by Mark Stepneski of Andrew's Stars Page

Stars falter against 2009's Cinderella team.

The Dallas Stars had their scoring chances, but for the sixth straight game, they could muster only two goals and the end result was a 3-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, Ariz., Saturday night.

“We didn’t win the battles in front of the net and we didn’t win the battles of the faceoffs tonight,” Stars coach Marc Crawford said. “We didn’t have our best tonight. That happens sometimes.”

The Stars, who are 8-5-6 on the season, were coming off a big 3-2 win in San Jose Thursday night but couldn't follow it up with another win. They've only won consecutive games once this season and are 2-3-2 in their last seven games.

"It is tough to build momentum," said Stars goalie Marty Turco, who stopped 28 of 31 shots. "Things seem to happen a lot easier when you get on a roll. You don't feel like you're grinding it out. Some guys can get on a roll and carry a team. It hasn't been the case."

The Stars were 1-6 on the power play in the game. They missed on two chances in the first and had four more chances in the third after they fell behind 3-1. Matt Niskanen scored on the second of the third period chances, but it wasn't enough to get the Stars even in the game.

"We finally got one in the third but we had some opportunities in the first too," said Stars forward Loui Eriksson. "We have to take advantage of those."

This loss came in the team's first game against former coach Dave Tippett.

"You'd be lying to say it wasn't," Tippett said when asked if the victory was special. "I was there for a long time and it's not just coaching, it's friendships. I want to beat them. I've moved on hockey-wise and they've moved on. There are still a lot of great people over there. I liken it to when brothers play against each other. When the puck drops, you play and whichever side your on you're trying to win."

After the two teams played a scoreless first period, Phoenix got on the board just 12 seconds into the second period when Peter Mueller got the rebound of his own shot, put a wrap-around attempt on net and Robert Lang backhanded the rebound past Turco.

The Stars drew even when Mike Modano took a pass from Mike Ribeiro off the rush and beat Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov with a backhand shot from the bottom of the right circle at the 6:12 mark.

But Phoenix got the lead again with just 25 seconds left in the second when rookie defenseman David Schlemko joined the rush, took a pass from Vernon Fiddler, and scored from the left circle.

The Coyotes extended the lead at the 3:35 mark of the third when Keith Yandle set up Radim Vrbata, who was wide open at the right side of the net.

Phoenix, which won for only the second time in their last six games, improved to 11-8-0 on the season.

"Desperation, compete level and everything we talk about was right there," said Tippett. "I thought there were a couple of calls that were questionable, but I liked the way our guys dug in. We battled through it. That's a good hockey team over there. Like I said before, they've got some high end forwards that can make things tough on you. I thought our guys battled right to the end, goaltender included."

The Stars will spend a couple of days in Arizona before heading to Detroit, where they will conclude their road trip with a game against the Red Wings on Wednesday night.

What do you think?