This is not how the Stars drew this up.
With a new coaching staff, a cadre of new players and a payroll that is brushing up against the NHL's $75 million salary cap, the team did not expect to start 0-2-0.
That's not insurmountable, and there are signs of positive play, but a 4-2 loss to St. Louis Saturday at Scottrade Center looked a lot like a 2-1 loss at home to expansion Vegas on Friday. Dallas squandered some great scoring chances, it had breakdowns on defense, it didn't get great goaltending. It didn't deserve to win either game, and that's discouraging.