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Stars' Klingberg has rough outing after drawing comparisons to Norris Trophy winner

Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson has won two Norris Trophies as best defenseman in the NHL, and he is among the NHL leaders again this season. So it’s good for Stars defenseman John Klingberg that he’s being compared to Karlsson.

“I watch him and I know he’s good, so that’s nice to hear,” Klingberg said. “But I don’t try to model my game after him.”

Klingberg entered Tuesday’s game with the lead in scoring for NHL defensemen (23 points in 21 games), and people are starting to talk about the 23-year-old as a possible Norris Trophy candidate.

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Stars coach Lindy Ruff said he’s sees a lot of similarities between the two righties who both played for Frolunda (although not together) in Sweden.

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“It’s an easy comparison, because the stick handling and the skating skill, their ability to get up ice and their ability to make plays,” Ruff said. “They’re both real special players and when you watch them play, if the jerseys were switched, sometimes you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.”

Briefly: Jason Demers suffered a lower body injury Saturday against Buffalo. He skated in the morning Tuesday, but did not play Tuesday night. He is a possible player for Friday against Vancouver...Stars forward Travis Moen was a healthy scratch for Dallas...Stars defenseman Patrik Nemeth is finishing up a conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars and could rejoin Dallas by Thursday’s practice.

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Klingberg had one of his worst games of the year, going minus-3 and handing  out the giveaway that led to the first goal in a 7-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators. He tallied an assist and maintains his one point lead over Karlsson in the battle for thescoring lead among NHL defenseman, but he said it was an embarrassing game.

Here is Klingberg's post-game interview:

On how the turnovers impacted tonight's game:

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"It was what they scored on. There were a lot of turnovers. It was really embarrassing. They could have scored two or three goals more, but the goalies played up on those turnovers. It's a little embarrassing."

On how the team moves on from a loss like this:

"We have to get back at it tomorrow at practice. We need to just start over, play better defensively and take care of the puck more. We have to have better focus, even in practice. That's something we have to do."

On this game as a wake-up call:

"Yeah, I think so. We let them score seven goals in our building. That's not something we're proud of and it's not going to happen again. That can be a lesson and we have to stay more focused."