Stars need a little luck, a lot of hard work moving forward

LAS VEGAS -- There are a lot of lucky icons in this town.
At any point in time, you could probably pick up a golden horseshoe, a four-leaf clover or even a lucky coin in hopes of advancing your odds of success.
The Stars might do well to assemble as much booty as they can in their stop here. They definitely could use it. A team that will likely miss Marc Methot, Martin Hanzal and Stephen Johns for almost the entire season received another bit of unfortunate news Monday.

Newly acquired winger Mats Zuccarello suffered a broken arm when he was hit by a puck and will be out for at least the next four weeks. Zuccarello flew back to Dallas from Chicago while his teammates went to Vegas for a Tuesday showdown. He was assessed by doctors Monday and there are no real updates. He might need surgery, which might help accelerate his return.
Defenseman John Klingberg had a hand injury and went through surgery. That kept him out six weeks and 18 games, but all injuries are different.
Of course, the abundance of them certainly seems to be casting a dark cloud over Stars fans right now. Dallas went 8-8-2 when Klingberg was hurt and kept their head above water. They have gone 3-7-1 when Ben Bishop has been hurt, and that has been a bigger concern.

So how will they do without Zuccarello? Well, that's a tough question to answer. He only played two periods, had a goal, an assist and was plus-3. He seemed like an instant catalyst for anyone he played with, an offensive spark plug, the perfect trade deadline acquisition.
And maybe he still can be.
But we won't know for at least four weeks, so the Stars need to find a way to get a little bit luckier. They need to stay healthy (captain Jamie Benn is day-to-day with an upper-body injury). And they need to find a way to take the confidence Zuccarello exuded and manufacture a little more.
The actual trade deadline passed on Monday with no new additions. That's frustrating for Stars fans, who bemoan the lack of scoring and wonder if an extra body -- any extra body -- could help.
Stars general manager Jim Nill already used his best draft picks to get Zuccarello and defenseman Ben Lovejoy, so maneuvering at the trade deadline became tough. Instead, the Stars will go forward with what they have, which is a team that ranks third-best in goals against at 2.61 and third worst in goals for at 2.53.
Bottom line, the scorers have to get better.
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Players like Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov have to improve scoring averages that are trailing last season by significant margins. Players like Radek Faksa, Mattias Janmark and Jason Dickinson have to improve depth scoring that has been sorely lacking.
It has to be a team effort, and it has to be contagious.
Zuccarello had that impact for two periods, and Stars coach Jim Montgomery said the team grew in confidence and in swagger. Now, can they continue that swagger even with Zuccarello out of the lineup?
"I think you can," Montgomery said. "We can, because we did it without him afterwards."
The Stars struggled without Zuccarello, but when the game was on the line against the Blackhawks, several Stars players stepped up and made plays in a 4-3 win. The penalty killers and Anton Khudobin shut down six minutes of penalties late in the third period. Radulov and Jason Spezza combined on a huge power-play goal.
Faced with the worst of luck -- the injury, an overturned goal call, a comeback from the Blackhawks -- the Stars stood up and said "not today."

So, maybe the best lucky charm is a stiff upper lip and a strong constitution.
It's something they have the potential to carry with them into every game remaining on the schedule.
But while they're here, they might try to at least pick up a St. Cristopher medal or something.
You can use all the luck you can get in this city.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.