The Dallas Stars were dominated in every single aspect of the game tonight in New Jersey, as the best team in the NHL had their way with a team that is obviously lacking key leadership and motivation. Behind another great performance by Martin Brodeur, the Devils shut out the Stars 4-0 on the same night the franchise celebrates their 2000 Stanley Cup Finals victory.

I'd like to thank John Fischer from In Lou We Trust for joining us for the first part of our show. He was on for far too short a time and we hope to have him on again soon. We'll be back on the air next Monday as we're joined by Mark Stepneski to discuss the Stars and the upcoming Olympic break.

You can listen to a replay of the show here. You can also visit our Defending Big D LIVE show page for more information on our live podcast.

[Further Thoughts by Brandon Bibb]

And to reiterate what I said during tonight's show, I'd be willing to bet that if that wasn't Marty Brodeur's easiest shutout of his illustrious career, it had to be in at least in the top 5.

And that's very disconcerting if you're a Stars fan.

In the Devils' previous game, they actually did beat the Wild. Just wanted to make that correction. But Jacques Lemaire was none too happy with the Devils' effort against his former team the other night.

"It was that terrible! Just a bad game. No puck control. No good thinking. We turned the puck over many times. Many times, many times and many times."

It's no surprise that the Devils came out with a lot more purpose to their game tonight. It just would have been nice if the Stars, having read that quote, would have anticipated that the Devils would jack up the intensity for this one and would have met it, themselves.

Instead, you saw a Stars team that fell behind 1-0 and had a window early in the second that lasted about two minutes or so to get back in the game after Patrick Elias lost his cool and cross checked Steve Ott in the face to put his team down.

As a side note, I'd be surprised if Elias got suspended for that act. Nor do I really care at this point. Colin Campbell's suspension logic is what it is.

Back to the game, Brodeur's toughest save of the game was off a chance by Loui Eriksson that he calmly redirected to the corner. Devils kill the penalty, and Elias made amends for his rare, out of character penalty, with his second goal of the game to make it 2-0.

Game. Over.

Again, very disconcerting, especially when you consider how well the Stars competed in a 3-1 defeat to the Canucks on Saturday. They made Roberto Luongo work for that win. Tonight, they didn't seem to have any clue what to do with the puck when they gained control of it in their own zone tonight.

About the only thing that's preventing me from going into a full-on rant mode is the realization that this is Marc Crawford's first season in Dallas and it's the first season in the Nieuwendyk regime.

I'm not expecting big things out of this club for several reasons as it is.

And that the club doesn't have much in the way of flexibility when it comes to moving guys out that aren't going to be here next year.

Patience, my friends. Patience.

Notes are being taken by the coaching staff and front office on which players on the Stars roster can fit into a Marc Crawford system.

Some players will stay. A lot will be gone. But it's a process that's just going to take time.

So enjoy this season for what it is and don't have any expectation of this team to progress past any of the lower playoff seeds, should they be fortunate enough to stop this playoff drought after just one year.

Also, don't forget to download the DBD Live Aftershow where I make a SHOCKING admission!