Five for Fighting

Hmm

That's about all I have right now. The Stars had a few good chances already in this one, with a breakaway or two, but nada so far. Jokinen looks like he's coming along just fine, so no problems there. Barch's fight was pretty fun, just the way he was punching.

All in all, chances don't mean anything. The Sabres are up 1-0 on a missing defense play.

Barchy fighting again

Krys Barch and Andrew Peters were going at it for a while after Steve Ott gave Peters a hip check a bit earlier.

Don't know if there's something wrong with Barch's right hand, because he was grabbing Peters' jersey and punching him with his left hand. Strange-looking from up here, but reviews showed him connecting a few times.

Buffalo up 1-0

Derek Roy was all by his lonesome in front of the net, and he beats Turco on a little tip at the 1:51 mark. Not-so-good on the coverage. That's the Sabres' first shot of the game. Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford on the assists.

There are a ton of Sabres fans in this building, and you can hear every one of them. Honestly, I feel like I'm in Buffalo, and that certainly shouldn't happen here.

Jokinen line up first

Jussi Jokinen will get thrown in right away, as he and linemates Niklas Hagman and Antti Miettinen will take the opening faceoff. Anticipate seeing Loui Eriksson with Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro if Wednesday's practice was any indication.

I'm assuming Modano with Halpern and Ott.

Optional morning

We had a half-full rink today at morning skate. And other than Ulf Dahlen shooting a puck at me -- he swears it was unintentional :) -- it was a pretty quiet day out at the AAC.

The good news: Jere Lehtinen was out there skating with his teammates. It's morning skate, obviously, and his big test will be at the Stars' Monday practice before they head to Vancouver. But Lehtinen is wanting that Vancouver game to be his first one back.

A reminder that Jussi Jokinen is in tonight.

Crombeen returns to Iowa

With Jussi Jokinen coming back, B.J. Crombeen returned to Iowa on Wednesday. The kid looked pretty good in his three games here; I was surprised one of his shots didn't result in a goal against the Ducks on Sunday. Coach Dave Tippett was pretty happy with his stay here, too. As he said, there are a lot of Iowa guys who are getting valuable experience up here for one reason or another.

Turco starting, Jokinen returning

Marty Turco gets the start in goal tomorrow against the Buffalo Sabres. I can't even remember the last time the Stars played the Buffalo Sabres (about two or three years ago, I think?) Anyway, they're in town already... a bunch of their coaches were up in the press box on Tuesday night.

And Jussi Jokinen is back in the lineup tomorrow, barring anything major happening in morning skate. The guy's been dying to get back onto the ice -- he had never missed more than two games in a row in his eight-year career before this latest injury. He was centering a line with Niklas Hagman and Antti Miettinen at today's practice. Don't know if that's set or what, but there you have it. Loui Eriksson was up with Morrow and Ribeiro.

Uuuuugly

Here's a lesson in how NOT to lose a game: The Stars had a 2-0 lead and all the momentum in the world against a very, very frustrated Blue Jackets team. Then the penalties started. Then they were miffed about a Columbus goal that should've been nullified by an icing penalty.

Bottom line: The Stars held onto their angst too long and just didn't get over it. So it's a game they shouldn't have lost, an opportunity to put more points between them and Anaheim lost.

Better luck next time. We'll see how they do to finish against Buffalo on Thursday. By the way, the Sabres have gone through big-time losses lately.

Russell again for Columbus

Kris Russell, that youngster who just scored his first NHL goal in the second, added another one to give Columbus the lead. It came on the power play, their fifth of the night, and now the Stars are suddenly looking up at a deficit with about six minutes remaining.

Not good.

Tie game

Andrew Murray makes it a tie game at 8:03. The Stars had another one of those moments where they just couldn't clear the rebounds out of the zone, and it proved costly.

A 2-0 lead is gone, and Joel Lundqvist just went into the penalty box at 12:36. By the way, is it just me or have they been calling a lot of ticky-tack penalties on both sides tonight?