After a pair of shutout wins and a combined 9-0 edge across those games, Dallas looked like it had real momentum heading into Saturday’s trip to Pittsburgh. Instead, the Stars left with a shootout loss and a reminder that good form can disappear fast when the legs aren’t there.
Glen Gulutzan didn’t hide his disappointment after a game in which Dallas managed only 25 shots and spent too much time trying to survive in its own end. Pittsburgh was on the second night of a back-to-back, but the Stars never forced the issue the way they needed to.
“I expected more from our guys here. They came off a game last night and we never got skating at all.”
Gulutzan also pointed to his own decision to give the team Friday off, and he made it clear the plan backfired.
“…lesson learned by us coaches and myself. We just didn’t get moving. We were fresh, we’ve got no excuses, and we have to be better than that.”
There was at least one bright note in the Stars notes roundup: Tyler scored a goal that figures to mean a lot after the long rehab he went through following last December’s ACL injury.
Around the Central Division, Sunday was quiet. Only one game was on the schedule, with Minnesota set to host Vegas in an early-season matchup.
Elsewhere around the league, the New York Rangers got brutal news over the weekend when Igor Shesterkin was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. He went down with a leg injury and had to be carried off the ice without putting weight on his right leg.
Carolina kept rolling behind Sebastian Aho, who has helped push the Hurricanes to a 5-1-1 start and is tied for the league lead in goals.
And in Philadelphia, the Flyers’ early-season slide got even uglier. They stayed winless after dropping their seventh straight, setting a franchise record for the start of a season.
In Cedar Park, the Texas Stars finished their first road trip of the season with another letdown on Sunday afternoon, giving them three straight losses. They’ll try to reset when they head to Manitoba on Friday.
In Other News...
Stars Suddenly Face A Matt Duchene Problem They Cant Ignore
The Stars early-season forward depth just took another hit, with Jim Nill confirming that Matt Duchene had surgery to repair a core injury. Duchene has been one of the more important pieces of Dallas attack since arriving, and his absence now stretches back to training camp, when an upper-body injury first kept him from getting on the ice.
For a team trying to stay on track in a competitive Western Conference, losing a top-six forward for this long changes the look of the lineup and adds more pressure elsewhere in the rotation. Duchene is only in the second season of his four-year extension, so Dallas is suddenly staring at a situation that affects both the present and the bigger picture around one of its key veterans. [Read more 🡒]
Stars Get A Timely Lineup Boost Before A Huge Colorado Test
The Stars are getting some needed reinforcements at a good moment, with Glen Gulutzan indicating that Radek Faksa and Joel Kiviranta are expected to be available for the next game. Dallas has been managing injuries up front, so having a pair of forwards back in the mix should help deepen the lineup as the schedule tightens and the competition stiffens.
Faksa and Kiviranta both worked through lower-body injuries, with Faksa forced out against Pittsburgh and Kiviranta missing the recent road trip. Their return comes as Dallas prepares for a major test, and the timing matters because the Stars will want as much lineup stability as they can get before facing Colorado. [Read more 🡒]
Tyler Seguin May Be Giving The Stars What They Desperately Need
Tyler Seguins night against the Penguins felt like more than a timely finish for Dallas. Returning from ACL surgery after a difficult recovery and a limited season so far, Seguin gave the Stars a reminder of what he can still supply when they need it most. The timing mattered, too, because Dallas has been leaning harder on its remaining forwards with injuries thinning the lineup.
Seguin snapped his scoring drought in a way the Stars will want to remember, first by helping force the game deeper into the night and then by coming through in the shootout. It was his first goal since Nov. 15, 2025, and if this is the start of him settling back into a bigger role, Dallas could use every bit of it while the forward group waits to get healthier. [Read more 🡒]