Stars ready for first swing through Western Canada

FRISCO, Texas --- After losing 5-2 on Saturday night at American Airlines Center to the reigning NHL Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, the Dallas Stars returned to a familiar place on Tuesday afternoon-the road.

Dallas departed for their first trek of the season through western Canada, a three-game road swing that will see them play in Edmonton on Wednesday, in Calgary on Thursday and complete the trip on Sunday in Vancouver.

The Stars went a perfect 3-0-0 during their last road trip last week, winning at Ottawa and Boston in the shootout and completing the trifecta by beating Detroit in overtime last Thursday.

And Stars first-year head coach Lindy Ruff would definitely like to see more of the same against the Oilers, Flames and Canucks this time around.

"Well, we were able to come through in a couple of games where we got down, actually got down in the third, got down in the second and we were able to come back. You like when your team can come back and claw back into games and end up winning them," Ruff said of his club's last road trip. "We want to continue to get better. I'd like to be a little bit better offensively. We'd like to get a lead and be able to hold a lead. And again, we need our special teams to make a difference for us."

Speaking of special teams, the Stars head into the trip with the league's No. 17 penalty kill overall, killing off 81.8 percent of opposing power plays. However, on the road, that number drops to 76.5 percent, dropping Dallas to 25th in the NHL in road PK.

"On the structure side of it, we've been able to kill off some big penalties. And I think part of it is our discipline is good. If you don't have to kill off a lot, you can put a lot of energy into the ones you do but if you kill too many, you're burning out too many guys," Ruff said.

Of course, there are also issues with the power play, which currently ranks 25th in the league, converting 12.1 percent of the time. But away from the AAC, where the Stars are 0-for-24 on the season with the man advantage, the Stars are better, ranking eighth in the NHL at 20.6 percent.

"It's important. To say it's not would be lying. We need it to be a difference. You know there's going to be games where your power play's going to struggle," Ruff said. "We're trying to ramp up the attempts on net and trying to get more people around the net. And I think if we do, the goals will go up."

However, one negative is that the Stars figure to be without veteran winger Ray Whitney, who was placed on Injured Reserve on Tuesday with a lower-body injury, for at least the first two games of the trip.

But despite missing Whitney, fellow Stars veteran Stephane Robidas feels he and his teammates definitely found a successful formula during their last road trip to Ottawa, Boston and Detroit, one that while it is quite simple is also very repeatable.

"We need to keep playing the same way, get early leads and try to play well, play a fast-paced game and keep things simple," Robidas said. "I think that's what we've been doing the last three games on the road and that's why we had success."

Stars center Shawn Horcoff agrees that the formula for experiencing road success in today's NHL is definitely a simple one, but he sees that formula boiling down to one ever-important quality in the League-patience.

"I think we found out how we had to play. I think we were real persistent, patient. We did a good job on special teams. We stayed out of the box. We didn't give up power plays for the other teams and that's the kind of games you got to play on the road," Horcoff said. "You've got to be patient. As long as the games are close or tied, the better it usually is for the road team."

Homecomings, whether it was Stars defenseman Sergei Gonchar returning to Ottawa for the first time since being traded to Dallas or Tyler Seguin returning to Boston for the first time as a Star or Dallas general manager Jim Nill returning to Detroit for the first time with his new employer, were a big story in the last road trip and they also figure to be a prominent storyline in this road trip as well.

Of course, that all starts with Horcoff, who came to Big D after spending his first 12 seasons in the League as an Oiler.

"There's going to be boos definitely. I think every time someone comes back to Edmonton there's always going to be some boos from fans. But I've got nothing but good things to say about that city and organization," he said.

Horcoff added: "I spent 13 years there. That's like a third of my life. That's all I'd known as a professional. I've got lots of friends and family there, teammates that I played with for a long, long time, made some great friends and it's going to be pretty emotional going back."

Dallas captain Jamie Benn and older brother and defenseman Jordie Benn will both be looking forward to ending the trip in Vancouver as both Benn brothers hail from British Columbia.

"Yeah, it's awesome. We checked the schedule when it first came out and we've got a lot of western Canadian guys on this team so it will be special for us," Jamie Benn said. "As for going back to Vancouver, it's obviously special to play in front of your friends and family. You get to go out to dinner with your parents the night before, so it's going to be nice."