In St. Louis, they are singing the praises of Chris Mason.
In Nashville, hope has come in the form of Pekka Rinne.
In Edmonton, any hope of a playoff berth begins and ends with Dwayne Roloson. And that's disappointing for Marty Turco.
Because a season in which Stars' injured players have missed a combined 304 games, the team was hoping it would have an ace in net. Yes, the team is limping along, but a strong performance by a veteran goalie could have maybe provided a solid crutch.
So far, Turco hasn't delivered.
Over the past 10 games, Turco has a 3-6-1 record with a 3.67 GAA and .886 save percentage.
"My play has been spotty at best ... especially when your team needs you most and you're the guy that can make the biggest difference," Turco said. "It's a terrible feeling for myself."
To be fair to Turco, the team's power play has been disastrous (4-for-47 in the past 10 games), and the offense has been mediocre (2.3 goals per game in that span). But the thing about hockey is a hot goalie can fix all of that.
"It's a team game, but that's the one position that trumps everything," coach Dave Tippett said. "When a goaltender can clean up mistakes, it changes everything for your team. It gives you confidence."
Tippett said the goaltending position has been a wild ride for the Stars this season. Turco started slowly in October, and the team quickly faced injury and chemistry issues. Because of that, Tippett didn't feel comfortable using rookie backup goalie Tobias Stephan on a regular basis.
The result: Turco has played in 69 of the team's 73 games and leads the NHL in time on ice at 4,019 minutes. What's more, the Stars have a 3.05 GAA (ranking 25th in the NHL) and an .890 save percentage (29th).
"Early on, there was a sense we had to play [Turco] more to get him in a groove," Tippett said. "And when we have played Stephan, he hasn't come in and [figuratively] said, 'Give me more,' so it's been a struggle all year."
It continues to be a struggle now, as Turco has not shown signs that he can will this 12th-place team into the playoffs.
"I would say Marty himself would be very disappointed with his play lately," Tippett said. "He feels like he wants to have an impact on the outcome of games, and I don't think he's had a positive impact."
Turco believes there still is time to change that. But with nine games remaining in the regular season, he has to be close to perfect the rest of the way.
"It's something I can handle and, more importantly, there's something I can do about it," Turco said. "We're all in the same boat together, and I'm going to give this team everything I have and plan on winning them all."
In Nashville, hope has come in the form of Pekka Rinne.
In Edmonton, any hope of a playoff berth begins and ends with Dwayne Roloson. And that's disappointing for Marty Turco.
Because a season in which Stars' injured players have missed a combined 304 games, the team was hoping it would have an ace in net. Yes, the team is limping along, but a strong performance by a veteran goalie could have maybe provided a solid crutch.
So far, Turco hasn't delivered.
Over the past 10 games, Turco has a 3-6-1 record with a 3.67 GAA and .886 save percentage.
"My play has been spotty at best ... especially when your team needs you most and you're the guy that can make the biggest difference," Turco said. "It's a terrible feeling for myself."
To be fair to Turco, the team's power play has been disastrous (4-for-47 in the past 10 games), and the offense has been mediocre (2.3 goals per game in that span). But the thing about hockey is a hot goalie can fix all of that.
"It's a team game, but that's the one position that trumps everything," coach Dave Tippett said. "When a goaltender can clean up mistakes, it changes everything for your team. It gives you confidence."
Tippett said the goaltending position has been a wild ride for the Stars this season. Turco started slowly in October, and the team quickly faced injury and chemistry issues. Because of that, Tippett didn't feel comfortable using rookie backup goalie Tobias Stephan on a regular basis.
The result: Turco has played in 69 of the team's 73 games and leads the NHL in time on ice at 4,019 minutes. What's more, the Stars have a 3.05 GAA (ranking 25th in the NHL) and an .890 save percentage (29th).
"Early on, there was a sense we had to play [Turco] more to get him in a groove," Tippett said. "And when we have played Stephan, he hasn't come in and [figuratively] said, 'Give me more,' so it's been a struggle all year."
It continues to be a struggle now, as Turco has not shown signs that he can will this 12th-place team into the playoffs.
"I would say Marty himself would be very disappointed with his play lately," Tippett said. "He feels like he wants to have an impact on the outcome of games, and I don't think he's had a positive impact."
Turco believes there still is time to change that. But with nine games remaining in the regular season, he has to be close to perfect the rest of the way.
"It's something I can handle and, more importantly, there's something I can do about it," Turco said. "We're all in the same boat together, and I'm going to give this team everything I have and plan on winning them all."
