Dallas Stars: Dumb, Dumb, Dumb

It never ceases to amaze me how teams are just willing to throw away valuable points in the midst of a division race.

Take the Dallas Stars on Saturday night, for example.

Losers of four of their last five going in, the Stars could ill afford to drop another one, especially since they are still battling for one of the top two spots in the Western Conference's overall standings (as they were about two weeks ago, when they were only three points behind Detroit for the number one seed).

The Stars certainly wouldn't have wanted to lose even more ground to the red-hot and Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks, winners of 11 straight.

Not winning the division would mean the Stars could finish no higher than number four in the conference.

Standing in their way on Saturday night were the Vancouver Canucks, who had lost two straight and were on the final leg of their four-game road trip.

Stars goaltender Marty Turco has owned the Canucks in regular season play, winning 15 out of 20 lifetime games against Vancouver with a minuscule 1.75 GAA heading into Saturday's action.

In fact, Turco, who also posted three shutouts against the same team in last season's playoffs, had been 7-0-0 in Dallas' previous seven home contests versus Vancouver, with two goose-eggs and a ridiculous 0.98 GAA.

And of course, Saturday's game was being played in Dallas at American Airlines Center.

However, Stars head coach Dave Tippett gave his number one netminder the night off—at least temporarily—and it backfired.

Backup Johan Holmqvist, who was acquired at the trading deadline from Tampa Bay in the huge deal in which the Stars also picked up Brad Richards, was given the nod.

After all, Turco had started every game during the Stars' recent slump, and in his previous outing on Thursday against the Red Wings, had allowed the Stars to blow a 3-1, second-period lead.

So, perhaps Tippett thought that his number one goalie needed or deserved a night off.

However, Holmqvist just didn't have it against the Canucks, allowing three goals on twelve shots as Vancouver built a 3-0 lead.

Holmqvist looked bad on just the second shot of the game, when Matt Pettinger's shot only two-and-a-half minutes in got through his pads.

Could Turco have used a breather?

For sure, but the fact was, Turco was back on the ice after Holmqvist stunk the joint after the first 20 minutes.

If Tippett was going to start Holmqvist—perhaps thinking this was an easy two points in the bag—why not stick with him the rest of the game?

If Tippett was going to insert Turco into the game anyway, why not have him start instead?

As it turned out, the Stars rallied to tie it at 3-3 before the end of the second period, but fell by a single goal when the Canucks caught a break early in the third.

Markus Naslund's pass bounced off Brendan Morrison's skate past Turco three minutes into the final frame, and Vancouver hung on for the victory, despite the Stars getting a power play midway through the period.

Turco finished with a strong game, stopping 17 of 18 shots directed his way in his forty minutes of action.

Just a hunch here, but perhaps he should have started instead of Holmqvist.

Should the Stars lose the divisional race in the Pacific Division to either San Jose or the Anaheim Ducks—who will be without Chris Pronger until their regular season finale—and wind up with one of the lower seeds in the Western Conference, I would have to say that's their problem.

No sympathy here. The Stars had a chance to pick up two points against Vancouver, but simply blew it when their coach decided to sit their number one goalie at the start of the game.

Anaheim, in the meantime, won its game easily against the St. Louis Blues, 5-2, on Saturday, and has moved past Dallas in the standings. San Jose plays on Sunday.

At the end of the day, San Jose had 92 points, followed by Anaheim's 90, with Dallas still stuck at 89.

The Sharks have three games in hand over both the Ducks and Stars.

If the Stars finish behind both those teams, they will be no higher than fifth in the conference.

Perhaps the Dallas Stars will falter in the playoffs once again this year... and that will be their own doing.