Coach Bowness throws his players under the bus, amidst slide in the standings

The Dallas Stars are on the outside of the NHL's playoff picture looking in right now and will need to play some desperate hockey over their next 15 games in order to be in contention. 

The team has slid down the standings as of late with a 5-5-0 record in their last 10 and they have a BIG game tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. Enter: head coach Rick Bowness.

Bowness met with the Stars media earlier today and dropped some absolute bombs, specifically when it comes to forward Denis Gurianov. First off, Gurianov will be a healthy scratch for tonight. Why?

From Bowness:

"Well, he's an offensive player and there's been absolutely nothing happening offensively for four or five games. Simple as that. I don't expect every player to be the most reliable defensive player. That's not in everyone's makeup, but if you're not going to be reliable defensively, you have to be able to put some offense on the boards and that's just not happening right now. We've done it before, we've let him sit out and watch a game. It got him going last time, we're hoping it gets him going again today because we need him"

- Rick Bowness

Gurianov has 11 goals and 29 points in 61 games so far this season. He's just two seasons removed from a 20 goal campaign in 2019-20.