The Stars must be oblivious to the team's front-office mess, because confidence is permeating the dressing room in Dallas. Four straight wins, including three on the road, will do that for you.

“Between owners” would be the politically correct phrase, as the day-to-day operations are being handled by a group of lenders led by Monarch Investments and J.P. Morgan, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Attendance is down nearly 3,000 per game at American Airlines Center, to 81.7 percent of the building’s capacity, and even that seems generous with a scan of the stands at any Stars home game.

The missing fans are missing the hottest team in the Western Conference.

Four straight wins, including a 4-1 victory Monday over the Carolina Hurricanes, has put Dallas atop a Pacific Division that is separated by three points from one through five. The Stars' last three wins have come on the road.

The buzzword – and the main characteristic – in the dressing room is confidence. For a team that did not win more than two straight games all of last season, that’s what four straight wins can do.

“Tonight was a game we played with more confidence than we had all year,” forward Adam Burish said after Monday’s win. “You could just see that the way we were playing, the way the guys prepared before the game, the talk in the locker room – there was a sense of a lot of confidence.

James Neal was the latest Star to step up, scoring two goals to end a four-game scoreless streak.

“We got a little confidence with the back to back wins against St. Louis (Friday and Saturday),” he said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game coming in here but we got off to a good start, a couple quick goals, and we were moving.”

Kari Lehtonen made 27 saves to win his 12th game of the season. While he’s carried the Stars at times, head coach Marc Crawford called the win a “total team effort.”

“In some games you’re going to give up more chances that you’d like and you need him to stand tall,” Crawford said. “I didn’t think that was the case tonight. The defense played good in front of him. The forwards backchecked extremely well.”

Dallas has done quite a bit of rebuilding in Joe Nieuwendyk’s short tenure as general manager, a busy year-plus that has seen the departures of franchise faces Mike Modano, Marty Turco, Jere Lehtinen and coach Dave Tippett, among others. Personnel turnover would provide an excuse for a poor start, but the Stars haven’t needed it.

If the only “rebuilding” takes place in the owner's suite, it would be a successful season of hockey in Dallas.

Notes

Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller made 27 saves against the Kings for his first shutout of the season Monday in a matchup of division rivals at Honda Center. Cam Fowler and Jason Blake scored the only goals in the 2-0 win. … Bobby Ryan’s hat trick lifted the Ducks to a 6-4 win over the Coyotes in Glendale on Sunday, ending a six-game losing streak. … The Kings have scored only five goals in their last four games, all losses. Though head coach Terry Murray said he was seeing chemistry from his reformed forward lines, the Kings now have both the salary-cap space and the impetus to make a trade. The cap-cramped Boston Bruins have been rumored as a possible partner, with top-six forwards Marco Sturm, Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler in the final year of their contracts. … Brayden Schenn returned to Los Angeles from a conditioning stint with AHL affiliate Manchester. … Both of the Coyotes’ 2010 first-round draft picks, defenseman Brandon Gormley and goalie Mark Visentin, were selected to participate in Canada’s National Junior Team Selection Camp. … The Sharks played with four defensemen for the final two periods of a 4-3 win in Edmonton on Saturday, as Niclas Wallin left the game after two shifts and Kent Huskins was injured late in the first. Dan Boyle logged 30:31 and rookie Justin Braun played 22:48 in his second NHL game.

Photos by Getty Images

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email this

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

Write comment

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment