Disappointed Stars looking for answers, playoff spot

Dallas, TX, United States (AHN Sports) – In what was arguably their most important game of the season to date, the Dallas Stars came out with a flat, uninspiring performance, and are now struggling to understand just how that happened.

Entering their game with the Phoenix Coyotes Tuesday night, the Stars and Coyotes were tied for ninth place in the Western Conference standings, two points back of Minnesota for the eighth and final playoff spot.

With two days off and facing a Phoenix squad that had played the night before, things looked good for the Stars to rebound from a sub-par performance in Saturday’s 2-1 shootout win over the Wild.

When all was said and done, not only did the Stars lose 4-1, but they were outworked most of the night and might have been fortunate to only fall by three after goaltender Kari Lehtonen put forth a strong performance in making 20 saves.

Dallas is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games, dropping two straight contests in a time they need to make a move up in the standings.

“Awful, atrocious, I don’t know,” defenseman Sheldon Souray said of the Stars’ effort. “We’ve gotten by on a really good goaltender our last three or four games and it’s just not good enough. We just didn’t rise to the occasion, and it’s frustrating and disappointing because we know what’s riding on the line here. We’re fighting that team for a playoff spot and we weren’t good enough tonight and we haven’t been good enough since the break.”

“We weren’t very good again. Even with a real good goalie performance, we got outworked by a team that played last night,” said Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan. “Not the result, the effort. If you put up 45 shots and lost 2-1 because of an outstanding goaltender, you can live with those, but when you get outplayed and outworked and your goaltender stands on his head to keep it close, I got a big problem with that.”

Winger Michael Ryder, whose team-leading 19th goal of the season pulled the Stars into a 1-1 tie early in the second, was at a loss for words describing how they could get outworked in such a crucial game.

“It was such a big game for us and we were in it until the third period and it’s definitely frustrating and disappointing,” said Ryder, who fired six shots on goal. “I just think they outworked us tonight in certain areas and that’s what we got to get better at. We got to make sure we’re maybe a little better mentally prepared to play and get excited to play these games.

“This is the time of year that can make or break a season and we have to make sure we realize that and make sure we take advantage of it and go out there and outwork teams. I think that’s how we’re going to win, if we go out and outwork them and just stay within the system.”

“As players, we got to look in the mirror,” said defenseman Stephane Robidas. “The compete level, I don’t think was there tonight. They played last night, they were the team that was supposed to be tired. We didn’t play physical against them, they won most of the one-on-one battles and they capitalized, Kari made some big saves and kept us in the game, but eventually, they capitalized on them.”

One thing is for sure. If the Stars hope to remain in the thick of the playoff chase, they need to find their inner fire quickly. With back-to-back road games coming up in Columbus (Thursday) and Buffalo (Friday), the Stars don’t have much time to figure it out.

“We got to find a way to get ready for these games and take it on ourselves,” Ryder said. “Every guy has to get ready themselves and find a way to be ready, we didn’t do that tonight and we got outworked and outbattled. I don’t think we were really prepared to play and I think the onus is on us to make sure we figure it out. We got a two-game road trip coming up, which is pretty huge, and we got to make sure we come back here with some points.”

Gulutzan hoped that being on the road, without any distractions, would be beneficial to the cause.

“I think it might be all right to get on the road and try to get going,” the first-year NHL coach said. “We’re making it tough on ourselves, we could have been in the eighth spot tonight. We haven’t played well since the break and we’ve got to get going, record aside, two wins in last three or three wins in last four, whatever it is. We need to be better. That’s not asking too much, that’s reality.”

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