FRISCO, Texas -- It's truly gone from bad to worse for the Dallas Stars. Not only are the Stars on a four-game losing streak heading into a Friday night visit from Central Division rivals the Colorado Avalanche, but Dallas has been outscored 22-12 over those past four defeats, the most recent setback coming on Tuesday night at the Winnipeg Jets.
And given his team's recent struggles, Stars second-year head coach Lindy Ruff shuffled his lines at practice on Thursday, splitting up his talented top line duo of captain Jamie Benn and veteran centerman Jason Spezza.
"If it makes the team better to have us separated right now, we have to do what we can to win games," Spezza said.
Dallas (27-25-9) is currently seven points out of the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Stars are currently tied with the Avalanche with 63 points, but Colorado has beaten Dallas four times this season, including once already at American Airlines Center.
"All the importance now is just one game. I don't even look past that," Ruff said. "Colorado's been a team that they have stumped us. It's another one that's hard to figure out."
Winger Patrick Eaves, who has missed the past six games with concussion symptoms, has been skating but won't make his return against the Avs.
"He's not a player tomorrow for sure," Ruff said of Eaves. "He was feeling good. He doesn't feel he's there yet, even from a conditioning standpoint."
But the news is more positive on winger Ales Hemsky, who missed practice on Wednesday with an injury, and goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who did not start in Tuesday's 4-2 loss at the Winnipeg Jets with what was termed an undisclosed medical issue.
Ruff called Hemsky and Lehtonen both probable for Friday's game.
The Stars are just 12-12-7 at home and 5-12-6 against the rest of the Central, making the importance of Friday's clash something which can't be overstated.
"Yeah, we haven't been good against our division. That's why we are where are in the standings," Spezza said. "It just starts with a win tomorrow (Friday). That's all we can do now, is look at the games ahead of us."
After practice on Thursday, the first question posed to Ruff in the media scrum asked him to characterize the mood of the team after what has been a tough week, a question he didn't dodge in the least.
"I think there's some frustration but trying to battle through that. That's part of becoming a better team. We're going to have to take it one game at a time, start with a win. We've got to get ourselves on a roll," Ruff said.
And that sentiment is one echoed by one of Dallas' most experienced players, someone who knows the most important thing after any result, positive or negative, especially at this point in the season, is being able to flush it and move on to the next game.
"We know we're in a must-win situation. It's been a hard week losing the games we've lost and the way we lost them, but it's the point of year where you can't really dwell on your losses," Spezza said. "You just have to start with a good game tomorrow against Colorado."
