Five for Fighting

Fistric recalled, Fortunus assigned

I just got off the plane in San Jose. No practice today for the Stars, but they have announced that Mark Fistric (groin) is returning from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars.

I wonder how they will change the lineup. Marc Crawford has said several times he likes 6 defensemen and 12 forwards, so that means that either Jeff Woywitka or Matt Niskanen comes out of the lineup (or I guess that Fistric is a healthy scratch). I think they could actually use a shake-up on pairs right now.

I guess we'll see tomorrow.

Here's the press release:

FRISCO, Tex. - The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has recalled defenseman Mark Fistric from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). He will join Dallas in San Jose this afternoon. The club also announced that defenseman Maxime Fortunus has been assigned to Texas.

Fistric, 24, was assigned to the Texas Stars for conditioning on Dec. 8. He appeared in three games for Texas, going scoreless with two penalty minutes. Fistric suffered a lower-body injury on Nov. 22 and missed seven games prior to the conditioning assignment. He has skated in 16 NHL games so far this season, accruing one assist and 20 penalty minutes. Last season he played in 67 games for Dallas, collecting one goal, nine assists and 10 points, all career highs. The Edmonton, Alberta, native posted a plus/minus rating of +27 last season, which ranked him 10th overall in the NHL and was the only player from a non-playoff team to be ranked in the top 35.

The 6-3, 234-pound defenseman has skated in 156 career NHL games, all with Dallas, tallying 17 points (1g, 16a), 155 penalty minutes and a +28 plus/minus rating. Fistric was drafted by Dallas in the first round (28th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Fortunus, 27, was recalled by Dallas on Dec. 9, but did not appear in a game. He has played in 25 games for Texas so far this season, posting seven points (2g, 5a) and eight penalty minutes. Fortunus made his NHL debut last season with Dallas, appearing in eight games and accruing four penalty minutes. The La Prairie, Quebec, native, helped Texas reach the Calder Cup Finals in the 2009-10 season, tallying 23 points (11g, 12a) in 72 regular season games during the club's inaugural season.

The Dallas Stars currently lead the Pacific Division with a 17-10-2 record (36 points) and rank second in the Western Conference. The Stars will face the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion at San Jose on Monday night at 9:30 CT (TV: FOX Sports Southwest Plus, Radio: Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket).

Observations from a 5-2 loss

A couple of quick things.

One, the road power play thing (3-for-49) is pretty hard to explain when the home power play is hitting at 20.8 percent (15-for-72). Two, this is not like they are playing against the greatest penalty killers in the world. Overall, Phoenix ranked 20th heading into this game, Chicago was 27th, Columbus was 23rd and Carolina was 25th. This clearly is a ``me'' problem as far as the Stars are concerned.

``I think it's a mental thing. It gets in your head and everyone is talking about,'' Stephane Robidas said. ``We've got good players _ Richards, Ribeiro, Morrow, we've got guys who can put the puck in the net, Eriksson and Neal, we've got guys who can play the power play. It's not easy, but we've just got to find a way. When you start thinking too much, it's not good, you're a half step behind the play.''

Richards clearly is pressing, and that probably leads everyone to press. He played 10:20 on the power play on Saturday. Think about that. They definitely need him out there, because they really don't have other options, but it might be time to try a different approach. They practiced for an hour in Chicago, so we'll see if they do the same thing again.

Here's Marc Crawford on the situation:

``We had some really good power plays tonight. We did everything but score,'' he said. ``It wasn't for a lack of effort, it wasn't for a lack of staying with it. I think we need a little bit of puck luck.''

``We got a little flustered in our power plays a little later,'' he added. ``Our fourth and fifth weren't nearly as good as our first three. I thought our first three were quite good. If you stick with it, you're going to get through it. You've got to converge on the net, you've got to have traffic and you've got to keep shooting. That's not a huge secret.''

It seems they have to solve it soon, but it's clear that they are frustrated and letting it bother them. We'll see if they can either solve it Monday or possibly use the stretch of six home games in nine games in late December.

Another problem, and I think this might actually be more significant tonight, was the fact they knew they would be tired, they knew Phoenix was jacked up, and yet they came out and made careless mistakes early _ mistakes that could have been eliminated if they just decided to play a simple road game.

Here's Adam Burish on that:

``It wasn't a good effort, it wasn't an honest effort by our guys tonight,'' Burish said. ``There's a million excuses you can make, but that's not being a good pro. In games like this when you maybe don't have your legs, you've got to put checking to a premium, play smart and make it an ugly game. And tonight, we didn't make it an ugly enough game.''

