After allowing 10 goals on the last 39 shots he's faced, some might call for Andrew Raycroft to start in St. Louis against a good Blues team, but Marc Crawford will let his number one guy work out of the jam today. The goals he allowed in the Vancouver game were not really his fault and the same could be said for some of the Detroit tallies as well.
Lehtonen has benefited from a lack of top quality chances against this year and when the team breaks down in front of him he can only be counted on to mop up the mess for so long. Which is to say that Raycroft probably would have seen similar results this week had he been in net at home. Still, if the Stars are to get back on a roll they need to have some saves that are out of the ordinary. The Blues can change the angle of attack in a flash with their team speed. It will be interesting to see if the big Finn can answer the call today. If things get ugly again we could have a bit of a situation on our hands.
And please remember that while some media printed earlier in the year says Fox Sports Southwest, that game is on the PLUS channel today due to the Mavericks playing in Cleveland. Though after Dirk got hurt they should have switched it back around if you ask me. FSN+ is on
Time Warner - Ch. 960, Charter Communications - Ch. 300 , DirecTV - Ch. 677 (677-1 HD) , Dish Network - Ch. 446 (9516-HD) , AT&T U-Verse - Ch. 754 (1754 HD) , Verizon Fios - Ch. 33.
- The day after the Stars lose their 4th in 5th games, the Toronto Sun writes a "watch out for the Stars" piece. [Toronto Sun]
- Jon Toews was supposed to be out Wednesday when Dallas visits Chicago. Now it looks like he could return early from a shoulder injury. Of course. [Suntimes.com]
- Local kid (or was for a time anyway) Chris Brown continues getting love from those around Texas for being "from Flower Mound." Brown scored a goal in USA's 6-1 win over Slovakia. [Examiner]
- Accuscore has mathematical reasons why the Stars will lose tonight. [Accuscore] Kind of idiotic but interesting.
- A good read about where the Blues are organizationally. Sounds like Army has done a lot of good work there. Luckily we're done with them for another season after tonight before the halfway mark even gets here. [bnd.com]
- Dallas stars.com did a lengthy piece on Daley's extension. Said Crawford: "He’s still relatively young in terms of defensemen - most defensemen start to get very good in their 26-27-28-29 age range and that’s what he’s just entering. We hope there’s still some upswing in his play, and we think that for him to be able to play and contribute to us is a given, so that’s the reason why he’s been signed to such a long-term deal, and we’re really pleased that he’s decided to invest in us the same way that the Stars have invested in him." [Dallasstars.com]
- The hockey world seems to be amazed that the Stars were able to get a contract done for Daley. I think they're worried the Stars could actually talk to Richards productively. [Globe and Mail]
- Reminder: Keep voting for the Stars, even if it is impossible to get them into the starting lineup. Richards and co. deserve some votes.