Bowness: Some Stars are 'very uncomfortable' playing on road

Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness appears to be sick and tired of road losses.

His club fell victim to a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of the league-leading Florida Panthers on Friday night, dropping Dallas' road record to a dreadful 4-11-1 on the season. The Stars have only one regulation victory away from American Airlines Center in 2021-22.

"We have some guys who are very comfortable playing at home and very uncomfortable playing on the road," Bowness said postgame, according to The Athletic's Saad Yousuf. "It's very obvious."

The Stars found themselves two goals behind less than 10 minutes into Friday's clash. Florida eventually went ahead 6-0 before Roope Hintz stopped the bleeding with a third-period tally.

Bowness didn't mince words about what went wrong.

"There was a lot," he said. "A lot. It starts with just not being willing to compete. Starts with that. If you don't want to work, you don't want to compete, you get that."

Bowness has made his frustration clear on numerous occasions of late. He was fined $25,000 by the league after destroying a stick on the Stars' bench following a 2-1 road loss to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Dallas sits three points outside a wild-card spot in the Western Conference with four games in hand. Despite their road woes, the Stars have been able to stay in the race thanks to a 14-3-1 record at home.

The Stars return to the ice Saturday in Tampa Bay.