Gästebuch » DALLAS (AP) — First-year Dallas Stars coach

Jim Montgomery called out the franchise for a “culture of mediocrity Washington Capitals T-Shirts Authentic ,” led a feedback-sharing session with players and briefly benched one of his top-scoring forwards.And this was all in less than a week, not long after team CEO Jim Lites profanely ripped the performances of captain Jamie Benn and fellow high-priced forward Tyler Seguin.While they will never say Lites’ somewhat shocking comments about his highest-profile and most expensive players have anything to do with it, the Stars clearly are eager to escape a rut of missing the playoffs in eight of the past 10 seasons. Dallas has a precarious hold on one of the final two Western Conference playoff spots at the All-Star break.“Right now we’re getting challenged as a group and individually,” forward Jason Spezza told The Associated Press. “As a veteran guy, it’s exciting because it means they want us to push and they’re not happy with where we’re at. When you’re older, you’re trying to win now. You’re not really worried about the future. I like the way the message is going to help us win now.”Perhaps it’s easier for Spezza to pick a word such as “exciting” because the 35-year-old player, now in his 16th season, wasn’t the target of Lites’ rant late last month.The longtime team executive sought out some of the reporters who cover the team regularly and used plenty of profanity along with “terrible” and “embarrassing” to describe the play of Benn and Seguin. Lites turned down an AP request for an interview Thursday.Asked what he made of the events of the few weeks that started with Lites’ bombshell, Benn smiled through apparent disdain for the question and said, “Nothing.” Seguin wasn’t available to reporters after the last practice, morning skate and game before the team’s seven-day break.The day after the criticism from Lites, Benn and Seguin said they needed to play better while taking issue with some of Lites’ more pointed jabs. Both said they played for their teammates, not Lites.“We’re trying to push the envelope,” Montgomery said. “Everybody is, from their respective positions, and trying to make us better and trying to get more consistent at what we are.”Montgomery met with players and the coaching staff on Jan. 14, the same day Dallas traded young forward Devin Shore to Anaheim for 12-year veteran Andrew Cogliano, a move to add experience and speed.Three days later, Montgomery benched Alexander Radulov for the last half of the first period after the Russian forward said he talked back to the coach. In that 2-1 loss to the last-place Los Angeles Kings, the Stars came within 64 seconds of getting shut out in two straight games, both at home, for the first time in 20 years. He wasn’t very happy five nights earlier either after a second straight loss to an also-ran, 3-1 to St. Louis at home following a 2-1 defeat at Philadelphia.The coach making the rare transition from college to the pros wasn’t scathing with his comments on the level of Lites, but his reaction was notable nonetheless.“Two games in a row where we don’t compete at a level that is acceptable, and it is everybody and unfortunately, I am very frustrated that I have not been able to gain consistency in our performance and I haven’t been able to change the culture of mediocrity Washington Capitals Hoodies Authentic ,” Montgomery said.Lites picked Benn and Seguin because he believed they were underperforming for a team falling short of expectations, and because Lites said he had the support of equally frustrated owner Tom Gaglardi.It also had a lot to do with money. Benn is on an eight-year, $76 million contract that started in July 2016, and Seguin signed an eight-year, $79 million extension before this season that kicks in for 2019-20.While Benn and Seguin are tied for the team lead with 18 goals apiece, neither is in the top 40 in the NHL in points after both finished among the 25 best their first five seasons together. This is also the first time at least one of the two didn’t make the All-Star game since they’ve been teammates.The timing of Lites’ comments was curious, with Dallas in the playoff picture and coming off a 2-0 win at Nashville that was notable for backup goalie Anton Khudobin’s club record for saves in a shutout with 49.General manager Jim Nill said he agreed with the message , although not with the use of profanity. Then came the “mediocrity” line from his third coach in three seasons .“My biggest thing is, what’s our identity?” Nill said. “We’ve seen we can be fast. We’ve seen we can be a heavy, hard team. Are we that? Or are we a mix of that? That’s what we have to find out right now. And it’s the consistency of the game.”Consistency is what Montgomery seeks. The question is how many more times the quest will be displayed in such raw terms for everyone to see.“I think it’s a coach trying to push buttons and trying to figure out how to get us from being the middle team to being a team that’s comfortably in the playoffs and looking for bigger things,” Spezza said. “It wasn’t a shock at all to me because we all feel like we’re trying to push the right buttons to get this group to take another step.” BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Steven Stamkos broke a tie with 5:16 remaining in the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning’s 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan also scored, and Louis Domingue stopped 30 shots. The Lightning have won 18 of their last 20.Sam Reinhart, Tage Thompson and Marco Scandella scored for Buffalo.Scandella gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead at 5:54 of the third, chipping home a pass from Jason Pominville from close range.Just 23 seconds later, the Lightning took advantage of a bad giveaway by Sabres defenseman Lawrence Pilut, and Stamkos found Kucherov for his 22nd goal of the season.Stamkos then put Tampa Bay ahead for good late, taking a drop pass from Kucherov and firing a hard shot to Ullmark’s blocker side.BLUE JACKETS 2, CAPITALS 1, OTWASHINGTON (AP) — Cam Atkinson scored his 25th goal of the season, Artemi Panarin connected in overtime and Columbus beat Washington after the defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals lost All-Star goaltender Braden Holtby to an eye injury.Panarin scored in overtime for the second straight game.Holtby took a stick to the left eye from Atkinson through his mask in the second period. He left the game, giving way to backup Pheonix Copley, and the team said Holtby was still being evaluated.Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped 32 shots in his second consecutive start in place of Sergei Bobrovsky, who backed up after being scratched Thursday for disciplinary reasons. Coach John Tortorella did not commit to starting Bobrovsky in the second half of his team’s back-to-back this weekend.After Atkinson beat Holtby a minute into the game on a breakaway Washington Capitals Hats Authentic , Columbus was cruising toward a regulation victory until Evgeny Kuznetsov tied it with 1:06 left. The 6-on-5 goal was Kuznetsov’s first in 18 games dating to Dec. 2.But Panarin snapped Washington’s winning streak at four games and gave the Blue Jackets back-to-back wins with a power-play goal 3:30 into overtime.BRUINS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2TORONTO (AP) — David Pastrnak scored a tie late in the second period and Boston beat Toronto.Sean Kuraly had a goal and two assists, David Krecji also scored, and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves. Boston won the season series 3-1 and moved within two points of Toronto for second place in the Atlantic Division.Mitch Marner and Andreas Johnsson scored for Toronto.RANGERS 2, ISLANDERS 1NEW YORK (AP) — Mats Zuccarello scored late in the third period and the New York Rangers beat the Islanders for their first victory at Barclays Center.Zuccarello redirected the winner with his skate from in front of the net for his fifth goal of the season. Filip Chytil also scored and Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves to help the Rangers win in Brooklyn for the first time since the Islanders began playing home games there in 2015.The Islanders had been 13-2-0 in the teams’ previous 15 meetings overall.The game completed a home-and-home series that began Thursday night with the Islanders’ 4-3 victory at Madison Square Garden. It also marked the final meeting between the Big Apple rivals this season, with each team winning two games.Anthony Beauvillier scored for the Islanders.GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, BLACKHAWKS 3, OTCHICAGO (AP) — Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore scored 1:19 into overtime when Chicago’s Carl Dahlstrom slid the puck into his own net.Theodore was driving when Dahlstrom knocked it away and through the legs of goaltender Collin Delia. It was Theodore’s first goal since he scored twice in an 8-3 victory at Chicago on Nov. 27.Alex Tuch, Ryan Carpenter and Paul Stastny also scored for Vegas, which won for the eighth time in nine games. Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves. Tuch extended his points streak to a franchise-record nine games in the Golden Knights’ second season.Alex DeBrincat scored twice, and Patrick Kane added a goal for Chicago.DEVILS 3, FLYERS 2NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Rookie Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves in his return from an injury, helping New Jersey beat Philadelphia.Damon Severson, Nico Hischier and Miles Wood scored for New Jersey. The Devils won for the second time in six games and handed the Flyers their ninth loss in 10 games.James Van Riemsdyk and Sean Couturier scored for Philadelphia.RED WINGS 5, WILD 2ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi had his first career hat trick and Detroit beat Minnesota to end a three-game losing streak.Playing in his 100th career game, Bertuzzi completed his three-goal performance at 8:38 of the third period, converting a feed from Nyquist by lifting a backhand past Devan Dubnyk.Thomas Vanek had two goals, and Jimmy Howard made 17 saves for the Red Wings, winners for the second time in 11 games. Nino Niederreiter and Luke Kunin scored for the Wild.KINGS 5, PENGUINS 2LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jonathan Quick stopped 38 shots to get his 301st win, helping Los Angeles snap Pittsburg’s six-game road winning streak.Quick tied Mike Richter for fourth place in career wins by an American goalie, reaching the mark in his 577th game and matching the former Rangers goalie’s total in 666 games.Jeff Carter had a goal and two assists, Anze Kopitar scored twice, and Alex Iafallo and Brendan Leipsic had one ech for the Kings Custom Washington Capitals Jerseys , who had lost four of their past five.Jake Guentzel scored short-handed and power-play goals and Casey DeSmith made 20 saves for the Penguins, who lost for the second time in their past 12 games.CANADIENS 3, AVALANCHE 0MONTREAL (AP) — Carey Price stopped 28 shots for his third shutout of the season and 43rd overall to help Montreal beat Colorado.Brett Kulak, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordie Benn scored in the third period. The Canadiens had lost three of their last four. The Avalanche have lost nine of 10.BLUES 3, STARS 1DALLAS (AP) — Rookie goalie Jordan Binnington won his third straight start, Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals and St. Louis topped Dallas.Binnington, who has played in six NHL games, is 3-0 in three starts. The 25-year-old has allowed only two goals in those starts. Binnington shut out Philadelphia 1-0 on Monday and beat Montreal 4-1 Thursday.He made 21 saves on Saturday, the first time he has started consecutive games.Pat Maroon also scored for the Blues, who have won two straight for the fifth time this season.Erik Condra scored for Dallas. Ben Bishop made 25 saves.COYOTES 3, OILERS 2EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Conor Garland scored a pair of power-play goals, including one that went in off his face and left him bloodied, and Arizona won its third straight.Jordan Oesterle also scored for the Coyotes.Connor McDavid and Kris Russell scored for the Oilers, who have lost nine of 12.Garland’s second goal came on a scary play as a point shot struck him in the face when he was in the crease and went into the net. Garland was bleeding heavily and taken to the dressing room. He returned to the game.SHARKS 4, SENATORS 1SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Brent Burns scored his fourth game-winning goal and, Martin Jones made 27 saves for San Jose.The Sharks, who own the second-best home record this season at 16-4-4, have won six straight games and are 8-1-0 in their last nine along with a five-game win streak at home.Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Melker Karlsson also scored for San Jose. Jones has allowed two or fewer goals in four straight starts.Ryan Dzingel scored the lone goal for Ottawa while Anders Nilsson, acquired Jan. 2 in a trade with Vancouver, made his fifth consecutive start for the Senators and stopped 28 shots.