FRISCO -- When asked about Saturday's 5-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks, a setback which ran the Dallas Stars' winless streak to seven games, equaling their last streak of similar length in the final year of the Dave Tippett era, current Stars head coach Lindy Ruff didn't mince words.
"In the first 40 minutes, there was very little bad. The last 20 minutes, I just thought we became mentally weak," Ruff said after practice on Monday. "Mentally, we didn't handle adversity well. That's frustrating because there's going to be lots of times we have to deal with it."
But there is one mistake from that fateful third period, which led to the Stars falling to 1-3-4 at American Airlines Center that was especially frustrating for the veteran NHL head coach.
That penalty came 3:40 into the final frame when Stars defenseman Jordie Benn slashed San Jose center Joe Pavelski. The Sharks cut the Dallas lead to 3-2 just 11 seconds later when Patrick Marleau scored a power-play goal and the rest was history.
"I thought the penalty we took was something that gave San Jose energy. That's the mental part of the game, that totally unnecessary penalty where we've given our opposition a little bit of a spark in our building," Ruff said. "Those are the situations that mentally that you can't allow and it's got me frustrated."
Dallas was without young center Cody Eakin (upper body) for a second straight game, but Ruff said after practice that Eakin's return is nigh.
"Cody Eakin is close. He skated before practice. If it's not Tuesday, the way he's progressing I would think (he could return) in LA (on Thursday)," Ruff said.
Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski missed practice on Monday with what Ruff called a maintenance day. Ruff did state that "Goose" has been carrying an injury but that he would play on Tuesday night at the Arizona Coyotes.
Speaking of the Coyotes, who are still coached by Tippett, despite being rebranded from the Phoenix Coyotes, much is the same out in Glendale. Phoenix plays the same grind-it-out style of hockey where scoring chances are at a premium, a formula which they have been known for under Tippett and it's an approach that has mostly worked.
And Ruff expects nothing to change as his Stars begin a quick two-game trip out West that will also see them play the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night at Staples Center. Tuesday will mark Dallas' first meeting of the year with their former Pacific Division rivals, the Coyotes, beat the Kings beat the Stars 3-1 at the AAC last Tuesday.
"It's not going to be a game where there's going to be as many scoring chances. It's a tighter game," Ruff said of Tuesday's game with Arizona. "They play a tighter game, so again it's going to be a test for us to stay with it and not get frustrated, to take what we're given and be ready to crowd the net. We're looking for some in-zone opportunities because defensively they take a lot of pride in trying to plug you up."
Dallas made a roster move on Sunday, recalling young defenseman John Klingberg from the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League.
Klingberg will likely debut during the road trip, becoming the third Star, joining fellow defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka and forward Curtis McKenzie, to make his NHL debut for Dallas this season.
"Yeah, I'm just going to go in and play my game, keep going the same way as I did down there (in the AHL)," Klingberg said. "Started this season pretty good, so just going to keep going that way."
After backup goaltender Anders Lindback got the start against San Jose and allowed four goals, Ruff will go back to No. 1 netminder Kari Lehtonen on Tuesday.
Lehtonen had started five straight games before Ruff went with Lindback against the Sharks and he thinks that rest did his Finnish netminder some good.
"I know our goalies can get it done. It was a good rest for him (Lehtonen)," Ruff said. "I think that he's the guy that has to take the leadership and grab the ball and run and be ready to go with it. As soon as you get that confidence back there, then that one mistake you're making isn't something that's going to hurt you."
But it's not like the Stars who are 3-3-0 on the road, are getting blown out each and every night during this winless run. It's one mistake here and there, usually in the third period that the opposition has capitalized on, leading to a string of losses whether in regulation or overtime.
However, Stars faceoff specialist Vernon Fiddler, who spent part of his career with the Coyotes before coming to Big D several years back, feels that all their mistakes are fixable.
"I don't think we're getting outplayed. We're outplaying ourselves and we're giving teams what they're getting. We're taking penalties. We're turning the puck over, things teams build momentum off," Fiddler said. "It's something that we have to be aware of and we've got to stop giving teams momentum, stop the turnovers, stop the penalties and start playing more of an aggressive game like we did last year."
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