Bishop placed on IR, but Stars moving forward in six-game point streak

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. --The Stars are going to be cautious with a "tweak" suffered by goaltender Ben Bishop, and right now they can afford to be.
Bishop played Monday and stopped 38 shots in a 5-4 win over Arizona, but had a soreness that coach Jim Montgomery declined to specify. Bishop is traveling with the team on this two-game road trip, but the Stars called up Landon Bow to serve as a backup in Nashville Thursday.
Bishop worked out on the ice with goalie coach Jeff Reese Friday in Arizona, but still is not ready to play Saturday afternoon against the Coyotes (3 p.m. CT; FS-SW; KTCK).
The Stars decided to place Bishop on injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 4 and allow him to attend to his soreness.

"He's not ready, so we're going to put him on IR, and he should be ready by Tuesday," Montgomery said. "We just don't want to take a chance, and it's not fair to him to back up and not feel 100 percent."
Dallas is on a 5-0-1 roll right now and that includes two strong games from backup goalie Anton Khudobin, who will be in net against the Coyotes Saturday. He has three times this season started a block of consecutive games, and his strong play as a backup has been a blessing for the Stars. Khudobin ranks seventh in goals against average at 2.42 and tied for fifth in save percentage at .924. Bishop ranks third in GAA at 2.30 and tied for fifth in save percentage at .924.
Bow is 18-10-4 with the Texas Stars and has a 2.70 GAA and .902 save percentage. He has played in one NHL game in his career, stopping all 14 shots he faced in a backup role.
"Every time he gets up, he gets more comfortable," Montgomery said. "He's not afraid to encourage guys on the bench with their nicknames because he is familiar with them. Every time you get more comfortable, you feel like you belong, so it's good for him."

Stars work on goal scoring

Dallas ranks 29th in the NHL in goal scoring at 2.59 per game and 23rd in shots on goal at 30.1 per game. So coaches set up a drill at the end of practice Friday with nets close together at center ice. Montgomery said the focus was learning to get the puck off of your stick quickly to help create better scoring chances. Players were penalized for stick handling too much.
"Being ready to shoot pucks, knowing what you're going to do with the puck before you get it, and being able to one-touch pucks," Montgomery said. "We stick-handle the puck too much in general on the power play, and in 5-on-5 play. If you stick handled, you gave up a penalty shot."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.