Two of the most important mantras in hockey are: You always play better defense on the road; and you always play better defense for the backup goalie. So maybe Dave Tippett is getting a little serendipity from the hockey gods this week.
Because, in addition to starting a stretch of five straight road games over a span of 12 days, the Stars might also continue testing the legs of rookie backup goalie Tobias Stephan.
"We need everybody to check well, and we need to play well on special teams; that's the formula you have on the road," Tippett said. "We've just got to start doing the little things right and keep the percentages in our favor in all aspects of the game."
Tippett said anything that can put the players on the same wavelength is a good thing. And road hockey definitely is something that can get players in sync.
"It is something you hear in hockey all of the time, you do play simpler, more defensive hockey when you're on the road," center Toby Petersen said. "You go into another team's building, you want to take the crowd out of the game, and you know it frustrates the other team if you do take the crowd out of the game."
It's a clich?, he said, but it works.
The Stars have shown glimpses of that style during a 4-4-2 start, but it has been a battle throughout October to do it consistently. The Stars haven't had a losing October since moving to Dallas in 1993, so the challenge of beating the Blackhawks tonight at the United Center is an interesting one. Stephan's first NHL start came in the same building last season, and he stopped 38 of 40 shots in a 2-1 overtime loss. So will Tippett return to the rookie after he recorded his first career win in a 4-2 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday? Or will he return to the well-rested Marty Turco, who has been working with goalie coach Andy Moog this week to fill some holes that have resulted in a 4.26 goals-against average?
Tippett wasn't tipping his hand Thursday. He did say one goalie could play both games in a back-to-back road special that concludes Saturday night in Boston.
But whether it's Stephan or Turco, the Stars say they have to play a good, conservative game in front of their goalie.
"It probably needs to be our game wherever we are, but it is easier on the road," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "You feel like you're a very tight team on the road, you against the world, and I think you want to play a very tight game."
Robidas even suggested that the key to the Stars' offense is, in fact, their defense.
"I think if you look in the playoffs last year, when we scored the most was usually when we were playing the best defense," Robidas said. "You have to have an identity and trust that identity and play that way all of the time. If you do that, then the goals and points will come."
Because, in addition to starting a stretch of five straight road games over a span of 12 days, the Stars might also continue testing the legs of rookie backup goalie Tobias Stephan.
"We need everybody to check well, and we need to play well on special teams; that's the formula you have on the road," Tippett said. "We've just got to start doing the little things right and keep the percentages in our favor in all aspects of the game."
Tippett said anything that can put the players on the same wavelength is a good thing. And road hockey definitely is something that can get players in sync.
"It is something you hear in hockey all of the time, you do play simpler, more defensive hockey when you're on the road," center Toby Petersen said. "You go into another team's building, you want to take the crowd out of the game, and you know it frustrates the other team if you do take the crowd out of the game."
It's a clich?, he said, but it works.
The Stars have shown glimpses of that style during a 4-4-2 start, but it has been a battle throughout October to do it consistently. The Stars haven't had a losing October since moving to Dallas in 1993, so the challenge of beating the Blackhawks tonight at the United Center is an interesting one. Stephan's first NHL start came in the same building last season, and he stopped 38 of 40 shots in a 2-1 overtime loss. So will Tippett return to the rookie after he recorded his first career win in a 4-2 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday? Or will he return to the well-rested Marty Turco, who has been working with goalie coach Andy Moog this week to fill some holes that have resulted in a 4.26 goals-against average?
Tippett wasn't tipping his hand Thursday. He did say one goalie could play both games in a back-to-back road special that concludes Saturday night in Boston.
But whether it's Stephan or Turco, the Stars say they have to play a good, conservative game in front of their goalie.
"It probably needs to be our game wherever we are, but it is easier on the road," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "You feel like you're a very tight team on the road, you against the world, and I think you want to play a very tight game."
Robidas even suggested that the key to the Stars' offense is, in fact, their defense.
"I think if you look in the playoffs last year, when we scored the most was usually when we were playing the best defense," Robidas said. "You have to have an identity and trust that identity and play that way all of the time. If you do that, then the goals and points will come."
