The All-Star break cannot come soon enough for the plummeting Dallas Stars. The team that got off to such a tremendous start in the first month-and-a-half of the season continues to slide further and further out of playoff contention due to the lack of depth that makes it tough for the team to play through key injuries.
Yesterday, the Stars got the start they wanted against a Minnesota Wild team that has been in an even more dramatic free-fall over the last month. Eric Nystrom sent the Stars to the locker room with a 1-0 lead at the first intermission after his late first-period goal. Even after Devon Setoguchi knotted the score with a power play goal near the midpoint of regulation, the Stars got it right back. Philip Larsen blasted a shot past Josh Harding for his first goal.
Shortly after the teams faced off at center ice following the Larsen goal, Steve Ott dropped the mitts with former Philadelphia Flyers winger Darroll Powe. The fight proved to be the turning point of the game.
Given a spark of emotion, the Wild turned it into an inferno of energy. They exploded for three unanswered goals over the next 3:17 of play. That did it for Dallas.
Glen Gulutzan desperately attempted to turn the tide by putting Richard Bachman in net for the third period but Minnesota' Dany Heatley soon greeted him with the Wild's fifth goal of the game before the final stanza was 1:30 from its first faceoff.
Plain and simple, this was a game Dallas should have had under control against an equally depleted Wild team. Minnesota played like it wanted the game more, and seized it away as the Stars' legs got heavier and heavier.
Not good at all. The Wild of late had been -- by far -- the most beatable team in the NHL, because of their key injuries and sagging confidence. The Stars are now challenging for that dubious distinction. The club desperately needs Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro back in the lineup as soon as possible.
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