This is not how the Dallas Stars drew up their season.
Coming off a trip to the Western Conference finals last season, the Stars had designs on taking the next step.
Now, they are hoping to simply have enough players to limp to the end of the regular season. With 322 player-games lost to injury and two more players hurt Saturday, the Stars on Sunday recalled defensemen Dan Jancevski (Hamilton) and Garrett Stafford (Grand Rapids) from the AHL and will insert them into the lineup tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes. There also is a strong chance that Tobias Stephan will get his first start in goal since March 1.
"We have a bit of a patchwork team right now, but we're going to forge ahead and put in the players who give us the best chance to win," Stars coach Dave Tippett said.
Right now, that probably isn't Marty Turco. He has played a league high 4,143 minutes and has looked bad in three of his last four outings. During the team's current 0-5-1 stretch, he has a 3.20 GAA and .887 save percentage.
That's not horrible, but he is coming off a game in which three of the five goals allowed could be labeled as soft.
Still, the Stars say it is a team problem. "Everyone has got to dig a little deeper," said defenseman Matt Niskanen. "The injuries are not helping, but we will not have any excuses."
Trevor Daley (lower body), Mark Fistric (upper body) and Stephane Robidas (lower body) were hurt in the last two games and are not expected to go on the team's two-game road trip. Instead, the defense will have to rely on Niskanen, Jancevski, Stafford, Darryl Sydor, Nicklas Grossman and Andrew Hutchinson. With Dallas and Phoenix each on the outside looking in on the playoffs, this is not the kind of game Versus was planning at the beginning of the season.
"Unexpected things happen, and you just have to find a way to deal with them," Tippett said. "That's our job."
Coming off a trip to the Western Conference finals last season, the Stars had designs on taking the next step.
Now, they are hoping to simply have enough players to limp to the end of the regular season. With 322 player-games lost to injury and two more players hurt Saturday, the Stars on Sunday recalled defensemen Dan Jancevski (Hamilton) and Garrett Stafford (Grand Rapids) from the AHL and will insert them into the lineup tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes. There also is a strong chance that Tobias Stephan will get his first start in goal since March 1.
"We have a bit of a patchwork team right now, but we're going to forge ahead and put in the players who give us the best chance to win," Stars coach Dave Tippett said.
Right now, that probably isn't Marty Turco. He has played a league high 4,143 minutes and has looked bad in three of his last four outings. During the team's current 0-5-1 stretch, he has a 3.20 GAA and .887 save percentage.
That's not horrible, but he is coming off a game in which three of the five goals allowed could be labeled as soft.
Still, the Stars say it is a team problem. "Everyone has got to dig a little deeper," said defenseman Matt Niskanen. "The injuries are not helping, but we will not have any excuses."
Trevor Daley (lower body), Mark Fistric (upper body) and Stephane Robidas (lower body) were hurt in the last two games and are not expected to go on the team's two-game road trip. Instead, the defense will have to rely on Niskanen, Jancevski, Stafford, Darryl Sydor, Nicklas Grossman and Andrew Hutchinson. With Dallas and Phoenix each on the outside looking in on the playoffs, this is not the kind of game Versus was planning at the beginning of the season.
"Unexpected things happen, and you just have to find a way to deal with them," Tippett said. "That's our job."
