Dallas Stars Daily Links: Defense Struggles In Loss To Blue Jackets

by Erin Bolen on Dec 30, 2011 6:03 AM CST in Dallas Stars Daily Links

Even with the return of goalie Kari Lehtonen to the lineup, the Dallas Stars were still playing without two of their top three defensemen against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

And it showed. Boy did it show.

While the entire team seemed to lack a certain oomph, some mistakes by the defensive corps led directly to goals against in a 4-1 loss. And since neither Stephanie Robidas nor Sheldon Souray is expected back for at least a week, this could be cause for concern.

But Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said he's not worried.

"I'm not concerned. I think we have six guys that all have proven that they can play in big games and play. But they weren't [at their best], outside of a couple of them, I thought three or four of them didn't have their best games. And they need to make sure that when we're in the situation and they're getting the opportunity to play five, six more minutes a night that they have to come up with some better solid play. So I have belief in all those guys. I just don't think defensively we're as good as we have been in the past."

Take one of the cheapest defenses in the league and subtract two of the best players, and that will happen.

After the jump, more on the loss to the Blue Jackets, Steve Ott talks about his appearance on 24/7 and a year in review, Stars style.

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Richard Durrett has taken over the ESPN Dallas Stars beat while Mark Stepneski is out of town, and he looks at the return of goalie Kari Lehtonen. [ESPN Dallas]
On the plus side, Brenden Morrow didn't tear or break anything when he had to leave Thursday's game early. The bad news is that it was a shot to the outside of an already wonky knee, and he's not sure how the knee will react. [DallasNews.com]
Our friends over at The Cannon like a lot of what they saw from Thursday's game, other than one teeny tiny detail, which I'll get to momentarily. [The Cannon]
There was a lot of good Thursday if you're a Columbus fan, but there was some bad news as well as James Wisniewski is out with a broken ankle after taking a Mike Ribeiro shot to the skate. [Puck-Rakers Blog]
You saw it on 24/7, now read Steve Ott's take on chirping Claude Giroux and running into Philadelphia Flyer's coach Peter Laviolette. [DallasNews.com]
Mac Engel was also at the morning skate, chatting with Ott and getting Glen Gulutzan's take on if he'd like to be on an all-access show similar to 24/7. Ott seemsto be all for it. His coach, not so much. [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]
The Canadian Press mid-season recap, and the Stars, despite some recent issues, earn a positive mention. [TSN.ca]
Meet the enemy: The annual New Year's Eve death match is against the big, the bad, the Boston Bruins, who started off slow but have been on one heck of a tear ever since. [Yahoo]
Around the Pacific Division, the loser point: Blame Art if you must, but the Winnipeg Jets needed to take the Los Angeles Kings to overtime before walking away with a 1-0 win. [NHL.com]
Around the Pacific Division, the actual losers: Gabriel Landeskog scored the game-winning goal for the Colorado Avalanche as they beat the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2, and the Anaheim Ducks , well, were the Anaheim Ducks as they lost to the Vancouver Canucks 5-2. [Denver Post/Los Angeles Times]
There are a couple of factual errors in this article, but I always read Todd's column for the combination of humor, insight and sarcasm, and you should as well. [Thursday Morning Cupcheck]
My evil piece of trash computer wouldn't let me view videos without locking up, so this feature is temporarily suspended until I get it exorsized or beat it with a sledgehammer, whichever comes first.

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Comments

Six? Don't say Gully isn't generous.

I think we have six guys that all have proven that they can play in big games and play.

Defending Big D Check it out
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"You guys are talking about living forever like it’s a real thing, but I bust out a man shoving his head into a vagina, and it’s srs time?"
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by Josh Lile on Dec 30, 2011 8:32 AM CST reply actions

He didn't say "play well" he just said play

I just hope he isn’t going soft on the whole thing. It scares me a little to hear him say he isn’t concerned. I know he is trying to keep them positive…I just don’t want to go back to the Crawford “well we went out there and played and had some chances and oh well” type of stuff

by RB16 on Dec 30, 2011 9:03 AM CST up reply actions

I've had similar concerns.

He could have a public face that masks how things are in the locker room. He isn’t required to let us in on how things work in there, but the public face has to give you pause to some degree.

My concern is that he gives off a passive “hands-off” feel about everything. The lines rarely change despite begging for a spark. The ice time distribution has remained constant for 40 games despite the two top offensive players being on the second unit. Then, you have comments like those above. I appreciate the need for patience, but he seems more passive than patient so far, and I’m not a very big fan of it.

by Josh Lile on Dec 30, 2011 9:20 AM CST up reply actions

What he didn't mention

2 of those 6 are injured and not playing!

by 1paniolo on Dec 30, 2011 3:00 PM CST up reply actions

Consistent scrappy in-your-face play...

…looks to be a foreign concept.

So much for being difficult to play against.

Defending Big D's "Official" Western New York Representative

by Mike Russo on Dec 30, 2011 9:48 AM CST reply actions

I'm just going to stop watching Stars games for a while.

Why? Their play and their compete level just make me sick. Every time I watch one of their games I get frustrated, and have really bad mood for a couple days after that. I know why fans don’t come to watch their games – cause Stars suck! Want to fill up AAC – don’t lower ticket prices – START PLAYING BETTER.

And please, no more excuses about lowest paid defense and injuries. Just stop it. Look at Pens. They are constantly have key defensemen out. Niskanen is playing their 1st pair D, and he is playing WELL! Rangers blue line is 80% rookies and AHL guys. And they are solid, they are winning games.