I agree with that. You can't have a road first period where there are 18 shots on goal against (the Stars had 15) and think you're playing smart.

It is just one hiccup, and lord knows that other teams have had their share of hiccups in recent weeks. But the standings are so close that when you have a night when the West does very well against the East (as it happened on Saturday), the standings get very, very tight.

We're talking a couple of points here and there, and you fall to eighth or worse. That's just how it's going to be all year.

``It's so tight that you can't afford to slip up and lose two in a row or you're going to hurt yourself. Letting this get away is going to put a premium on the San Jose game for sure,'' Burish said. ``You always want breathing room, but you know you're not going to get it. You saw that tonight. They were a desperate team, a hungry team, and hopefully we can learn from that. Let's come out Monday with the same attitude Phoenix had tonight.''

Kari Lehtonen not expected to play Monday

Kari Lehtonen is in Texas resting his sore back, and while there was a chance he might fly in Sunday to San Jose, the plan right now is to let him rest and see how he responds before Thursday's home game.

``He's improving, but I would doubt he would play in San Jose,'' Stars coach Marc Crawford said after Saturday's game against Phoenix.

When asked how he liked rookie Richard Bachman, who had four saves and allowed no goals in 9:35 in his NHL debut while relieving Andrew Raycroft, Crawford said:

``I liked what I saw, but Rayzor is our guy right now,'' Crawford said.

Observations from a 5-3 loss

The Stars were as frustrated as I have ever seen them with officiating in a game after a 5-3 loss to Chicago on Wednesday.

Most of their anger was directed at Dean Morton, who called all six minor penalties on the Stars and appeared to miss Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook throwing his stick at a puck-carrying Trevor Daley with 40 seconds remaining in a one-goal game. The rules state the Stars should have received a penalty shot for that infraction, and Stars coach Marc Crawford was furious after the game.

``You can't miss a call like that at the end of the game,'' Crawford said. ``That is a penalty shot in every sense of the word, every sense of the word. One referee is looking right at it and misses it with 40 seconds to go. They've given us five penalties, maybe six, and they miss a call that's a clear penalty shot, a clear penalty shot. How do guys miss that, because that is the easiest call in the book to make. At the end of the day, it's' a tough loss for our team, but I get frustrated when you miss an obvious call like that.''

Crawford obviously wasn't talking about just the lack of a penalty shot. Morton and the Stars seemed to battle all night, and he and Stephane Robidas did not appear on good terms. Robidas took three minor penalties and was involved in a play where it appeared Jack Skille skated into the crease and interfered with goalie Andrew Raycroft on a Jonathan Toews goal. Both Morton and Dave Jackson said that Robidas pushed Skille into Raycroft, so they let the goal stand.

``He did a good job, but he forgot there were two teams on the ice,'' Robidas said of Morton. ``I don't know what to tell you. He didn't want to talk to me. I tried to talk to him and ask him the reason why, but he had no answer for me and just walked away. I was pretty calm, I didn't yell at him, I said, `Hey just explain it to me, I want to know.'

``He said I elbowed the guy (on the first penalty), but I didn't elbow the guy, I got hit from behind. I asked him why you call me on an elbow but don't call the hit from behind? If they're going to call the hooking all of the time, that's fine, but it's not fair for one team. It's hard for us to adjust. I took three penalties and cost us the game, but you've got to know what to expect.''

Robidas appeared to have a point, especially in the third period when Dallas was all over the Chicago net, but couldn't draw a penalty. Then, when they seemed ready to make one last run, Robidas was called for a holding the stick and a hook, and that took all of the wind out of the Stars.

Add that to missing the call on Seabrook and it was a frustrating night for Dallas.

They weren't great on Wednesday, and Andrew Raycroft struggled at times in goal after getting told after the morning skate that he would start. But, they did battle back and they did deserve better. You're not always going to get the better of the officiating, so it will be interesting to see how they handle this and move on.

I will say that I don't think this was sour grapes. I do think this was a poorly officiated game, and the Stars had a right to complain. Of course, that's not going to get you many points in this league.

_ Brad Richards, James Neal and Loui Eriksson each had two points in the game. Eriksson had six shots on goal, Richards five and Neal two.

_ The Stars were bad in the faceoff circle (thanks in large part to Jonathan Toews' 14-of-18 night). Dallas was 21-of-53 (40 percent).

