Thanks to two wins in a row last week and some timely losses by others, the Dallas Stars have emerged from their slump in 7th place in the Western Conference. While the Stars have just a one point lead over Edmonton and Nashville, they have avoided near disaster by pulling ahead with the huge wins against Minnesota and Carolina. They will kick off a three game Pacific Coast (sort of) road trip this week with games against Vancouver, Calgary and San Jose, a tough test for an injury depraved team but one that a newly confident Stars need to get five of six points to continue to hold their spot in the standings.
One quick note: Jere Lehtinen and Fabian Brunnstrom are making the road trip with the Stars and could be close to returning.
Jeff Miller at Inside Corner takes a look at the coming week, saying that this could be a make or break part of the schedule for the Stars.
Mark Stepneski breaks down the Stars' numbers without Brad Richards, saying the team struggled the first seven games but have lately adjusted a bit and are starting to pick up the scoring. The most impressive stat: Ribeiro, Ott and Eriksson have combined for 15 goals, 24 assists and a plus-12 rating in the 13 games since Richards was hurt.
Daryl Reaugh gives a loving tributee to the Stars' magical top line.
Some of the Dallas Stars players give their thoughts on the league's recent decisions regarding fighting.
The Dallas Morning News has a nice article on recent hero Nicklas Grossman.