Players-Only Meeting: DeBoer not happy with performance against Ottawa Senators

Tonight felt like the equivalent of losing to a college club hockey team. There should have been no reason why the Stars should have dogwalked the Senators tonight. I'm glad that Dallas Stars Head Coach Pete DeBoer yelled at the team tonight. It was probably the most emotion the Stars showed tonight. Losing to the third-worst team in the league is unacceptable. This was a free win and a chance to extend the Central Division lead. With the Avalanche one point behind the Stars, what does Jim Nill do to improve this team?

It was shocking to see Jake Oettinger get pulled during a regular season game. Goaltenders will have their off nights here and there, but the defense didn't bother to bail him out. The Stars' defense has been the Achilles heel this year. Ryan Suter, Jani Hakanpaa, Esa Lindell, and even Nils Lundkvist have been standing around and watching as their opponents skate around them for goals. I think it might be time to pull the trigger for Chris Tanev. He would make opponents think twice about standing in front of the Stars' net.

As for the Forwards, Wyatt Johnston is the only player who looks like he cares over the last four games. I'll give some slack for the losses to the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers because they are solid teams. It's pretty bad when opposing players back off Jamie Benn on a breakaway because they know he will not score. Dallas must promote Stankoven on Saturday morning to replace Ty Dellandrea in the lineup. Stankoven is the missing "spark" this offense needs to get going again.

This team needs to have a players-only meeting tomorrow on their day off. It's probably the only thing right now that can get them out of this losing streak. There is only so much Pete DeBoer can do to help the team win a game.

It's up to the players to show up and respond. This team can do something special this year if everyone contributes on the ice. DeBoer can't keep changing the lines every time the Stars struggle on offense. If the Stars thought they had it easy on Saturday night, they are taking on a team that could represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Carolina Hurricanes.

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