This was a tough loss. All those sidebar stories about the ex-Stars and ex-Lightning players were nice. It was nice to see Mike Smith play against the Stars and play well for the most part. Well enough to get the win. It was nice to see Jeff Halpern get kicked out of the faceoff circle. I enjoyed watching Jussi Jokinen on the penalty kill and see him create a few shorthanded chances. It was neat to see Brad Richards and Vinny Lecavalier exchange goals 20 seconds apart.

But these were big points and the Stars lost them. They lost a chance to gain a little ground in the standings along with it. They are back to one game over .500 and still need to get to eight games over .500 to hit 90 points which is what I think they'll need to get into the playoffs. They've got 38 games left to do that.

Tomorrow night's game against the Panthers, a pretty good team, is another big one. I know there is hope about games in hand and a favorable schedule in February, when they play ten of 13 games at home, but these are important points now. Every point lost, especially two dropped in a regulation loss, makes the climb tougher.

As for Monday's game, it was missed opportunities in more ways than one. The power play was a killer on this night. They were 1-7, really 1-6 since the last one came with 25 seconds to go in the game. They scored on the first one but gave up a shorthanded goal as well, so that one was a wash in a sense. After that they missed three more in the first period where they could have taken the lead. After they took the lead in the second on Loui Eriksson's goal, they had two more chances where they could have extended the lead. They missed on those.

That allowed Tampa Bay to hang around the game and they finally got it even on that goal by Steven Stamkos and there's a huge momentum shift Tampa Bay's way. Stars take a penalty and the Lightning go on the power play for just the second time in the game and score. There's your difference. The Bolts capitalize on the power play and win the game.

Power plays are funny. You can go 0-5 in a game and then cash in on your sixth chance to win it and your power play comes through for you. No one complains that it was 1-6. Go 1-6 and miss chances to take the lead or extend the lead and then lose the game, and your power play failed you. That's the way it goes. On this night it went the wrong way for the Stars, whose special teams have nothing to write home about this year. 

And how about those uni's by TB?  They shouldn't even have been allowed on the ice.  I won't go off on a uniform tangent (I'll leave that to the "Uniform Czar, Craig Miller") but suffice it to say, THEY WERE BAD!  GAWD AWFUL UGLY!!