If there's one surefire way to lose a hockey game, it's to repeat silly mistakes even after they've cost you goals.
But that's exactly what the Dallas Stars did in Monday's 5-4 loss to the Calgary Flames. Sure, maybe some of the calls weren't of the strongest variety I've ever seen, but the fact that the Stars continued to put themselves in position to be called was the heart of the problem.
Well, that and the fact that the penalty kill couldn't live up to its recent lofty standards. But when you take six minors in 20 minutes, that's bout to happen.
And as coach Glen Gulutzan said after the game, the Stars can't afford to do that in an absurdly tight playoff race.
"We gave them what happened tonight. We had the game, we were in a good spot at 2-1, then we make an error and then we take penalty after penalty until they get a two goal lead. Dumb, dumb penalties. … You’ve got to learn how to win and the way we went about it doesn’t look like we want to win. It really doesn’t. They’ve got to figure that out for themselves."
After the jump, more on the Stars loss to the Flames, Daryl Reaugh practices brevity and even if you don't like the Boston Bruins, the Bruins bear is kind of awesome.
- Yeah, six minor penalties against and four goals, both on one freaking period, aren't going to make the coach very happy. [DallasNews.com]
- And mistakes were really the theme of the night from the Dallas perspective. It doesn't matter if you outplay a team at even strength if you continue to shoot yourself in the foot throughout the game. [ESPN Dallas]
- The Flames might have won, but the local media was still pretty impressed by the play of one Jamie Benn. [Calgary Herald]
- The words might not be reprintable on a family website, but whatever Brent Sutter told his team during the timeout obviously worked. [Calgary Sun]
- Daryl Reaugh has never exactly been a man of few words, but he took that approach to his most recent set of mind vitamins. [Razor with an Edge]
- Another Stars player caught a skate in a bad area as Eric Nystrom is now day-to-day with a skate cut. [ESPN Dallas]
- Yeah yeah yeah, I know this was originally posted in September. But judging by the comments, not a lot of people saw it then. This look at some awesome photographs of Mike Modano is by photographer Trey Smith, who is responsible for the behind-the-scenes road trip albums the Stars have put together this year. [Squarerootofnine.com]
- We talked about some of the cost-per-point value the Stars were getting out of some of their players earlier this season, and now here's a look at the league-wide worst players in that category. I think Justin Bourne gives all the necessary disclaimers at the top. [Backhand Shelf]
- The always worth a read 30 thoughts from Elliotte Friedman. [CBC]
- Meet the enemy: The Edmonton Oilers might be out of the playoff race, but they've been improving recently, which should probably make the Stars pretty nervous. [Edmonton Journal]
- Around the Pacific Division: As is often the case, I have good news and bad news in the scoreboard watching category. The good news is that our new best friends, the Vancouver Canucks, stymied the Los Angeles Kings offense in a 1-0 regulation win. The bad news is that the San Jose Sharks took over first place in the division with their 5-1 thrashing of the Colorado Avalanche. [Los Angeles Times/San Jose Mercury News]
- Even though I lived in the area for four year and tried really hard to adopt them as my Eastern Conference team of choice, I just can't root for the Boston Bruins. I can, however, root for their awesome marketing people who came up with another fun bit involving their favorite bear. [Puck Daddy]
- I don't know if it's ironic, fitting or just funny that Sheldon Souray talked to the media about the importance of limiting penalties while sporting a lovely looking fading black eye.