Lehtinen's injury another challenge for Dallas Stars

Nov. 20--FRISCO -- The changes continued for the Stars on Wednesday.

Defenseman Darryl Sydor prepared for his first game since a trade from the Penguins on Sunday, and rookie winger James Neal returned from a month in the minors. Meanwhile, winger Jere Lehtinen is out 7-10 days with an upper body injury.

And as the waves of player movement continued to bounce the 6-8-3 Stars around, they tried to find the calm that would produce consecutive wins for the first time this season.

As Dallas prepares to face the Chicago Blackhawks tonight, it will welcome its 27th player this season. And yet the players say if they find consistency in their performance, then consistency on the roster will probably follow.

"We just need to focus on doing things right, shift to shift," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "If we can do that, then the wins will come."

Robidas said the players really weren't aware of the fact that they had yet to string back-to-back wins together. However, they were well aware of the inconsistency of their performance from period to period and game to game.

A study of their victories shows a disturbing trend. A 6-4 win against Nashville was followed by a 6-1 loss to St. Louis. A 2-1 win against the New York Rangers was followed by a 5-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils. A 4-2 win over Minnesota was followed by a 5-2 loss to the Blackhawks.

"There's no explanation for it, other than we're not concentrating on doing the little things." Robidas said. "When we get caught up in trying to do too much or trying too hard to win the game, that's when we make mistakes."

The mistakes have led to losses, and the losses have led to changes.

Mark Parrish was signed as a free agent. Sydor was acquired in exchange for Philippe Boucher. B.J. Crombeen was lost to the Blues on waivers, and Neal was recalled from the minors.

In a strange way, the changes designed to fix problems actually have created more inconsistency.

But that's where the Stars are right now. They have to find a way to fix their problems while the waves continue to toss the ship.