_ Rookie defenseman Philip Larsen played 10:03, had one shot on goal and was minus-1.

_ Brandon Segal had a goal, three shots on goal and four hits. He has five points in the last four games.

The game was 4-3 at the time, and Crawford believed his team had done a great job fighting back from a 3-0 deficit and at least deserved a chance to tie the game on a difficult day. No. 1 goalie Kari Lehtonen came up with some lower body tightness after the morning skate, and backup goalie Andrew Raycroft had to play. Raycroft had some rough moments, but one of the goals he gave up in the first period appeared to be caused by goaltender interference. Chicago's Jack Skille drove the net and ran over Raycroft, but referee Jackson declared Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas pushed Skille into Raycroft.
After that, Robidas received three penalties in the game and helped the Blackhawks get six power plays. Dallas received one power play, and it was because of a too many men on the ice call. The Stars had 31 shots on goal and spent a good deal of the third period in the Chicago end of the ice, but didn't draw a hook or hold from the Blackhawks, according to the officials.
``He did a good job, but he forgot there were two teams on the ice,'' said Robidas, who tried to get the attention of Morton but had little luck in pleading his case. ``I don't know what to tell you. I tried to talk to him and ask him the reason why, but he had no answer for me and just walked away...If they're going to call the hooking all of the time, that's fine, but it's not fair for one team. I took three penalties and cost us the game, but you've got to know what to expect.''
Chicago didn't score a power play goal until an empty-netter with a second left in the game, but the Stars spent much of their time defending against Chicago's power play, which was on the ice for 10:41. In addition, they weren't rewarded during the third period when they dominated attack zone time. But it was the last straw for Crawford when the Stars didn't receive a penalty shot and a chance to tie the game on Seabrook's play.
``At the end of the day, it's' a tough loss for our team, but I get frustrated when you miss an obvious call like that,'' Crawford said.

Lehtinen officially announces retirement

Stars winger Jere Lehtinen today has officially announced his retirement from the NHL
Lehtinen, 37, played his entire career with the Stars, finishing with 875 games, 243 goals and 271 assists for 514 points in 14 seasons.

He won the Selke Trophy three times as best defensive forward in the NHL, and finished his career at plus-176 for his career. He was a minus-player in only one season _ 2009-10, when he was minus-8.

He also played in 108 playoff games, scoring 27 goals and adding 22 points.

In a press release from the Stars, Lehtinen said:

``First of all, I wanted to thank Joe Nieuwendyk and the Stars organization for giving me some time to come to this decision. They respected the fact that I wanted to be 100 percent sure prior to making this announcement, and I appreciated that.''

``It's a tough decision to come to due to the fact that you play hockey your entire life and then must decide to stop playing. However, I choose to focus on all the great times I had playing over the past 15 seasons, understanding that I am very fortunate to have played all those years with one organization. The memories I have playing in Dallas will never be forgotten and I will always be proud of the fact that I finished my career where I started it.''

``There are so many people that have positively influenced my career, including the entire Dallas Stars organization, the coaches, the players, the trainers, the fans and most importantly, my family. To all of those people I want to say thank you. Everybody that touched my career in some facet, whether small or large, had an impact on me and I will always remember that. Thank you."

Here are some of Lehtinen's accomplishments (thanks to the team's press release):

Lehtinen among Stars' all-time franchise leaders:

* Ranks 8th in franchise history in all-time scoring (514 pts.).
* Ranks 3rd in franchise history in games played (875).
* Ranks 7th in franchise history in goal scoring (243).
* Ranks 10th in assists (271).
* Rank 3rd in game-winning goals (37).
* Ranks 4th in playoff games (108).
* Ranks 6th in playoff goals (27).

Other notable accomplishments:

* Won Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward) three times ('98, '99, '03) - One of only four players in NHL history to win three-or-more (also Bob Gainey, 4, Guy Carbonneau, 3, and Pavel Datsyuk, 3).
* Was nominated for the Selke Trophy six times.
* Led the Stars in goal scoring in three seasons:
'06-07: 26 goals
'05-06: 33 goals
'02-03: 31 Goals
* Was the first Finnish player in history to win both a Stanley Cup and a gold medal at the World Junior Championships.
* Played in four Winter Olympic tournaments for Finland (1994- bronze; 1998- bronze; 2002; 2006 - silver)
* Notched seven 20- goal seasons over his career, only Mike Modano (16) and Brian Bellows (10) have more in team history.

