Stars Gameday:CHI @ DAL
November 20th, 2008 by Brad
To answer your first question, no they won’t be there tonight.
It’s been 5 days since you’ve last seen your Dallas Stars. What have they been up to?
Is this productive?
They’ve lost Boucher, and gained Sydor.
They’ve lost Jere Lehtinen for another 4 or 5 games.
They’ve re-shuffled the lines and defensive pairings.
They’ve dropped another couple of points behind the Sharks (the deficit now stands at a staggering 18)
They waived BJ Crombeen, letting him go for nothing.
They’ve recalled James Neal.
So what do we get tonight? The Stars are the epitome of inconsistency and instability right now without even needing to play a hockey game. How are they supposed to ever get into a rhythm with an ever changing lineup, injuries, and 4 days off between games?
The Sydor trade was a wash, but losing Jere Lehtinen is pretty devastating to the lineup. He does a thousand little things during a game that no one notices that keep pucks away from Marty Turco. He is essential to the PK, and to running around behind Ribeiro and cleaning up his messes.
In their last meeting, the Stars tried to play a patient road game at Chicago, to limit mistakes and keep the game close going into the third. All of which they did, until the flood gates opened late in the game and Chicago’s speed took over. If the Stars allow as many odd man rushes heading the wrong way as they did last time, it could be a bad night for Turco. They need to stay out of the box, and they need to find a way to slow Chicago down. I fear their youth and speed greatly.
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