Effective puck management will be a top priority for the Stars.

DALLAS - The Stars weren’t exactly picture perfect in Saturday night’s 5-4 overtime victory over the Flyers at the American Airlines Center.

The fact that head coach Pete DeBoer’s contingent gave the puck away 13 times and surrendered three short-handed goals didn’t sit well with the group as a whole, and with good reason.

DeBoer isn’t pressing the proverbial panic button right now, though, because it’s only four games into the season and Dallas has a 3-0-1 record and seven out of a possible eight points in the bank.

“I’m not surprised we’re going through a little bit of this. The good thing is we’ve got a smart group and they understand, so I’m confident we’re going to get there,” said DeBoer, following Monday’s practice at the Comerica Center. “We did some video work to show some mistakes, but when you look at the tape, we did a lot of really good things against Philly. I think the turnovers just tainted the game. You can have your other systems in a really good place - breakouts, rush, O zone - we did some good stuff, but it gets tainted when you mismanage the puck that badly, and I think we understand that.”

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The Stars will have a chance to right the ship in that department on Tuesday night when they face the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Goaltender Jake Oettinger, who didn’t play against the Flyers in favor of Scott Wedgewood, will be back between the pipes.

“The best thing we can do is stay out of the box and play 5-on-5. I don’t think you want to give them a lot of looks, so that’s the first thing, find the standard, recognize it, and don’t give them unnecessary power plays,” explained DeBoer. “If we do, I have a lot of confidence in our penalty kill against any group. I think our guys aren’t afraid of a challenge like that.”

With just two wins in five games, head coach Mike Sullivan’s squad isn’t exactly rolling at the moment.

The Penguins were defeated by Detroit and St. Louis on a recent two-game road trip, so DeBoer fully expects a hungry opponent in Western Pennsylvania.

“I saw their coach kind of went off on them a little bit, so you’re getting a proud group, a Stanley Cup pedigree group, and they’re going to be angry about their most recent games, so that’s a tough opponent,” emphasized DeBoer. “I think it’ll be good for us. We need something like that right now.”

Dallas compiled a 25-11-5 road record last season, which was nothing short of excellent.

The Stars’ bench boss is hoping for more of the same this season.

“That's the foundation for me. If your foundation is good, that gives you a chance to win everywhere, and our foundation last year was really good 5-on-5 and special teams,” said DeBoer. “That’s where we want to get to again this year.”