Lehtonen has tightness in lower body, Raycroft to start tonight

The Stars have just discovered that goalie Kari Lehtonen has some tightness his lower body and will not be able to play tonight against Chicago.

Lehtonen went through the full morning skate and looked fine, but apparently he tightened up afterward and they don't want to take any chances. Andrew Raycroft will get the start in goal. He is 3-1-0 this season with a 1.65 GAA and .951 save percentage.

Richard Bachman will be called up (the Texas Stars are in Rockford, Ill. tonight) and will serve as the backup.

Burish, Blackhawks should have a good time tonight

It was clear when Adam Burish came into the United Center on Tuesday for practice that this was going to be a special trip for him.

While Burish was a role player on the Blackhawks last season, he was a fan favorite and team favorite, and there was lots of chatter between him and his old teammates. It would be like Steve Ott coming back to play the Stars.

``I've been excited about this for a while,'' Burish said. ``When I walked in the building, it was weird, so weird coming to a different locker room, driving to the rink. Just to see the guys this morning, they were having a team meeting and I just caught myself kind of because I just went and sat in the middle of it, and guys were like, `Look at you, just come right into the middle of a team meeting. Do you want to come shower with us too?' It's been fun to see the guys.''

Burish and Chicago's leading scorer Patrick Sharp are good friends, and both had great lines.

``I could hear him coming in from the airport,'' Sharp told the media of Burish's tendency to talk too much.

Burish answered that of the players he wants to hit, Sharp has the biggest target.

"Sharpie, I can't wait to get against him,'' Burish said

When asked what would happen if Sharp came after him instead, Burish chuckled.

``Sharp hasn't gone after anybody in his whole career,'' Burish said. ``Who is he going to hurt? I am not afraid of Sharpie. He's not going to hurt anyone. He's nice looking, has the nice hair and nice smile. That's all he's got going. I'm not scared of him.''

Burish continued when asked about how the game could put a strain in their relationship: ``He wants to go to dinner, I may not even go. I want to make him sweat it out a little bit. He's nervous, I think. He's putting on a tough act, but I think he's nervous.''

Duncan Keith said he expects plenty of chatter on the ice.

``I've heard most of his stuff, but he's pretty good coming up with new stuff so it will be fun to hear him out there,'' Keith said.

The funny thing about the jawing is that Burish really could play a huge role in this game. The Blackhawks are missing Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa with lower body injuries, and that means that players like Sharp and Jonathan Toews will have to carry the load. Burish is centering the Stars' checking line right now, and that means that Steve Ott-Burish-Brandon Segal will probably spend a lot of time out against Toews or Sharp.

It's an interesting moment for Burish in his career development. He played 169 games with the Blackhawks and is a native of Madison, Wisconsin, so he was a bit of a local hero around these parts. He helped the team win the Stanley Cup last season, and it was a tough thing when Chicago had budget problems and let him go as a free agent in the summer.

But it might have been the best thing for Burish. While with the Blackhawks, he was mostly a fourth line guy who stirred things up. With the Stars, he has averaged almost 15 minutes a game and played both on a scoring line with Mike Ribeiro and on a checking line with Ott. He's playing a role a lot closer to what he did when he was captain of the University of Wisconsin team that won the 2006 NCAA national championship and he could be taking the next step with the Stars _ a step he might not have been able to take if he remained with the Blackhawks.

So while everyone will have a few laughs in this game, the evening will be pretty important for Burish.

``It'll be fun to get with the guys and laugh and have some fun, but I'm still competitive,'' Burish said. ``I want to have the last laugh here.''

Then again, he'd like the first laugh and all of the laughs in the middle.

"I told Kane he must have the Burish flu," Burish said in reference to the big news that Patrick Kane would be out three weeks with a lower body injury. "I don't think he's hurt. I think he's nervous.''

He chuckled and then added: ``I'm sure I won't shut up the whole game.''

Lehtonen in goal, Fistric headed for conditioning assignment

Kari Lehtonen will be in goal Wednesday against the Blackhawks. It will be his 23rd start in 27 games this season.

The Stars just finished up their practice in Chicago and they spent almost the entire time working on special teams. Philip Larsen played with the No. 1 power play unit (Larsen, Brad Richards, Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro, Loui Eriksson) and will probably play Wednesday against the Blackhawks.

Stars coach Marc Crawford said he will make a decision on Wednesday morning.

