Stars let another game get way too close for comort on Tuesday night in Edmonton. They were there to play their long time playoff rivals, the Edmonton Oilers. Dallas had a good lead going into the 3rd at 3-1 but the tenacouse play of the Oilers brought the game into overtime. Turco made some key saves to keep the score tied at three. none of them were as big as the final save of the overtime period when he had to leap to his right in order to block what would have been the game winning goal for the Oil. Once the game went to the Shootout it was pretty much already over. Zubov started things out with an easy goal, fallowed by the rookie phenom Jokinen. Two great saves by Marty Turco ended the game as Dallas inches closer to the top seed of the West. they got some help from their division rivals, Phoenix tonight as the Coyotes beat Detroit at home.
Dallas will travel a short distance to play Calgary on Thursday.

Dallas gets their second win in as many days in a huge way. They set the tone early at the United Center in the Windy City scoring two very early goals. Dallas needed this type of game after coming off of an insanly intinse and physical game with the Colorado Avalanch on Saturday.
Once Dallas got the lead, they never looked back. The injory filled Blackhawks could never muster up enough energy to come back. After a golie change from the home team, the Stars contuned their dominance.
The final score in Chicago was 7-2 as the stars get ready to head north of the boarder to play their long time playoff foes, Edmonton Oilers.

The Dallas Stars resumed NHL play this week against their division rivals, Pheonix Coyotes. It was a rough game to say the least. Johan Hedburg got the start as Dallas wanted to rest Marty Turco who has been in Italy these past couple of weeks with team Canada. There were some obviouse reasons for concern as the stars got outplayed in nearly every aspect of the game. The Coyotes came out each period with more fire and energy and the scoreboard reflected it.
One of the biggest, and most troubling of the Stars concerns is the fact that they simply cant figure out how to take advantage of the Power Play. They are amoung the worst teams in that aspect and as they move closer to the playoffs, the concern will only be greater. it will be unlikly that the Stars will be able to make a run very deep into the playoffs if they do not figure out what is wrong with their power play.

The game started out good for Dallas. Mike Modano found a loose puck the he put in the back of the net to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. That is about when Joe Thorton decided to take the game into his own hands. His presence behind Marty Turco was huge. His line was the spark that pretty much ended the Stars night. The Sharks rattled of 5 consecutive goals on Dallas.
The Stars were over-matched the entire night. They had absolutly no rhythem to their game, and no answer for neither Johnathan Cheechoo nor Joe Thorton. However the "never say die" attitude of the Stars shown through in the third period when they got 2 back to back goals to make things interesting at least. Then in the final few minutes San Jose got their 6th goal with Turco on the bench.
Dallas will now have to regroup and get ready for the Los Angelas Kings. The environnment should be considerably less hostil on Sunday afternoon in LA, and Dallas will be playing a team that was is not as good as the Sharks. Sunday's gamee will be the last one before the Olympic Break.

The Stars opened their last road trip before the break in front of a meager crowd in Phoenix on Thursday night. Coach Tippet decided to rest starting golie Marty Turco tonight after putting up an impressive few games. Hedburg got the start tonight, and things were going his way from the start. The Coyotes started hot with a number of shots at the Stars net, with most of the time of the first period played in the Stars zone. Hedburg was on his game tonight however. He lasted long enough for Dallas to get the offence started.
The Stars got goals from Bill Guerin, Brendon Morrow, and plenty from Niko Kapanen. Niko scored his first career hat trick to put the icing on the cake for Dallas. This was exactly the kind of start the team needed for this road trip.
Friday night, the Stars head to San Jose to play the Sharks. Friday's game should be much more up tempo and exciting than this one. Playing in front of a packed crowed in a fierce rival's arena will be a little bit different than playing in front of a virtually empty stadium against a very distracted team.

The Dallas Stars look ready for their last little streach befor heading into the Olympic break. They start the three game trip on Thursday night against the division rivals, Pheonix Coyotes. The Stars have looked good in the past few games and it would be a huge momentum boost for the team to get a quality win against Pheonix.

Bill Guerin was most likely amoung the happiest guys on Monday night as he got his first goal in what feels like forever. His goal with under a second left in the second period gave the Stars their first lead of the game. It also helped put a stop the the fluidity of the Nashville attack. After that goal, the Preds never quite looked the same.
Dallas added a couple more goals in the game, one coming on a brokken play where Dallas had a wide open shot at an open net.
This was a very physical game, and a tough way to go into a three game road trip, but they got the win. And that is what is important. Dallas will have three games coming up in the final week before the Olympic break.