The little question is this: How much longer is Marty Turco the starting goalie in Dallas?

Stars head coach Marc Crawford provided the short-term answer Monday, after backup Alex Auld won his second straight start, making 22 saves in a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

“We will most likely ride his goaltending here into the next game,” Crawford told reporters, meaning Auld could get a chance to make it three in a row Thursday in Vancouver. As a team, the Stars have not won three games in a row this season.

Which begs the big question: How much longer is Turco in Dallas at all?

He becomes a free agent at the end of this season, during which he is owed $5.4 million — a price that could make it difficult for the Stars to find a trading partner if Turco is deemed expendable at the deadline. Now 34, Turco has spent his entire nine-year career in Dallas.

But he hasn’t been the same since the Stars’ run to the Western Conference Finals in 2008. Turco was among the many reasons the team missed the playoffs last season, when he rebounded from a poor first half to finish 33-31-10 with a 2.81 goals-against average and .898 save percentage. The latter two were career-worst numbers — until this season, when he’s gone 14-13-8 with a 2.84 GAA.

“The most important thing for me is to win games. I don't have to be playing every game, I just want us to win,” Turco told the Dallas Morning News. “What's gotten me this far in my career is not worrying about anything that's out of my control. The number one thing I do is stop pucks, and the way I do it demands a lot of attention and focus. I'm moving better and feeling well, and I think the next time I play when I do get in there, it will hopefully be better than my last few outings.”

It's probably premature to use two good starts by the backup to predict a trade for the starter. But when the Morning News asked Joe Nieuwendyk if he could comment on trading Turco, the Stars' general manager gave somewhat of a non-answer.

“It's a matter of, if we're winning games with Alex Auld, we go with Alex Auld,” Nieuwendyk said. “He's accepted the challenge and he's showing us that he's capable of handling the challenge. I fully anticipate Marty will be back in the net at some point, probably in back-to-back situations. But right now it's Alex's net. It's as simple as that.”

That leaves the door at least ajar, if not agape, for trade speculation — which the Morning News did recently on its Stars Blog. Even columnist Tim Cowlishaw, who only rarely touches hockey, jumped into the conversation.

If Auld can maintain his pace, it may be hard for Turco to maintain his stance of not having to play every game — and even harder to land a lucrative contract in the summer.

The Sharks set a team record in their 9-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday as eight different players scored goals. Here’s the stunner: the top line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley scarcely contributed to the rout. Heatley had two goals, and Thornton and Marleau each picked up an assist, but 11 other players picked up a point. “It's nice to win a game like that, to have a little bit of a cushion to use guys differently,” head coach Todd McLellan said, “and secondly to see a number of different names on the scoresheet, not just 15, 12 and 19.” Added third-line center Scott Nichol after a three-point night, “it's always nice to chip in and give them a little bit of a break. And that's what you're going to need down the stretch. they're going to really try and key in on those guys.” … The game was even more valuable with the Sharks going to L.A. on Tuesday for their second game in as many nights. McLellan didn’t hesitate to rest his top line, giving unprecedented power-play time to fourth-liners Jody Shelley, Brad Staubitz and Torrey Mitchell in the third period. … The Sharks have won four of five, the lone loss coming in a shootout to Boston on Thursday. … Devin Setoguchi started to shave his own head on Friday, and roommate Torrey Mitchell’s girlfriend finished the project, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Setoguchi scored two goals the next day against Edmonton. … After playing a scoreless 8:38 against the Oilers, F Benn Ferreiro was re-assigned to AHL affiliate Worcester on Sunday. … D Jason Demers was returned to Worcester on Wednesday.

 

The Ducks won their seventh straight home game Sunday, coming back to beat the Calgary Flames 5-4. It’s the longest active streak in the league, and the longest at Honda Center since Feb. 17-March 26, 2008, when Anaheim won a franchise-record 10 straight. … Troy Bodie scored his first NHL goal in the win and also dumped Calgary’s Adam Pardy head-over-heels into the Ducks’ bench in the second period. … Contract talks between the agent for Bobby Ryan and general manager Bob Murray have stalled, though Ryan said he is content to resume talks at the end of the season. Ryan leads the team with 21 goals. … Read how and why Scott Niedermayer was chosen to captain the Canadian Olympic team. … Watch Ryan plant the Kings’ Oscar Moller into the end boards with 7.1 seconds left in the Ducks’ 4-0 loss Thursday. Ryan was assessed a game misconduct among 17 minutes worth of penalties, but was not penalized further by the NHL. … Anaheim not only lost that game, it also lost C Saku Koivu for 1-2 weeks to a strained right knee when Jarret Stoll fell on Koivu after losing a faceoff draw. … Koivu gives the team two Finnish forwards on IR. On Tuesday, Teemu Selanne broke his jaw in two places when he was struck by a bouncing puck against the Boston Bruins. He underwent surgery Wednesday and is expected to miss 2-6 weeks. … The Canadian Press explains the special connection between Anaheim executive David McNab and recently retired goalie Curtis Joseph.

 

Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled from a start Monday for the second time in four games, and the Coyotes lost 7-3 to Buffalo. Bryzgalov, who went 8-2-3 with a 1.82 GAA in December, is 3-3 with a 4.21 GAA in January. Asked why he thinks Bryzgalov has struggled in the new year, head coach Dave Tippett told the team’s Web site that “stops he was making earlier in the year he just isn’t able to get right now. We need to keep working with him.” … As a team, the Coyotes are 3-5 to start the New Year, but it hasn’t cost them too much in the standings. On Jan. 1, they were alone in fourth place; after Monday’s loss they were tied for fourth with Nashville. … Radim Vrbata scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season against the Sabres to extend his point streak to six games. … Tippett shifted captain Shane Doan to a line with grinders Vernon Fiddler and Daniel Winnik against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, and Doan picked up a goal and an assist. The experiment ended in the second period Monday, when Doan was shifted back to a line with Matthew Lombardi and Scottie Upshall.

 

Goalie prospect Jonathan Bernier is competing in the AHL all-star game Tuesday for the Canadian squad. Defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov, Bernier’s teammate on the Manchester Monarchs, will compete for the PlanetUSA squad. … According to LAKingsInsider.com, the team is wearing new protective Kevlar socks. … Ryan Smyth got an unusual unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Ducks — he was already sitting in the penalty box when he was penalized for banging on the glass. … Promoted to the top line against Anaheim, RW Wayne Simmonds broke out of a three-game pointless streak with a goal late in the second period. He picked up an assist the next night against Boston. … GM Dean Lombardi subliminally compares Alexander Frolov to a garbage-truck driver who should be a Harvard MBA in Part 3 of his interview series with FrozenRoyalty.net.

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