Five for Fighting

Morrow scores a shorty

This is why Marty Turco's play with the puck is a tremendous lift for this team.

He caroms a clear off the glass, Mathieu Schneider can't stop it with the glove, and Brenden Morrow is off to the races for a shorthanded goal to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. Giguere didn't seem to know what to do with this one, and he was still standing when the shot went through his legs.

Credit Marty with the only assist.

Marty's star and other musings

Marty Turco was named No. 2 star for his work in February. Turco was 9-2-0 with a shutout and a 1.90 goals-against average last month. Marty just needs one more victory to collect 30 for the fifth consecutive season. Not so shabby. He's probably starting on Wednesday night, too.

Mike Ribeiro was off today, and got an X-ray on his elbow. Quick evening update: He's day to day with a bruised elbow, so at least it doesn't sound like there's anything structurally wrong.

Krys Barch was out with the flu today. Matt Niskanen is feeling better and should be a go on Wednesday.

Marty's first

The Stars could easily be down in this game if not for Marty Turco right now. Great first period for him, as the rest of the Stars were a little shaky on the puck-handling. The Stars also couldn't get much going on the power play (that second one looked good, but the other two... ick).

Anyway, the Stars have to settle this down in the second period. Otherwise, it could be a very long night for Turco.

Turco starts

Marty Turco gets the start tonight against Edmonton. Don't know if Mike Smith gets the nod in Nashville tomorrow night. Tippett gave the "we'll see" response to that one.

Jeff Halpern (groin) will be a gametime decision. Meanwhile, Philippe Boucher continues to improve. He could be back in the lineup next week.

Turco to start

Marty Turco will get the start when the Stars and Flames square off on Wednesday. No big surprise there. Turco's pretty darned good against the Canadian teams, but he's been pretty darned good against everyone right now.

Who starts?

The big matchup against Detroit is tomorrow afternoon. So who do you start in goal? Dave Tippett wasn't revealing much on this afternoon. Here's an argument for both:

Turco is the No. 1 guy. Despite the fact he struggles mightily against the Wings, you would think if they met in the playoffs Turco would be in goal. He's on a roll now, winning six of his last seven starts. He said it wouldn't be something he thinks about now, but he's nevertheless coming off his 200th victory.

Smith is fresh right now and the team is not. Tippett mentioned today how Smith has come in and stolen a game in situations like this earlier this season, when the Stars were playing a few night games then an afternoon game in a short amount of time (happened against the NY Rangers in November and against Columbus in January).

So who starts?

Marty goes for 200

Marty Turco will go for his 200th victory when he starts Thursday night in Phoenix. Dave Tippett said he'll play the second part of that back-to-back by ear. Turco's on a personal five-game winning streak heading into Thursday night.

Turco is already the franchise's all-time leader in victories. But he's padding that number pretty well. Here are the top five:

1, Marty Turco 199
2, Ed Belfour 160
3, Cesare Maniago 145
4, Gilles Meloche 141
5, Jon Casey 128

Goalie decisions

Marty Turco took a few shots out in Frisco today (not an organized practice, just he and Philippe Boucher out there working), and coach Dave Tippett said he'll see where Marty is tomorrow morning. Guessing if Marty says he's good, he's going tomorrow night against the Blues.

I joked with Tippett that he has a great "problem" when Turco and Smith are playing well. Just pick one, and you can't go wrong. Not so shabby a problem.

Oh, and don't get too excited about Boucher. Apparently, he was just taking some wristers at Marty. No slapshots on the docket yet. He's still a few weeks away.

Zubov on IR; Turco not here

Sergei Zubov has officially been placed on IR, retroactive to Jan. 17. Zubov isn't even skating right now, with that groin and foot still bothering him.

Marty Turco did NOT make the trip to Minnesota, so look for Mike Smith starting tonight. Tobias Stephan was recalled on an emergency basis as a backup tonight up here. Turco's neck was still pretty sore from the Tuesday night scrum. No real surprise that he would've been out anyway tonight, but I'm sure the Stars wanted to make sure they had a healthy backup just in case.

Turco OK

Scary moment here as Marty Turco was down for a minute or two. Jeff Halpern was pushed into him by Vancouver left wing Matt Cooke, and it looked like Turco took the brunt of the hit to his head.

But he shook it off. Cookie got 2 minutes for roughing.