OOPSY DAISY

What have we learned over these past half dozen games?

Well the obvious is that the Stars aren't as good as the elite teams. Clubs named the Canucks and Flyers.

The importance of their powerplay has also been in the glare of the spotlight, as has the need for great, game-stealing goaltending. Neither of which has been a strength lately.

A positive is that they can always count on two points when facing Edmonton, but the caveat is they only have the Oil one more time.

Injuries have undermined their "every day for each other" mantra cause the "each other" seems to be different every day.

The big production duo lately has been Ribeiro and Morrow. Richards and Eriksson have had their zip robbed by the demands of the season and a busy AllStar break.

Steve Ott can win draws. Lots of them.

The frequency of shorthanded goals against is inching toward disturbing.

Jamie Benn is missed, a lot.

Scoring first is paramount for this team. (1-0 when they did. 0-4 when they didn't)

When that record run on the road had it's bubble burst in Calgary it left a yukky mess. 7-4, 7-1, 6-3, and 3-1 losses in the four road tilts since setting the mark for consecutive road wins in Edmonton. (see, there's Edmonton again)

The Bruins hold grudges for a long, long time.

If the Canucks don't come out of the West this season it's their own damn fault.

2-0 deficits are like a bean bag chair. Easy to get into, real tough to get out of.

A 2011 Stanley Cup playoff spot in the West will be earned and fought for, not given or backed into.