Heika: How a 'harsh defeat' became a gift and put the Stars' hot start in perspective

Stars coach Lindy Ruff said his team gave away so many pucks in a 7-4 loss Tuesday that the Ottawa Senators should be thankful.

Truth be told, though, the harsh defeat is actually a pretty good Thanksgiving Day gift for the Stars and their fans. Not only do the players get to see how much of a role they play in their own destiny, but fans get to appreciate just how difficult it has been to post a franchise-best 17-5-0 start.

"I think you know when you're on a good team, and we all feel this can be a great team," said center Jason Spezza. "I think it's good to remember what we look like and feel like when we play well, because we know we can do that on a consistent basis. I think we feel a responsibility to be that team every game."

Because that team is very tough to play against. Consider the fact Dallas had a 9-1 advantage in shots when Ottawa scored to take a 1-0 lead.

"The only thing they got was what we gave them. They didn't have a shot until we handed them one," Ruff said. "It's a strange game in that we didn't get outplayed, we didn't get outskated, but we definitely got outsmarted."

And Ruff doesn't want that happening again -- or not much, anyway.

John Klingberg had the first giveaway, and it was terrible. Jyrki Jokipakka the next, and it was pretty bad, too. Then Patrick Eaves had the third, and it was inexcusable. The veteran had five other options, Ruff said, but he took the worst one by throwing a pass through the middle of the ice in his own end.

"We broke the rules on how to play hockey. We really did," Ruff said. "For whatever we wanted to do, we chose the least efficient way to get the puck out of our own zone."

And those bad choices can be good in a strange way. They emphasize that the Stars have some great options out there. They emphasize that when the Stars make good decisions, things often turn out right. That's why the team is off to such a good start.

They also serve as a reminder that the game is hard, that other teams are good, and that getting those 17 wins wasn't easy.

"There's been nothing easy about how we got here. There have been a lot of tight games, close games in the third period, and I give our guys a lot of credit," Ruff said. "We've been able to answer every loss with a strong game afterward, and I've got all of the confidence that we reset and go at it."

Goalie Kari Lehtonen left the game in the third period after a collision with Klingberg. He is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury, and is expected to miss Friday's game with Vancouver. That means a goalie will be called up from the minors, probably Jack Campbell, and that the burden will fall to Antti Niemi right now to take the net.

For the Stars, that means another hurdle to leap over, another hill to climb. It could be small if Lehtonen is out for a short period of time. It could be big if his problems linger. Either way, the Stars can be thankful that they seem to have the ability to handle those challenges this season.

"There's a lot we can learn from this game," said veteran winger Patrick Sharp. "We aren't happy with the way we played, but we'll watch video, we'll learn from our mistakes, and we'll gear up. It doesn't get any easier, the season moves along here, games get tighter and teams get tougher to play against. We got off to a good start, but we need to improve every week."

Because even the best start in franchise history after 22 games doesn't guarantee anything for the next 60.

Twitter: @MikeHeika