Mark Fistric (groin) practiced and looked great, but Crawford said there is a good chance they will send Fistric to the Texas Stars for a conditioning assignment. Fistric has missed seven games and the Stars are starting a stretch of three games in four nights in three different cities, so it might be good for Fistric to catch his legs for a couple of games and then rejoin the team.

Crawford said he doesn't really like the seven defensemen-11 forwards format, so there is a chance that Larsen will come in as a part of the regular six-man D unit and that forward Aaron Gagnon will remain in the lineup. Francis Wathier went back to the Texas Stars, so the Dallas Stars are carrying only 12 forwards right now.

If Larsen goes in, the guess is that Jeff Woywitka would come out, but we'll wait and see on that. Crawford said that Trevor Daley and Nicklas Grossman are both healthy and ready to go even though they had moments of pain in Monday's game against Columbus.

Adam Burish also got plenty of camera time today. He was a member of the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks last season and this is his first trip back. With the strong play of the Ott-Burish-Segal line, there's a real chance that Burish might go head-to-head with Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews for much of the night. He's also from Wisconsin, so there should be 20 or so family and friends in the crowd.

Turco will not start against Stars Wednesday; Kane out three weeks

The Chicago Blackhawks practiced at United Center this morning and said after practice that Corey Crawford would start Wednesday against the Stars and not Marty Turco.

In addition, Patrick Kane, who suffered a lower body injury Sunday against Calgary, will be out for three weeks.

The Blackhawks are juggling their lines and making call-ups in preparation for the Stars.

Observations from a 3-2 shootout loss

All good things come to an end, and the Stars' six-game winning streak ended in a sort of appropriate way.

When Columbus got a gift power play late in the game, the Blue Jackets cashed in and tied the contest in the final minute. Their captain, Rick Nash, raised his game at the right time, and Kari Lehtonen just had one puck slip through at the wrong time.

It was the kind of thing that had been going right in the six-game winning streak, but this time it went the other way. It displayed just how tough it is to win in the NHL. Sometimes, all it takes is one break to go against you.

I wouldn't say the Stars deserved to lose that game, but I think Columbus played hard enough to win. It was a game the Blue Jackets needed.

"We knew they were going to come out hard," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "They're in their building and it's not an easy building to play in. You look at the standings and they're right up there...It was good that we were able to take the lead in the third, but they kept battling. But there are a lot of good things to take out of tonight."

I thought James Neal had a great game. He was all around the puck early on and his assist on Brad Richards' goal was very hard working. Neal knows that the Blue Jackets fans hate him for previous hits that injured Derick Brassard and Derek Dorsett, and he doesn't like all of the focus on him when the Stars are in Columbus. But he really stepped up and met the challenge on Monday.

In addition, the Steve Ott-Adam Burish-Brandon Segal line had another great game, including several strong shifts in the third period that led to the go-ahead goal.

What's more, Trevor Daley and Nicklas Grossman each battled injuries, as Daley tweaked his leg and Grossman took a hard shot to what looked like the area just about the boot. Both were clearly in pain, but both fought through it and played very well. It was a nice sign from a team that easily could have mailed it in.

The stat makers gave the Stars only 18 shots on goal, but they seemed to be racing up and down the ice at times and also seemed to get a lot of shot opportunities. Kari Lehtonen had 27 saves for the Stars and was again steady. There does seem to be too much traffic on the doorstep at times, but that just seems the way of the NHL right now. People are crashing the crease pretty hard.

``It seemed like there was more action than what was on the scoreboard,'' said Daley. ``It felt like there was.''

At the end of the day, Dallas did not tie the franchise record for consecutive wins (seven, set four times), but it did get a road point and now is 16-8-2, good for 34 points and second place in the West. They head to Chicago to practice tomorrow and play the defending Stanley Cup champions (and Marty Turco) on Wednesday.

"We've had the bounces go our way of late, but one tough call and things shift," Neal said. "We just kind of have to let it roll off our backs and try to get another streak going."

_ Kari Lehtonen falls to 23-10 all-time in shootouts, still one of the best ever.

_ Trevor Daley played 23:50 despite tweaking his leg and picked up an assist. He and Jeff Woywitka each were plus-2.

_ The Stars won 31 of 61 faceoffs (51 percent). Brad Richards won 10-of-16 (63 percent).

_ The Stars' power play went 0-for-4 and is now 2-for-41 on the road this season.

_ Richards scored on his shootout attempt, while Neal and Jamie Benn were stopped by Columbus goalie Mathieu Garon.