Five for Fighting

Tra's House of Blues Top 5

I'm running out of titles, because they've all had a dismal tinge to them. But what else can you do at this point? Onto the countdown:
    1, Too many injuries. Yeah, this is a no-brainer, but we can't deny it anymore. The Stars may have finally reached too-hurt status. We all know the long-term guys out. Then Jere Lehtinen is out again. Fabian Brunnstrom was out tonight. Mark Parrish was knocked hard in the first period and didn't return. Too many dings, not nearly enough healthy guys to make up for them. And what health you do have is now being run ragged making up minutes.
    2, Neal is still great. James Neal was the Stars' best player tonight. The guy's fire is so evident right now, and he scored his 22nd goal this season. If he could take the whole team on his back he'd probably try and do it. As it stands, he's doing his part.
    3, Turco, not so much. Marty Turco had an awful night. Three goals on eight shots, and 11:56 into this one he was gone. If the Stars are going to get through this time, they need to rely heavily on goaltending. Tonight, it was not there at all.
    4, St. Louis, the other Chicago. The Blues have become another version of the Blackhawks this season: They both just tee off on the Stars. Dallas is now 0-3-0 against the Blues this season, and have been outscored 14-4 in those games. Too much youth, speed and venom. Yikes.
    5, Coming home again. Remember when that used to be a good thing? Not right now. The Stars will try to end a six-game losing skid here on Thursday. But unless they get a body or two back, it may be more of the same.

So what do we think, kids?

-- Tracey Myers

Turco third star o' da night

Just reading NHL.com and saw that Marty Turco was given the third start of the evening for his work last night against the Anaheim (once Mighty) Ducks. Once again, 36 stops on 38 shots, including 19 stops in the second period. Crazy good for him, and great rebound after the Kings OT loss.

Just passing a little sunshine your way, folks. It's a little thing I do.

-- Tracey Myers

Tra's plucky Top 5

I know plucky rhymes with ducky, but it's more a homage to the Stars and how they just seem to dominate the Duckies in the Honda Center. Remember the last time they were out there? Mark Parrish, in his Stars debut, had a hat trick. Anyway, onto the countdown.

    1, Marty's revenge. How do you make up for a big, ill-timed hiccup on Thursday? You stop 36 shots on Friday. Marty Turco was great against the Ducks, stopping 36 of 38 (including 19 in the second period; Stars didn't have 19 the whole game). Well done.
    2, Loui's back. Boy, is he. He was still tallying points when Brad Richards first went out, but he still wasn't looking quite the same. Well he looks fine now, ay? He gets Nos. 30 and 31 tonight, and that second one was a thing of beauty. Great work and a great goal at a time when the Stars needed some breathing room again.
    3, Top line, top guns. Steve Ott and Mike Ribeiro this season look like Brenden Morrow and Ribeiro last season: Put those two together, and add whoever you want on the right side. Eriksson was there tonight, but Ott and Ribeiro continue to be stellar. Six points among the trio this evening.
    4, Three Stars? Hey, I'm the first to admit that I'm terrible at picking these. But I'd like to think I'm close when I do. Here were the three out of Anaheim tonight, as picked by someone in the Duckies building: Loui Eriksson was No. 3, Marty Turco was No. 2 and the No. 1 star: James Wisniewski. Uh-huh. Sure, he had a goal. On the Ducks' 34th shot of the game. The No. 2 star stopped 36 shots. Moving on...
    5, Back in the hunt. Yep, just like that, the Stars are in the top eight again. It's going to be like this the rest of the way, kids. As I play off last night's blog headline, can the Stars be more Dr. Jekyll the remainder of this regular season?

-- Tracey Myers

Lot of rebounds

Marty Turco's been fabulous lately, but he's not having his cleanest evening. He's leaving a few rebounds out there, not catching some of those shots clean.

By the way, how snarky is this one tonight?

-- Tracey Myers

Ooh, that was ugly

Now 99 times out of 100, Marty Turco's puck-handling is a godsend. Then there's that one time...

Marty's pass went right to Blues center Jay McClement, who had an easy shot to a wide-open net as the Blues tie this one up. Too bad, because the Stars have been pretty dominant this period. Shots are 12-5 with just under five minutes remaining.

And just like that, Marty rebounds with a snazzy save. He'll be fine, ay?

-- Tracey Myers

A starchy Barchy

He's all over the place, eh? He gives James Wisniewski a little knock, then after being tripped (no call ay?) he goes over and raps Patrick Kane one. Barch got four minutes' worth of penalties, but so did Cameron Barker, so no true harm.

But Stephane Robidas just got a minor, so the Stars are killing once again. And Marty Turco is keeping this one, once again, close.

-- Tracey Myers

Ooh, that was close

I love watching Marty Turco play the puck, and 99 times out of 100 it's good. But this one was almost bad. He waited a little too long to come way out and play this one, and Andrew Cogliano's shot glanced off the near post. Big whew there.

-- Tracey Myers

Fun stuff early

It's already entertaining in this one, with the Stars getting some sweet chances on a few Edmonton turnovers. Marty Turco made some great stops early on Erik Cole and Andrew Cogliano. And by the way, I was wrong, Juan... Ray Sawada is in, wearing #12. My bad.

-- Tracey Myers

Marty's not a star?

Probably a homer gripe on my part, but I was just looking at the Stars of Monday night on NHL.com:
    Kovalchuk, 2 goals, assist
    Umberger: 2 goals
    Auld: 24 saves in shutout

OK, not to take anything away from those guys, but 41 stops doesn't get you a star, especially when, what, 19 of those came in the second period (roughly)? Just trying to get Turco some love. He's earned it this last month.

-- Tracey Myers

Superman needs help

Last night, after that absolutely awful 6-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, defenseman Stephane Robidas called goaltender Marty Turco "superman." Indeed, that's been an accurate description of the Stars netminder. Even in that 1-0 loss to Phoenix, he was stellar.

But here's the problem kids: "superman" hasn't had much help from his friends at the Hall of Justice (oh come on, I'm not the only one who remembers the Super Friends cartoon, am I?) After scoring 14 goals in two games against Nashville and the New York Rangers, the Stars have just managed four in their last three contests. And I'm not sure how much I should count the two last night (late garbage goals, mainly).

The bigger glare has been defensively. I thought the Stars were getting better in this category, and even though Marty's stopped a lot of those shots, they've been pretty darned good shots way too often. He's had to be too acrobatic too often.

Turco will be back in there again on Monday night in Columbus, where the Stars put a 7-3 hurting on the Blue Jackets at the end of January. I'm sure they're having a "wakeup call" practice today.

So, folks, what do you think: Do the Stars come out on fire on Monday?

-- Tracey Myers