NASHVILLE – Stars defenseman Mattias Nortstrom wanted to concentrate on the positives.

Captain Brenden Morrow wasn't quite so sure he could do that.

Following a 5-1 whipping at the hands of the Nashville Predators on Saturday night at Sommet Center, the Stars were trying to assess just what kind of team they are.

Are they the squad that dismantled Boston on Friday at home or the one that was clearly outworked by the Predators on the road? Are they a team with a bright future that can make up for a slow start or one that is a clear reflection of its 1-2-0 record?

"Personally, I want to look back at the Boston game," Nortsrom said philosophically. "I want to be positive. It's not time to be negative. It's early in the year."

The Stars have some time off to think about how they fared playing three games in four nights. They will rest today and get in two days of practice before meeting the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday at American Airlines Center. However, they probably will not be resting mentally.

"It is early, but we want to clean things up as quick as we can," Morrow said. "The identity of our team is one that checks well, limits chances and doesn't get scored on. We're not going to win a lot of games giving up four or five goals."

Norstrom agrees with that. He said there was no reason for the poor performance and scoffed when it was suggested playing on back-to-back nights might have contributed.

"It had nothing to do with the schedule," he said. "There was no low energy level or fatigue. It was the will to grab hold of a game, and that's what Nashville did tonight. They were the better team."

So how can the Stars be so different from one night to the next?

AP

Nashville center David Legwand (center) scores against Stars goalie Mike Smith as the Stars' Trevor Daley (right) defends.

"It was execution on our part," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We looked like we were chasing the game with our hands and our feet all night."

The Stars' power play, which entered the game with a 42.9 percent success rate (3-for-7), went 0-for-8. It not only failed to give the Stars any goals, it sucked the life out of them at times.

"[Against Boston], we created momentum even when we didn't score," Morrow said of the man advantage. "Tonight, we made sloppy plays and didn't really put a whole lot of pressure on them. Those are things that really hurt you."

Nashville's penalty kill definitely played a role in the Stars' poor performance. So did Predators goalie Chris Mason, who has allowed one goal in his first two games. But Dallas was too easily denied at times.

"Our power play has been successful because the guys have worked hard to recover pucks," Tippett said. "Tonight, we didn't have the extra effort to get the extra chances."

Well, the Stars did on the fourth line, and Tippett rewarded the "energy" players – Krys Barch, Steve Ott and Brad Winchester – with about a minute of power play time at one point. Tippett said the team still is trying to find the right chemistry with defensive pairs and line combinations.

"We knew it wasn't going to all of the sudden appear," Tippett said. "We have bodies that we still need to fit into different situations."

That said, they need to do it quickly, before the pressure of a slow start to the season starts to rear its head.

"You have to find a way to win each game," Tippett said. "It is what it is."