Stars Disappoint, Fall to Coyotes 5-2
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by user UNT66
On Tuesday Night at the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Stars lost to the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-2. With the loss, the Stars have dropped four of their last five contests.
At the start, the Stars looked good, scoring the first goal of the game, as Niklas Hagman scored of a sweet pass from Eric Lindros, who came back after dealing with an injury.
Yet, the Coyotes pressed the Stars scoring once on even strength in the 1st period and then twice on the power play in the 2nd, claiming a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.
In the 3rd period, the Stars jumped back into the contest, scoring on the power play with Jere Lehtinen marking the scoresheet. With the goal, the Stars tried to gain a little momentum to comeback and tie the game up.
Unfortunately, the Coyotes scored on even strength thanks to an odd-man rush, doubling their advantage and then finished the Stars with an empty net goal, giving the visitors a 5-2 victory.
For Phoenix, they have turned red hot, winning their 7th straight game and shedding any indication that they are the team that struggled in the early season. Also, the Coyotes won their first game of the season versus the Stars after dropping the first four games in the season series. Thus, matchups against the Desert Dogs look to become tougher as the season goes forward.
Notes:
Lindros comes back:
After a lengthy layoff due to an injury, Eric Lindros came back to the lineup and recorded the first assist on Hagman's 1st period goal.
Yet, his return in the lineup was not enough as Modano, Morrow, Ott and Mike Smith are still out of the lineup. Thus, this team will still deal with the injury bug.
It's Turco's Team Now:
Marty Turco has always claimed to be the starting goaltender of the Dallas Stars. Yet, with the concussion issues of Mike Smith and emergency callup of Tobias Stephen, Stars head coach Dave Tippett will have to keep Turco in net, even when he struggles as he did on Tuesday Night. On at least three goals for Phoenix, Turco was out of position, leaving a wide open net for Coyotes player to score goals. Thus, the Stars struggled to keep the puck out of their own net.
Tobias Stephen is a young goaltender who is playing in his 1st season of big time professional hockey. A training camp surprise, Stephen earned his place in the Iowa Stars lineup of the American Hockey League. Yet, if he comes into a game for Marty Turco, he may be overwhelmed and give up too many goals for the team's good.
In an ideal situation, Stephen would continue his development at the AHL level in Iowa all season and would not be called up.
Yet, as the Stars continue to deal with the injury Bug, Stephen's callup shows that this team is struggling and needs players on the current roster to step up.
All-Star Starters:
No Dallas Stars will be starting the 2007 All-Star Game, as the fans were outnumbered by the other fans throughout the league.
In the East, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Daniel Briere, Bryan Campbell, Sheldon Souray and Ryan Miller will start.
For the West, Joe Sakic, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo, Nicklas Lidstrom, Scott Niedermayer and Roberto Loungo will start.
Stars Goaltender had to best chance to start for the Hometown All-Star Game, but was overpassed by Loungo when the Rory Fitzpatrick freak show occurred. You see, when fans voted for Fitzpatrick, they also voted for Loungo as well. Early on, Turco was the vote leader, but was overtaken when Fitzpatrick and his vote machine took hold.
Rory Fitzpatrick will not head to Dallas for the All-Star Game as he was third in Western Conference Defenseman Voting. Yet, Loungo needs to thank Fitzpatrick because if he doesn't join the race, Loungo does not become an All-Star Starter.
As for the Stars that could make the Western All-Stars roster as a reserve, Philippe Boucher and Marty Turco looks like the best shots to be included on the roster, which those players will be announced later in the week.
JG
