Los Angeles Kings 1, Dallas Stars 0 (SO)

by Mark Stepneski of of Andrew's Stars Page

DALLAS — For the second time this season Stars goalie Marty Turco registered a shutout that didn't add up to a win. What it did add up to Thursday night at American Airlines Center was a 1-0 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings, a five-game winless streak and already slim playoff hopes looking even slimmer. And there were more injuries too.

The Stars picked up a point, but they didn't gain any ground in the playoff race. They are still in 12th place and five points out of eighth place with eight games remaining in the season.

"One game at a time, scratch and claw for points, that's where we are right now," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "We have to win games to keep ourselves in the race."

It was another night where teams the Stars are chasing picked up points. Nashville won to move into eighth place at 80 points and St. Louis won to move into a ninth place tie with Edmonton, which lost in Phoenix.

"It's disappointing," said Turco. "It was a point we missed out on that we desperately needed."

Turco, who acknowledged on Wednesday that his play had been "spotty" recently and vowed to better, was just that on Thursday. He stopped 30 shots on the night in regulation and overtime. But he needed a goal to win, and his teammates couldn't deliver one.

"We have to find ways to win, simple as that," said Stars defenseman Nicklas Grossman. "We played a solid 65 minutes and Turks played great, it just wasn't enough."

The Stars couldn't crack Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, who made 29 saves at the other end and was especially strong early in the game when the Stars put on some good pressure.

"[Quick] played really well," said Stars forward Loui Eriksson. "We had a couple of good chances, but we couldn't capitalize on them."

That led to a shootout, and after Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings and Quick stopped Mike Ribeiro and James Neal hit a post, Jere Lehtinen needed to score to keep the Stars alive and he did.

That put the puck on the stick of Kings forward Justin Williams with a chance to win the game. He put on a shot into Turco that sent the Stars goalie drifting into the net. Referee Tim Peel indicated no goal, but the puck was in the back of the net. After a discussion, the announcement was made that it was a goal and the extra point went to the Kings.

"[Peel] said he thought it was caught up in Marty's body," said Tippett. "Upon further review, he said it went through his body and into the net."

The Stars lost a point and more players. Defenseman Trevor Daley left the game early in the first period after he was slammed into the end boards by Kings forward Raitis Ivanans. Daley had to be helped off the ice.

"The list just goes on and on," said defenseman Stephane Robidas. "It's hard to see a teammate go down like that. I thought there could have been a boarding call there. They didn't call it. That's just part of the game. You've just got to keep battling through it."

That left the Stars with five defensemen for most of the night.

"We hung around, but the five D back there saw some fatigue set in," said Tippett.

Stars Krys Barch was lost later in the first period when fought Ivanans. Both players are listed as day-to-day with lower body injuries.

The Stars conclude their homestand with a game against Florida on Saturday.