Stars fall to Blackhawks, 3-1

The Dallas Stars continue to struggle on the road. The Stars lost for the seventh time in their last eight games away from home, falling 3-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center Sunday night.
It was a familiar formula for the Stars. They struggled to score, mistakes proved costly, and special teams didn't help. There were some pockets of good play, but not enough to add up to a win.
"When you don't score goals, every mistake becomes costly. We are not scoring enough obviously, and we are letting too many in," said Stars center Jason Spezza. "We are trying to get out of this funk and are working at it. It's frustrating."
"I mean, we shoot ourselves in the foot. That's pretty much plain and simple," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "The way we're losing is unacceptable. Once again, I don't think our best players were our best players, and penalties kind of shot us in the [butt] again."
The Stars played a solid first period and took a 1-0 lead early in the second, but Chicago tied the game less than a minute later and then grabbed a 2-1 lead midway through the game moments after Dallas missed on a power play chance. Chicago sealed the win with a power-play goal in the third.
"It's just a matter of making bad mistakes at the wrong times. I thought we played a pretty smart first period," said Stars coach Lindy Ruff. "We got the goal we wanted. We could never quite tip the momentum in our favor. We had spurts throughout the game, and they had spurts too. They took advantage of one of our big mistakes, and that was probably the difference in the game."

Devin Shore scored the lone goal for the Stars, who fell to 11-13-6 on the season. Kari Lehtonen made his fifth straight start in goal and stopped 24 of 27 shots.
Scott Darling stopped 23 of 24 shots for Chicago, which improved to 18-8-4. Darling, who has taken over for the injured Corey Crawford, has allowed just two goals over his past three starts.
"[Darling] has been great for us," said Chicago coach Joel Quenneville. "The one thing that's been the most consistent thing about our game this year has been our goaltending. It's been outstanding, night in [and] night out, no matter who's been in the net. [Darling] has done a great job in [Crawford's] absence and continues to give us a chance to win every single night. The last three games he's been pretty remarkable."
Shore put the Stars up 1-0 at 1:25 of the second period, pushing the puck into the net during a scramble in front of the Chicago net. But the Blackhawks tied it just 52 seconds later when Marian Hossa put a shot on goal from just beyond the top of the left circle off the rush and the puck trickled through Lehtonen to make it a 1-1 game.
"That's a tough one," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "He made some good saves out there, but that's one he'd like back."
Chicago took a 2-1 lead at 12:30 of the second just after the Stars missed on a power player play chance. Chicago's Ryan Hartman came out the penalty box and won a puck battle with Stars defenseman Stephen Johns, put a shot on net and Artem Anisimov scored on the rebound.
The Blackhawks extended the lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal midway through the third period. Defenseman Duncan Keith set up Artemi Panarin, who scored off a one-timer from the left circle at the 10:03 mark.
Now, the Stars head home to Dallas where they will play eight of their next nine games. It's a key stretch and one where the Stars need to get things going in their direction.
"This will be the season for us, I really feel," Ruff said. "We've played pretty well at home, and we've got to build some momentum. I think all the season is going to land on this homestand."
Oleksiak suspended two games
The NHL suspended Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak two games for an illegal check to the head of Flyers forward Chris VandeVelde in the third period of Saturday's game in Philadelphia.
"Most coaches would view that as not that bad a hit," Stars coach Lindy Ruff. "The problem is he is a big man and might have caught him a little bit high, but I didn't even notice it during the game."
Oleksiak sat out Sunday's game in Chicago and will also miss Tuesday's game against Anaheim. He'll be eligible to return for Thursday's game against the New York Rangers.
Notes: Oduya, Hudler Return
\Stars defenseman Johnny Oduya returned to the lineup after missing the past ten games with a lower-body injury. Oduya was paired with Jordie Benn and played 18:17.
\Stars forward Jiri Hudler returned to the lineup after sitting out the past 20 games due to illness. He played 14:17 and had two shots on goal.
\Stars forward Devin Shore has scored three goals in the past two games.
\Chicago outshot the Stars 27-24. Both teams had 51 shot attempts.
\Shore and Tyler Seguin led the Stars with 4 shots on goal. Shore was tops with 6 shot attempts.
\The Stars were 0-2 on the power play and 2-3 on the penalty kill.
\The Stars won 28 of 50 faceoffs (56 percent).
\John Klingberg led the Stars with 22:27 of ice time. Jordie Benn was next with 21:39.
*Stars defenseman Dan Hamhuis played in his 900th NHL game.
What's Next
The Stars return home for a five-game homestand. They'll play Anaheim, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Los Angeles. The Stars play eight of their next nine games at home.
Stars Lineup
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Jason Spezza
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Brett Ritchie
Jiri Hudler - Cody Eakin - Patrick Eaves
Curtis McKenzie - Devin Shore - Adam Cracknell
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Stephen Johns
Johnny Oduya - Jordie Benn
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Patrik Nemeth, Lauri Korpikoski
Suspended: Jamie Oleksiak
Injured: Julius Honka (upper body), Patrick Sharp (concussion-like symptoms), Mattias Janmark (knee), Ales Hemsky (hip)
Watch: Postgame Quotes
Jamie Benn:
"The way we are losing is unacceptable."
Jason Spezza:
"When you don't score goals, every mistake becomes costly."
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.