"This is the time of year where you have to bear down and put the chances in when you get them. We're not going to win if we don't score," Cogliano said. "We needed to find a way to win tonight. They're on a back-to-back, and we've got to find a way to put it in."
The Stars squandered a chance to win at Arizona, and then dug in and took a big victory against Florida. Dallas was crushed by Tampa Bay on Thursday, 6-0, and the thought was it would respond with a hearty effort against a Carolina team that beat Edmonton at home Friday.
The effort was there, but it came a little late.
The Hurricanes grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first 8:31 and then coasted after that. The Stars had 33 shots on goal, but couldn't beat Petr Mrazek. And it was a team effort. The depth scorers didn't score, the top scorers didn't score.
Jamie Benn, Seguin and Alexander Radulov were on the ice for the two goals against and finished minus-2 each.
"It's difficult for us to come from behind, it's been proven all year," Montgomery said. "So any time we fall behind, it's not a good situation for us.