn't corral the puck.
Not so good after 20 minutes.
Brenden Morrow was whistled for hooking, so the Leafs are on the job. The Stars have nixed 20 of 21 power plays at home this month.
Jason Blake was called for a double minor for high-sticking Philippe Boucher. The Stars are on the long power play. They still don't have a shot in the game.
Alexei Ponikarovsky got the Maple Leafs on the board first, off a pass from Mat Sundin. It was only the Leafs' second shot. The Stars have yet to get one off on their end.
By the way, what's up with the Toronto fans in Dallas? There are quite a few of them and they're already vocal.
Jere Lehtinen is a scratch tonight. He's day to day with an abdominal strain.
Loui Eriksson is taking his place on that line with Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro.
Brad Winchester was activated off injured reserve on Friday afternoon. The left wing will head to Iowa, where he'll have a conditioning assignment. Winchester was hurt against Phoenix on Nov. 2 and missed eight games (nine if you want to count tonight).
That's right, Stars fans:
Tonight we see a team we rarely get to see, and one with a ton of great history, in the Toronto Maple Leafs. The first live hockey game I ever went to was in Florida (of all places), and it was Tampa Bay against the Maple Leafs. I loved Mats Sundin then, and he's still fantastic to watch, so tonight will be fun.
No offense to the other Pacific Division teams, but we need a break from each other. It's not you, it's me.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a wonderful and safe holiday. I'm blogging from Tulsa today, getting in a day with family up here. Everyone enjoy that turkey, or turkducken, or whatever entices you on this day!
By the way, thank you, all for reading. The blog's only about 10 days old and we're well over 1,000 hits. I appreciate how passionate you hockey fans have been!
We'll check in tomorrow from the AAC.
Todd Fedoruk was picked up by the Minnesota Wild off re-entry waivers on Thursday morning. Now the Stars and Wild will split the remainder of his salary this year, about $350,000 per team.
Fedoruk's a great guy who just didn't fit in to the Stars lineup on a regular basis. Co-GM Les Jackson wanted to make sure Fedoruk got his chance to stay in the NHL, and the Wild will give him that. Hopefully he'll find a spot in their lineup.
The night started and ended well for the Stars on Wednesday night. They're playing well right now, not getting rattled when they're down and their special teams have been fantastic.
The Stars have won three in a row right now, and they're feeling as good as they're looking. This locker room's current demeanor is a far cry from what it was about a week ago, when everyone was reeling over changes. Have those changes meant that much of a difference?
Mike Smith was strong again, and getting good reviews from Dave Tippett following the game. Is he in on Friday, too? On one side, you figure it's time to put Marty back in there to get limbered up for this 6-game, 10 day road trip beginning on Sunday. On the other side, Smitty's one three in a row.
What do you do?
Mike Modano gets one on a wicked slapshot with two seconds remaining on the 5-on-3 to tie it. Then 41 seconds later Niklas Hagman gets a 5-on-4 goal for the 2-1 lead.
The Stars are back in business.
Ducks center Todd Marchant is off the ice, as the Stars go on their fourth power-play of the night.
Shots are 11-9 Ducks right now.
By the way, I was wrong on the next tribute: They went with Jeremy Roenick, whose image got a smattering of applause and a boo or two from the crowd. Like him or not, he's been gushing about Mo's accomplishments.
Trevor Daley goes to the box for hooking, and it looked like a pretty weak call. But it's still the Ducks' fourth power play.
It's Derian Hatcher's turn on the big screen.
It's official, it's a throwback night to the '99 Stanley Cup team.
I'm guessing Darryl Sydor is next.
Chris Pronger took a cross-checking penalty at the 6:45 mark of the second, putting the Stars on their third power play of the game. It doesn't hurt that the Stars are going on this advantage with Pronger off the ice.
By the way, the Joe Nieuwendyk video tribute just aired to another round of applause.
It's 1-0 Ducks after one, but it was a pretty entertaining period. A good fight, some fast-paced play and a few close ones on both sides. Mike Smith made two nice saves on two Rob Niedermayer attempts. Jeff Halpern tried to get one past Jean-Sebastien Giguere with the seconds winding down, but to no avail.
Krys Barch and Brad May got into some fisticuffs at the 14:44 mark and it was an entertaining one. Barch was mixing it up, with rights and lefts, as well as a few body blows.
Yeah, I could write boxing.
Corey Perry slips one in on a pretty wide-open left side for a 1-0 lead on the power play. It's the first PP goal the Stars have allowed this month at the AAC, and it happened just seven seconds into the power play.
Jussi Jokinen just took a high-stick penalty, so the Stars are back on the kill immediately.
Well, on the video board, anyway. Former Stars coach Ken Hitchcock sent his congratulations to Modano on his achievements in the first of what will probably be many video tributes throughout the game.
Modano wins the faceoff.
Chris Conner is the lone scratch. Krys Barch is in the lineup, skating with Stu Barnes and Loui Eriksson. Steve Ott is with Modano and Jeff Halpern on that top line.
Stars go 0-for-1 on the power play.
Mo said a few words as the Ducks came out for the end of the celebration and applauded Mo.
All in all, a great tribute for Modano. A lot of VIPs, a few pictures of a young Modano on draft day and a packed house to enjoy it all.
And a few tears, of course. Mark Messier would've been proud.
Modano got a standing ovation when he took the ice after a video montage of his career. Here's some highlights of the celebration:
First, the house is packed, as well it should be for the occasion.
Mo's parents, Mike Sr., and Karen, as well as his wife, Mandy (aka Willa Ford) came out onto the ice. Moments later, so did the tears from Modano after getting a long hug from his father.
Joe Mullen and Phil Housley were also here to congratulate Mo. Funny moment from Housley: "I asked him what took him so long to break the record." Brett Hull and Tom Hicks were also part of the festivities. Not surprising the loud ovation Hull got when he came out here.
Hicks also gave Mo an invitation to play at the old course at St. Andrews in Scotland. Very nice.
The Stars will celebrate the milestones of Mike Modano tonight at 7:30 p.m.