Five for Fighting

A sign from the hockey gods?

The offensively-struggling Stars needed a sign at home, and may have just got one. Mike Ribeiro threw a blind pass between his legs in hopes of finding Loui Eriksson. The puck hit off the skate of a Carolina defenseman and deflected into the goal to tie the game at 1-1. That's a big deal for this team. _Mike Heika

First-period tidbits

A few random thoughts:
    Mike Modano is skating like a 28-year-old again...
    Mark Fistric is Marty Turco's best friend...
    The Hurricanes are more dangerous on the penalty kill than they are at even strength, at least right now...
    In the Is It Swedish game, it's still always Swedish...

-- Tracey Myers

Underway at AAC

Dave Tippett looks to be going strength on strength
Ott-Ribeiro-Eriksson Daley-Robidas
Out against Cole-Staal-Ruutu Gleason-Corvo
Nice moment on the National Anthem, a few fans called out Jussi on the ``You see'' like they used to do when he was here. Jokinen is now with the Hurricanes and just returned from Finland after taking some time off for the death of his father. _Mike Heika

Otter's new grill

Steve Ott was flashing his new pearly whites this morning... yes, kids, the Stars' scrapper got his teeth fixed after he lost a tooth Sunday afternoon against Montreal.

Said Ott, "I can get back to modeling now."

Sorry, but I can't top that.

-- Tracey Myers

Is the glass one-quarter full?

    Or three-quarters empty? Just joshing there. As I turned off the television last night, my first thought was, ``OK, they're done.'' But as I talked to players today and saw that the Stars are just a point or two (if you're using the tiebreakers) out of eighth place and a spot in the playoffs, I had to say, ``Well, maybe they still have a chance.''
    To be sure, if this team had just gone .500 over the past 10 games instead of 2-7-1, they would be in just peachy shape. So that does seem to indicate that they still have a chance to make a run at it. I mean, you look at the teams that are in right now, and they have been on good rolls lately. Vancouver has turned its season around in a month, Nashville in a couple of weeks. St. Louis has found a way to get back into the mix, as well.
    But if you look at those teams, you see reasons for their turnarounds. Vancouver started to adapt to Mats Sundin and finally got goalie Roberto Luongo up and running. Nashville got Steve Sullivan back from injury and found a way to get rookie goalie Pekka Rinne on a solid run. St. Louis saw the return of Andy McDonald from injury and watched Chris Mason go on an incredible run. The Stars had that too _ a month ago when Jere Lehtinen and Steve Ott came back and Marty Turco was on a roll. Now, Lehtinen is out again. So is Brad Richards, and Brenden Morrow and Sergei Zubov. And as near as we can tell, none are coming back soon.
    Fabian Brunnstrom practiced today and is close to returning. Mark Parrish said he's fine after his collision Tuesday with Jay McKee, but he'll probably sit out a game. But if either can play, they don't really bring the impact needed. Joel Lundqvist is expected to be back in the lineup after three healthy scratches, and he could have his hair on fire.
    But, again, how much difference can he make overall? So, yes, the Stars have at their disposal the opportunity to save the season. Do they have the necessary equipment and fuel? Maybe that's why the glass seems so empty.

_Mike Heika

Time for summer planning?

A lot of you were disheartened by the 5-2 loss to the Blues and asked about the Stars' free agent situation in the summer. So here are their unrestricted and restricted free agents. They are eligible to sign any of them to extensions before July 1. If they don't, the UFAs will be able to shop themselves.

Players _ 2008-09 salary _ 2009-10 Status
Sergei Zubov _ $5.35 million _ UFA
Jere Lehtinen _ $4 million _ UFA
Brendan Morrison _ $2.75 million _ UFA
Darryl Sydor _ $2.5 million _ UFA
Steve Begin _ $1.05 million _ UFA
Joel Lundqvist _ $725,000 _ UFA
Landon Wilson _ $550,000 _ UFA
Mark Parrish _ $500,000 _ UFA
Mark Fistric _ $788.889 _ RFA
Chris Conner _ $500,000 _ RFA
Tobias Stephan _ $485,000 _ RFA

So, as you play co-GM and look at your situation, what do you do? _Mike Heika

Tra's House of Blues Top 5

I'm running out of titles, because they've all had a dismal tinge to them. But what else can you do at this point? Onto the countdown:
    1, Too many injuries. Yeah, this is a no-brainer, but we can't deny it anymore. The Stars may have finally reached too-hurt status. We all know the long-term guys out. Then Jere Lehtinen is out again. Fabian Brunnstrom was out tonight. Mark Parrish was knocked hard in the first period and didn't return. Too many dings, not nearly enough healthy guys to make up for them. And what health you do have is now being run ragged making up minutes.
    2, Neal is still great. James Neal was the Stars' best player tonight. The guy's fire is so evident right now, and he scored his 22nd goal this season. If he could take the whole team on his back he'd probably try and do it. As it stands, he's doing his part.
    3, Turco, not so much. Marty Turco had an awful night. Three goals on eight shots, and 11:56 into this one he was gone. If the Stars are going to get through this time, they need to rely heavily on goaltending. Tonight, it was not there at all.
    4, St. Louis, the other Chicago. The Blues have become another version of the Blackhawks this season: They both just tee off on the Stars. Dallas is now 0-3-0 against the Blues this season, and have been outscored 14-4 in those games. Too much youth, speed and venom. Yikes.
    5, Coming home again. Remember when that used to be a good thing? Not right now. The Stars will try to end a six-game losing skid here on Thursday. But unless they get a body or two back, it may be more of the same.

So what do we think, kids?

-- Tracey Myers

Sorry I said anything

Yeah, maybe forget about that last item on my James Neal entry...

Another mess and the Blues clean it up with a big goal for a 4-1 advantage. Poor Tobias Stephan was making some good stops before that one, on which he didn't have much of a chance.

-- Tracey Myers

Neal at it again

I know people are probably sick of me praising James Neal over and over again.

Well, tough, because I'm about to do it once more.

Neal gets a wicked pretty shot up and past Chris Mason (and that hasn't been easy for the Stars lately), to cut into the Blues' lead 3-1. Great, tight shot and it's Neal's 22nd of the season, putting him one behind Bobby Ryan for the rookie lead.

Yes, it's still a two-goal deficit, but there's still more potential than there was in the first period. That was a stinker.

-- Tracey Myers

How many more can they lose?

Hey, folks, it's Tracey from home. And by that title, I mean Stars players.

Mark Parrish took that nasty hit at center ice (looked pretty clean, but painful nonetheless), Krys Barch is in the box for fighting and Brian Sutherby is out for a while with that misconduct and fighting. Fabian Brunnstrom is out after his upper-body injury on Sunday, and Jere Lehtinen is also still sidelined.

The Stars are down to slim pickings right now, and down 3-0. Can the Stars stay mentally strong enough to make any noise in this one?

-- Tracey Myers