Part of the reason for the Stars struggles this season is that neither Marty Turco or Alex Auld have been to take charge and command that they are worthy of being the #1 Goalie for the Dallas Stars. Last night was a great example as Alex Alud helped the Stars give away a 2-1 lead last night in Vancouver with a mental lasp and a bad pass to Canucks forward Alex Burrows to tie the game on a SHG with a minute left in the 2nd period.
This has been a classic example of a team that having trouble on the road where they have lost 10 in a row on the road which goes back to December 11 with a 3-2 SO win over the San Jose Sharks. If the Stars are going to make any headway into the playoff picture, they will have to increase their goaltending Constancy and win on the road.
Marty Turco has been with the club, one of the big problems he's had for a majority of his time here is giving up bad goals and he's given up a ton of them lately as the Stars continue to struggle in 10th place 5 points back of the Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames who are tied for the 8th and final spot in the playoffs. Turco this season hasn't taken off more then 3 straight games in a row as Auld is starting to get more playing time. If Turco plays tonight against Edmonton, he needs to prove to the team that he can still be the elite goalie he's shown to be before, if he has a bad game tonight in EDM, it may be time for a goaltender change and make Alex Alud the regular starter.
For Alex Alud, this is his first season with the Stars as he has probably played time to help Turco and keep him healthy for the playoffs in the Spring. However, he hasn't been able to help back up Turco as Alud has played in 18 games with a 7-5-3 and a struggling 3.01 GAA and a .895 SV% on where he hasn't been convincing to me that he can't officially jump Turco and give himself a shot to get him to be the full time starter.
In his 3 recent starts, he is 2-1 with wins against Detroit and were 2 goals down 10 minutes into the game, however the Stars were able to come back with Richards and Eriksson scoring goals to come back, then Steve Ott scoring the only goal of the SO to win. Then against Minnesota back on Monday, the Stars jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the Wild were able to close it within 1 at 4-3 midway through the period. Even though they did win, your spouse to be able to close it out with a shutout or at worst a 4-1 win.
Then it looked good for the 1st 2 periods, but that bad pass to Burrows started to turn the tide in Vancouver last night where the Canucks were up 4-2, it was a 4-3 final for the Canucks before. If neither Auld or Turco can take over the goalie spot. Theirs not much we can do right now,
Texas Stars
So if you do need a call up, you can't get Brent Krahn to call up because he's been injured since November 22 with a present knee injury that's bugged him for most of his pro career. So you have Matt Climie who's 27 but having a strong season with a 11-12-3 record with a strong 2.43 GAA and a strong looking .918 SV%. He was brought up on an emergency call up when Turco got the Flu back in December, but didn't play at all in his 3 games.
I'm wondering if the Dallas Stars may do a surprise call up to get the attention of Turco and Auld to help improve their game. Both of these guys have been mentioned as a possible replacement for Turco if the club doesn't resign him after the season ends. Both have had some strong moments, for Krahn, he was even named the AHL Goalie of the Month for November.
However, neither player has shown the maturity or experience to play at the NHL right now and with the amount of time needed to develop a NHL Goalie, both Turco and Auld will need to turn around their game and have a strong run with the Olympic Break starting on Feb. 14 which is the night after a road game to Phoenix, then the team gets back on March 2 against LA, hopefully either Turco or Auld will have it what it takes to take over the net for the playoff drive. If not, then it could be another year without playoff hockey for the Dallas Stars. It depends heavily on these players shoulders to improve their game for the rest of the season.
My Thoughts: I think the Stars time waiting for this is starting out and so is mine. I would give the team till the final week before the Olympic Break. At this point, the final 3 games are against Chicago, Calgary and Phoenix. By then, if it still like this, then you should maybe announce a call up from Austin and take a good look at either Climie or Krahn at the NHL level to see if they can have the potential to make it the NHL level next season if Turco dosen't come back.
Then follow them during the 2 week Olympic Break with the Texas Stars in Austin to see if either one of the Texas Goalies to earn some starting time at the end of the season if it looks like the Stars won't be in the Stanley Cup Playoff Race at the end of the regular season.
Regardless of how they do at the NHL Level, it would be good experience for either one of these guys to play the at the NHL Level as the Texas Stars down in Austin look to win the AHL West Division in the team's first ever season.
Remi Poirier, Cameron Hughes Lead 3 Stars End-of-Season Rankings
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(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)
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