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FRISCO — Every hockey player will tell you he believes in his team.
But there is a subtle moment when those inside really start believing — and that moment for the Stars might have come Wednesday in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames.Yes, the Stars allowed the Flames to tie the score in the final minute of regulation. Yes, they made key mistakes at times when winning teams simply can’t afford them. But the Stars also showed fantastic potential by dominating play for long stretches."We had the better chances, we earned our power plays, we did just about everything right — except win the game," Brenden Morrow said. "To play a team like Calgary that was really motivated, to have some key players come back into the lineup and play well together, I really do think it was a good sign."The Stars outshot the Flames 40-23 and ran up and down the ice against one of the strongest defensive groups in the Western Conference. They drew five power plays and one penalty shot by forcing the Flames to chase the game. They blocked 21 shots, handed out 25 hits and won 51 percent of the faceoffs.But they didn’t finish their chances."When we throw that type of performance in most games in the National Hockey League, we’re going to win," coach Marc Crawford said, "and we’re going to win quite handily."But can the Stars do that? They have been wildly inconsistent, showing the inexperience that comes with a young lineup. Their defense is the lowest-paid in hockey, and their overall payroll ranks 25th in the league. They have a new coach, a new system, and a lot of things to work out.So can this team really compete with anyone? Well, the Stars are 6-3-6 with 18 points through 15 games, on pace for 98. They rank 12th in the league in points percentage at .600 and sixth in scoring at 3.33 goals per game.And they’ve done that largely without the services of veterans Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen. Both returned from injury and played Wednesday."It was good to see what we looked like with a full lineup," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "I thought we were the better team against a very good team out there, and there’s no reason we can’t do that on a consistent basis if we play the game as a team."That means short shifts, high energy, skating to get possession and skating to cover for teammates."I do think we have the ability and the talent to play that way, and we’re starting to see that," general manager Joe Nieuwendyk said. "But what we have to have is consistency. We didn’t have it last week. Can we build on the last game and show we can do this for weeks at a time? That’s our goal."
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