Better late then never right? That is how I feel with this post. Sorry been a couple of crazy days for me. But last night I got to venture again into the AAC to see the Stars come back in town to kick off 4-straight home games. And after scoring first, the Dallas Stars got behind to the Calgary Flames 3-1 just past the half-way point of the game. But Dallas fought back, stuck with how they were palying the game and sent it into OT 3-3.  Then Dallas did something they have had problems with this year, which is win a game when it ends up in the shootout. Sure Alex Auld gave up 3 goals in the game, but it could have been worse early on and in the second  half of this game he kept them in it with key saves and not all of the early goals can be put on him

Of course one of the things being talked about in this game is Mark Fistric’s fight against Eric Nystrom. After a solid check by Fistric  about  8 mins into the game, Nystrom makes it a point to skate out of his way after a stop in play to find Fistric. Both guys drop the gloves and as Fistric starts giving Nystrom blows as he tries to hold on, Fistric goes to takes his opponents helmet off but gets it caught in his fist and he continues to drop fist on Nystrom. The end result is Fistric hitting Nystrom once real good with Nystrom’s own helmet. Fans loved it in the building but of course it is dangerous, and the officials give Fistric an extra 5 mins and a game misconduct for intent to injure. Fistric today was not suspended by the league, probably because he has no history and admitted he tried to get rid of the helmet but soon realized he hadn’t. What hurt Dallas was the major penalty and the fact that one of their better blue-liners was now gone for the game and they had to rotate 5 guys on defense.

Calgary got 2 goals out of the major penalty spend 3 mins on the powerplay. But the Stars did not give up on their style of play. They played physical with Calgary all night. Forwards such as Morrow, Neal, Sutherby, and of course Barch and Ott were constantly looking to lay big hits on the Flames, but rarely did they get out of position doing so. And besides the 2 powerplay goals on the major, the Stars defense played great. And Daley seemed to be jumping up on the attack often without being burned the other way. And a good stat for Dallas is that Matt Niskanen was a +1 for his +/- rating for the night. I want to know what the Stars record is in games that Nisky actually finishes with a positive rating. I liked Dallas’s ability to fight adversity and do something they haven’t done a lot this year: not let getting behind by more then 1 goal change their play. They showed heart by sticking to how they wanted to play, not letting up on the physical play and creating lots of traffic and chances around the Flames net.

Now Dallas has a chance to string some wins together. Dallas takes a win, and now has three more at home where they now 12-2-2 in their last 16 home games. Forget for just a week their road troubles. Because if they can take 3 out of 4 here at home, or maybe even go 4 f0r 4, then they could be in that 7th-8th playoff spot at the end of this time at home. Yes the road troubles are huge and will have to change almost right away for them to start getting in playoff position and stay there, but if not for how they play at home then this team would not even be in a position to be talking a chance at the playoffs.  It starts tomorrow with a rematch against Colorado, who made Dallas look bad at the end of their last road trip Sunday. A win Friday night vs the Avs (who are still a top half of the West team) would be good for the Stars confidence and keep things looking better. Dallas went 1-6 over 7 games before now going 4-2 in their last 6.

Well there you have it folks. Another road game, another good effort for part of the game, but in the end it equals another lose on the road for the Dallas Stars. The Vancouver Canucks came back from being down 2-1 halfway through the game to take a 4-2 lead in the 3rd period, and ended up beating the Stars 4-3. The first period looked about even, if not slightly in the Stars favor. The two teams come out tied 1-1 after goals by each in the last 5 mins of the period. Then the second period started and Dallas continued to get some better chances and was looking to be the slightly better team. Toby Peterson booms a shot when the Stars are killing a penalty and Roberto Luongo missed a simple shot and Dallas takes a lead right about the half-way mark of the game. But then in the final minute of the second the game took another swing, and this time not in Dallas’ favor. Alex Auld makes an attempt to handle the puck while Dallas is on a power-play and a mishandle leads to a Canucks short-handled goal. It completely took the momentum away.

Both teams come out in the third and 5 mins in Christian Ehrhoff comes flying in full speed to join a Van rush and no one even tries to pick him up. THAT is the type of offensive play Marc Crawford wants from the Dallas defense-men. And that changed the game again. Dallas gives up another one late and graps one with 3 seconds left to make it look decent. Dallas looked like they could have picked up a win, if not at least a point until Auld tried to stick handle past Alex Burrows and it cost him (and the team). Then Vancouver came out in the 3rd period and right away got the lead.

Tonight: Stars @ Edmonton Oilers, 8pm CST on FSSW+ and on FSN after the mavs game

Stars continue this 3 game trip with a stop in Edmonton tonight. 8pm start tonight. Remember the days of Stars vs Oilers facing-off in the playoffs what seemed like every year? Those were the days! Now we just have two teams on the lower half of the Western Conference. While Dallas is trying to jump back up into the playoff pack of teams, Edmonton is done. They have only put up 38 points in the standings and are dead last in the West. IF (big if) the Stars can end this horrid road losing streak this weekend my money is on tonight in Edmonton. Stars vs Oilers games are always gritty and interesting to watch. I think Dallas finally snaps this streak tonight.

Game Notes: Marty Turco will be back in net tonight for the Stars. Understandable since tonight is the second of a back-to-back. But now there is some talk about can Marty earn his job back because of Auld’s mess-up last night and a decent showing tonight. I think if Turco plays amazing, I mean steals this game and only allows 1 goal or none, then put him back in the net Sunday at Colorado. But 0therwise the change has been made and the message has been sent that Turco’s time in Dallas is about up. So most likely we will see Auld back in net Sunday.

Tom Wandell, Morrow, and Lehtinen all will miss tonight’s game with injuries. Wandell got injured last night and the report going around is we probably won’t see him tonight and probably not Sunday either. So with Ribeiro out long-term, and Wandell added to the list Dallas is now healthy in that young D-corp but down 4 guys who would be in the line-up every night if healthy in the forwards. Not a good thing for the injury bug to be attacking the Stars as they try to get back up in the playoff hunt. Hopefully either Morrow or Lehtinen can be back Sunday, but now its it getting harder for Crawford to put 4 good lines out there and put out a couple of solid scoring lines.

Hopefully Dallas gets a W tonight and can finally snap this road streak, GO STARS!