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Stars begin life without Morrow against Ducks

Nov 22, 2008 - 11:25 AM Anaheim (10-8-3) at Dallas (6-9-3), 8:00 pm EST

DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Dallas Stars are about to find out what life is like without captain Brenden Morrow - as if it were not tough enough already.

Losers in six of their last eight, the injury-riddled Stars hope to snap out of their funk when they host the Pacific Division rival Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.

Morrow suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and will likely miss the rest of the season.

"We are obviously very disappointed to hear the news about Brenden's knee," Stars co-general manager Les Jackson said. "As our captain, he will obviously be missed, but we have every assurance that he can and will come back from this injury at 100 percent. There is a lot of hockey left to be played this season, and we are confident our team will rally together and keep pushing."

Morrow recorded five goals and 10 assists in 18 games for the Stars, who have trudged through a trying season after appearing in the Western Conference finals six months ago.

With a dented offense, goaltender Marty Turco will need to step up if the Stars plan on matching last season's 45-win campaign.

Holding a career 2.21 goals-against average, Turco has struggled while posting a 3.67 GAA in 16 games. He seemed to have returned to form prior to the loss to Chicago, holding opponents to two or fewer goals in four of his previous five starts.

Anaheim is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues. Defenseman Scott Niedermayer scored with one second left in the third period to force the extra session.

The Ducks, who have dropped five of six, are tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for second-worst in the NHL in goals allowed (67). Only Dallas (68) has yielded more.