We hear again and again from players and coaches that “we need to put pucks on net, we need to work harder, win individual battles, drive the net”….AND NOBODY IS DOING IT! NOBODY! There is nobody in front of net on PP, we have severe case of over-passaitis to the point that if we have 1 SOG on PP it is “good”, and players stand around and not moving their feet even in their OWN zone. Their passes are not precise, their communication is non-existent, and they can’t even enter the zone unless they dump the puck and chase it. The just look like they don’t care, don’t want to compete, and came out to the rink just to get paid. DISGUSTING.

Rant over.

by iHorses on Dec 30, 2011 10:30 AM CST reply actions

I feel you pain, man. At least the weather is nice.

And if you are a fan of Russian or Canadian junior team, they are playing pretty well. Maybe you can watch them for a while.

by Supernova10 on Dec 30, 2011 10:51 AM CST up reply actions

It seems to me that the D-corps needs a complete overhaul...

I think Goose and Larsen would be the only guys I would definitely keep after this season – the rest of them seem to have incredibly suspect play, and it really bothers me. I also think Souray would be a keeper for a year or two more (I really think he would be a great mentor for Oleksiak). But the rest – I would try to trade or let walk and start rebuilding around Goose and Larsen…

And to go off on a related tangent… Gully really needs to re-balance the d-pairs! Goose/Larsen and Fistric/Niskanen II need to be broken up. I would feel a lot better if it were Goose/Niskanen II and Larsen/Fistric… or some other combination of agile puck mover and pylon… Putting two pylons together doesn’t seem terribly smart.

Carpe diem!

by dmoore44 on Dec 30, 2011 11:16 AM CST up reply actions

Agree with the pairings

Having balance is important.

I just hope Gulutzan is still learning right now. I know the players really liked him starting out and I think he has potential. It seems like this team just needs someone they like and want to play for…but is also able to whip them into shape at times.

by RB16 on Dec 30, 2011 12:30 PM CST up reply actions

Larsen hasn't been that great so far.

I like his skill set, but I’m iffy on guaranteeing him a roster spot.

by Josh Lile on Dec 30, 2011 1:15 PM CST up reply actions

Could he really be worse than Pardy?

At least you hope he’s learning at this level, Pardy just sucks.

by Hull Fan on Dec 30, 2011 2:02 PM CST up reply actions

Don't you dare put words in my mouth.

Heh, I would never insinuate or state that Larsen is worse than Pardy. I want to see Larsen getting as much positive development time as possible. I want him to QB a PP at the professional level and play 23 minutes a night. I think he can do that best at the AHL level where the mistakes he makes are less meaningful.

by Josh Lile on Dec 30, 2011 2:25 PM CST up reply actions

At what point is he just going to have to learn at the NHL level vs. AHL

he’s already spent a year and a half or so in the AHL. Sending him down isn’t my first choice but it’s not a bad thing for him. Still what can he learn there that’s better for him and the Stars than what he can learn here. If everyone were healthy that’s one thing but since they aren’t play him as much as possible knowing he’s going to mess up some.

by Hull Fan on Dec 30, 2011 3:36 PM CST up reply actions

He didn't produce much at the AHL level last year.

He was starting to this year when he was called up. I think his offensive game is immature. He takes poor shots imo that are either unscreened, low percentage, or un-tippable (is that a word?). I’d like to see him go down to Austin to develop the offensive game in a lower stress environment. To me it seems like his defense has regressed a bit over the past couple of weeks, and I’m wondering how much that has to do with the frustration of being a 20 year old in the NHL that isn’t scoring.

by Josh Lile on Dec 30, 2011 4:08 PM CST up reply actions

The Columbus game is the worst game I’ve seen the stars play in years. Honestly the played like a youth team playing in an, AA league when they should have been in an, A or B league.
I really hope Jamie been gets his act together and shows up to play against the bruins in what should be a full building.

by Lone star hockey32 on Dec 30, 2011 1:00 PM CST via mobile reply actions

I don't know why you keep railing on Benn. He just came off a 5 game point streak.

by Josh Lile on Dec 30, 2011 1:15 PM CST up reply actions

I’m just saying that based on last night not on the games he’s played before hand. If the team and fans want him to become an even better player than what he already is, then he can’t have games like the one he had last night.

by Lone star hockey32 on Dec 30, 2011 1:25 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

Every player in the league has off nights.

You’re singling out Benn when every player on the ice was terrible.

by Josh Lile on Dec 30, 2011 1:30 PM CST up reply actions

I know but there were times when benn looked like he had no idea what he was doing. And I know that I am singling benn out, but I, along with most people, expected more out of him.

by Lone star hockey32 on Dec 30, 2011 1:33 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

He's 22 years old.

And you’re expecting him to act like a 28 year old established veteran that should know better. I’d like more out of him, but considering the learning environment it’s unreasonable to expect it right now. Aim vitriol at Ribeiro, Morrow (before he left), and Ott. Morrow and Ott, in particular, are theoretically supposed to lead this team in the energy department from the top 6.

by Josh Lile on Dec 30, 2011 1:46 PM CST up reply actions

I know and ur right. I just single out benn because he has so much more potential

by Lone star hockey32 on Dec 30, 2011 1:47 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

An off night

To me, aside from the obvious absence of Robidas and Souray which left a hole in the D… this game was an example of several players having off nights and collectively that resulted in a pretty poor show. It happens from time to time, just like occasionally a team has a group of players that combine to have a great game.
As long as the off nights don’t occur too frequently, it shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

by MurrayW on Dec 30, 2011 6:45 PM CST reply actions