Entering a 5-game stretch that would conclude with the NHL’s Olympic Winter Games break, Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk told the media that the Stars next 5 games would determine whether they would be buyers or sellers at the March 3rd trade deadline. The team seemed to take notice of their general manager’s comments and proceeded to go 3-1-1 in those 5 games to pull themselves within a point (with a game in hand) of the playoffs heading into the break.

Nieuwendyk may have jumped the gun on his statement by pulling off a trade just 5 days ago. With the goalie situation after this season in flux, the Stars traded their top defensive prospect, Ivan Vishnevskiy, to the Atlanta Thrashers for oft-injured but highly talented goaltendeder, Kari Lehtonen.

The trade rumors and moves surrounding the goalie spot surprisingly haven’t distracted troubled starter Marty Turco. In fact, the unrest may have even made Turco focus more on his duties with the Stars for the rest of the year, as he has posted a 96.7% save percentage and 2 shutouts in his last 6 games.

Turco’s improved play has been a main reason why the Stars have gained consistency and have started to play more like they were expected to play at the beginning of the year. To often have the Stars played well enough on the offensive end to earn a victory only to have their hopes dashed by poor netminding at the other end. This trend has changed as Turco has made 34+ saves in his last 4 games, including many saves that bring back memories of a once dominant Marty.

Not only has the goalie play improved for the Stars, so has their offensive production from lines other than the Neal-Richards-Eriksson line. While it is great to have a lot of goals come from those 3 guys, it is important to also be able to score the other 37-42 minutes that they aren’t on the ice. Players like Brian Sutherby, Toby Peterson, newly returned Mike Ribeiro and most importantly Jamie Benn have stepped up their scoring and playmaking.

Finally, the Stars have figured something out on the road. Their final 3 games of the break looked to be tough ones on the road, but after a 4-3 shootout loss to the Blackhawks, the Stars skated by Calgary fairly easily 3-1 and torched the Coyotes 3-0. This coming from a team who had only won 8 games and earned 22 points in their first 29 road games this season.

It seems to be a bit of a shame that the Stars must take 2 weeks off while 4 of their teammates (Brenden Morrow, Loui Eriksson, Karlis Skrastins and Jere Lehtinen) compete in the Olympic Games in Vancouver. Nevertheless, the Stars seem to have figured out a good combination that is leading to wins, no matter where the game is played. If they continue to play the way they are capable of night in and night out, especially at goalie, no one will want to face them in the playoffs