A cheer went up from the American Airlines Center crowd as the clock ran out Saturday afternoon.

It might have seemed surprising, considering the Stars had just lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 3-0.

The explanation, of course, was that the Red Wings' "Red Army" of fans was well represented.

Since winning the Stanley Cup in 1999, the Stars are 1-6-4 on home ice against the Red Wings – and the most recent contest fell right in line with that history

"Detroit has given us problems since 2000," Stars center Mike Modano said. "It's been a long time."

And this edition of the Red Wings might be one of the best ever.

"It seems like we don't have any weaknesses," said goalie Dominik Hasek, who had 22 saves to record his 78th career shutout and push Detroit to a league-best 31-8-3.

This was not the kind of team the Stars needed to see right now. Dallas lost its fourth in a row, its longest losing streak since 2003. Even with the return of Sergei Zubov from a hand injury and improved defensive play, the Stars seemed outmatched.

"That's a good hockey team, and we didn't push it to that extra level that you need to get to beat that hockey team," captain Brenden Morrow said.

"Losing is frustrating," coach Dave Tippett said. "We're in a tough spot right now, and we need to keep pounding away and get out of this."

The Stars at least showed some signs of that Saturday. They held the Red Wings in check for long stretches. They generated attack zone time. They had improved goaltending. But they made too many mistakes.

Niklas Hagman fell down in the first period, clearing the way for Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski to skate in from the point and score. Daniel Cleary sent a hard angle shot on net in the third period and it slipped under the pads of goalie Mike Smith.

The Stars' stifled offense couldn't mount a comeback. Dallas was shut out for the second consecutive game at home – the first time that has happened since 1998. The power play can't generate scoring chances, let alone goals.

"It might have looked like [we improved], but it didn't feel like that," Modano said. "We need contributions from everybody. We rode two or three guys for about a month and a half, and now teams are making it hard on those guys to score. So you need to find scoring elsewhere. You can't rely on your power play to bail you out every time things don't go well offensively."

LOUIS DeLUCA / DMN

Dallas Stars' Loui Eriksson (left) battles Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk.

The Stars have avoided long losing streaks because they have been able to rely on a strong defensive effort or good goaltending. They will attempt to find that Monday against Minnesota before heading out on a five-game trip.

"Regardless of wins and losses, you have to learn from your game," forward Stu Barnes said. "You're always looking at something you can make better and how you can improve. We have to look at what we can fix and what makes us a better hockey team."

At 23-16-4 (50 points), the Stars have dropped back into the Western Conference pack. They are nothing close to the team they were while rolling up a 10-3-0 mark before the recent slump.

And even the opponents will politely acknowledge that.

"I don't know if I've ever had a shutout against Dallas. In this building, I don't have too many wins," Hasek said. "I know it's hard to play against our team ... [but] this team, I usually see them play better."