Five for Fighting

Monday, Monday

That was a great song, wasn't it? It was a kick-back Monday for us today, since the Stars were off (well some guys went to Frisco for off-ice stuff, etc., but no organized practice).

Not a whole lot to report today, other than the fact that Sergei Zubov is still day to day. We'll see if he's out there practicing tomorrow. I'm going to assume he is, since he was out on the West Coast.

Oh, and I asked Dave Tippett about Marty Turco's run-in with Brad May at the end of the first period on Sunday. He said it wasn't much of anything. May apparently made it look worse than it was. Anyway, didn't sound like it was anything that would get Turco in trouble.

That's all I got for now, kids. See you tomorrow.

Point taken

The Stars continue to put on the happy face. I guess they're just happy to get the playoff situation taken care of (the fact that they're in, anyway). But this was a game they needed -- NEEDED -- to win, really. If they win, they're within two of getting the No. 4 seed and home ice in the first round. They also get a big boost heading into the final three games.

Marty Turco played well enough to win. More than well enough, actually. The guy's had his bad games lately (high-sticking double-minor in San Jose), but this wasn't one of them. Great performance, and it went by the wayside because the Stars couldn't get one more goal. They were also without jump through the first half of this one, and that's a little scary. Aren't you supposed to be up for games like this?
Other random thoughts: Niklas Hagman looks a little more like himself right now. There's no excuse for the penalty situation in the first two periods. Stop hooking, for gosh sakes.
Coach Dave Tippett talked about the team being tired. That's not good to hear. I know they had three games in a short amount of time, but this is after four days without one. And they went from L.A. to Anaheim. Not like they were jumping around the states.

Anyway, we head home tomorrow morning. The Stars won't practice again until Tuesday, then they've got the back-to-back with Phoenix before finishing with San Jose on Saturday. We'll see what happens.

Hagman ties it

There's a misplayed puck behind Giguere, and Niklas Hagman takes advantage. Toby Petersen gets around Marc-Andre Bergeron behind the net, and the puck ends up on Hagman's stick right in front of Giguere. Stars tie it 2-2 at the 1:53 mark. Petersen gets the assist.

I believe the Stars only need one point to clinch a playoff berth, so if they can at least hold on for that...

Whew

That's what the Stars might be feeling right now, considering they're 16 seconds away from killing off the Ducks' seventh power play. They got through 47 seconds worth of 5 on 3 as the second period wound down.

Don't know what the Stars are doing right now. They're committing a lot of those catch-up penalties right now -- Barnes and Daley were both called for hooking on this last little mess -- and they're using all their energy to kill off penalties.

Schneider gets another

The Ducks regain the lead as Mathieu Schneider is right there in the slot to take a pass from Ryan Getzalf. Ducks up 2-1 14:54 into the second period. Teemu Selanne on the second assist.

The Stars started getting a little chasey again in their own zone, and the Ducks were taking advantage.

Modano scores

This was a pretty one, and a reminder that Modano is still a sniper. Great back-and-forth between he and Brenden Morrow, and then Modano just laced this one past Giguere.

Stars tie it, with assists from Morrow and Lehtinen, at 6:45 in the second period.

First is finished

At least the Stars spent more time in the Ducks' zone, beginning with their power play at the 14:33 mark. The Ducks were all over them through the first few minutes, and outshot them 10-3 for the period. The Stars need to get some traffic around Giguere. Most of the shots are still slappers from near the blue line. There's been a puck or two hovering around close to Giguere, but the Stars haven't been able to get to one fast enough to do some damage with it.

We'll see how the next two go.

Ducks up 1-0

Mathieu Schneider scores on the Ducks' second power play (they had another one end just a few moments ago) to put the Duckies up 1-0. The Stars are chasing a lot right now, and committing the penalties that drive coaches crazy.

The Stars have just one shot on goal, and that was by Steve Ott on the first shift. The Ducks, meanwhile, have nine shots. Marty Turco's already had to make a few choice saves.

Tonight's lines

Ott-Modano-Barnes start it off again tonight in Anaheim. Here are the others:

Morrow-Ribeiro-Lehtinen
Eriksson-Richards-Miettinen
Hagman-Petersen-Crombeen

Jean-Sebastien Giguere is starting in goal for the Duckies. Scratches for the Stars are Mark Fistric, Joel Lundqvist, Krys Barch and Brad Winchester.

Much better

Ah, just what the coaches and GMs ordered: A complete, one-sided game against a team the Stars should have that type of outing. Power play, penalty kill, etc., it was all good. This is what they should've done last Saturday against the Kings.

I'm liking Jere Lehtinen back with Morrow and Ribeiro. They're doing great things, and everybody's scoring on that line (or in Ribeiro's case, setting everyone else up to score). Loui Eriksson looked like he was determined to get that hat trick in the third period. The defense was very solid in allowing the Kings very little.

Now the Stars need to channel this for tomorrow night against the Ducks. As Mike Ribeiro said, this one's going to be a much tougher contest. Can the Stars get to within two points of the Ducks, and fourth place in the conference? We'll see. It's doubtful, however, that we'll see Sergei Zubov tomorrow night.