DALLAS — The Stars are 55 games in, officially crossing the two-thirds mark of the season. The trade deadline is still a few weeks away. It’s that weird time when it’s deep into the season but not quite the home stretch. This means you start peeking at the playoff picture, even if you know to not take it too seriously.
Advertisement
That makes assessing the Stars’ past week interesting. It began on Wednesday last week against the Minnesota Wild. Then came two consecutive games against bona fide contenders from the Eastern Conference. First, a matchup with the active dynasty, Tampa Bay Lightning, and then against the best team in the league this season, the Boston Bruins. The results of those three games offer a pretty accurate picture of who the Stars are right now.
If the season ended today, the Stars would be the top seed in the Western Conference and host the Wild in the first round of the playoffs. Last week, Dallas took care of business with a fairly commanding 4-1 win over Minnesota. If the Stars made it past the Wild and through the next two rounds of the Western Conference playoffs, there is a good chance they would meet either the Lightning or the Bruins with the Stanley Cup on the line. In those two games, the Stars suffered one-goal losses, 2-1 to the Lightning on Saturday and 3-2 in overtime to the Bruins on Tuesday.
“There was some good stuff. We played some really good teams this week,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said after the loss to the Bruins. “We were right there. The Tampa game, we should have gotten points, tonight got a point. Obviously, everyone wants more. You want to be greedy and get two in these games. You can always learn something from them and the good thing is we got a point against the best team in the league.”
There is a cup half full versus a cup half empty element to the Stars’ recent stretch. Some of the core elements of the team continue to be as advertised. Against the Bruins, the top line scored two goals, including a beautiful sequence from Joe Pavelski to a quick cameo on Jason Robertson’s stick before landing home on Roope Hintz’s stick. From the deep pass ignited by Colin Miller to Hintz’s finish, it was a smooth operation.
There was also Jake Oettinger, who played in his 41st game of the season. He’s tied with Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck for the league lead in that distinction but has allowed nine fewer goals. On Tuesday, he went head-to-head against the NHL’s top netminder by save percentage in Linus Ullmark and matched, if not bested him, throughout the game with some highlight-reel saves.
Advertisement
“You want to test yourself against the best in the league,” Oettinger said. “They’re a heck of a team, having a historic year, so it’s easy to get up for games like this. It was a fun game but didn’t get the two points.”
Most of the Stars got up for the game against the Bruins. The power play has been sleeping at the wheel since Jan. 25, the second of five 3-2 overtime games the Stars have had in the last two weeks. Dallas has only come on top in one of those contests, a 3-2 shootout win over the Anaheim Ducks last week.
The failure to capitalize in overtime is far less concerning than what’s happening at the man advantage. Three-on-three hockey can be weird and it goes away altogether come playoff time. The power play only grows in importance as scoring opportunities dwindle and games become much tighter against quality opponents.
On Wednesday, the Stars displayed their power-play struggles. Power play usually means five-on-four but if the Stars needed a nudge to end their dry spell, the Bruins gifted the Stars with a full minute of five-on-three. Dallas failed to score, which would only be a surprise if the Stars hadn’t just failed to score on a two-minute five-on-three last week.
“The one that hurts the most is the five-on-three during regulation time,” DeBoer said. “That one, it felt like it was a full two minutes. Those are the ones you’ve got to stick a puck in the net.”
In overtime, the Stars were gifted with an unconventional opportunity, given a full two minutes of four-on-three power play. The failures continued and it was only fitting that the Bruins ended the game shortly afterward.
Since Jan. 25, the Stars have had 20 power-play opportunities, which is tied with the Bruins for ninth-most in the NHL during that time. The Stars are 1-for-20 on their chances while the Bruins are 0-for-2. It’s a reminder that even the most dominant force in the league can go through this sort of dry spell. What’s most important is that it doesn’t become a pit that the team falls into and can’t get out of.
Advertisement
Last year, the Stars had one of the elite power plays in the NHL over the first half of the season. They fell into a slump, almost exactly at this time of the year, and never got out. It cost them some important games down the stretch and probably a playoff series as well.
This season, the Stars have the luxury of building a sizable cushion in the standings to where every game doesn’t feel like it’s a playoff game. It allows the Stars to work through their struggles in a more proactive way, allowing DeBoer to try different solutions under less pressure. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that these issues exist. They aren’t happening in playoff games right now but if they do come April, the playoff games the Stars do play in will be a short ride.
Scoring distribution
1G1A (Robertson) — 1G (Hintz) — 2A (Pavelski)
Marchment — Faksa — Seguin
Benn — Johnston — Dellandrea
Studenic — Glendening — Gurianov
Heiskanen — Miller
Lindell — Hakanpää
Suter — Lundkvist
.919 save percentage (Oettinger)
Three plays
These three non-scoring plays stood out. This section goes to Oettinger and his performance against the Bruins.
Denying Bergeron
There are two saves that really come to mind when ranking Oettinger’s most impressive saves on Tuesday. Just by virtue of it being against a future Hall of Famer in Patrice Bergeron, this gets the title of best save of the night.
Point-blank save
This save was also impressive, both for the calmness with which Oettinger handled a high-pressure situation and the point in the game, as it was at the end of a period.
Early save
The Stars came out of the gate very sluggish. Oettinger kept them in it with a series of saves, beginning with this one from the right circle.
Bonus: Miro Heiskanen’s effortless stick work
This sort of play has become so commonplace from Heiskanen, it probably doesn’t get love in this section as often as it should. But Heiskanen’s effortless way of breaking up plays before they even materialize can be amusing to watch.
(Photo of Jake Oettinger making a glove save against the Bruins: Jerome Miron / USA Today)