Brought to you by: Big Shucks
Thankfully the NHL regular season is not composed of just five games. If it were, the people would be looking at the Dallas Stars as the most puzzling sub .500 team in the league.
So far this season the Stars have won just two of their five games despite being top 10 in just about every category. The team shoots at will ranking top five with a 37.2 shots on goal average. Only the Carolina Hurricanes allow fewer shots against while allowing just above 2.5 goals per game, ranked top ten in the league. Even the power play ranks seventh in the league, scoring just over 27 percent of the time.
Yet the Stars rank towards the bottom in one of the most important stats: goals scored. Their 11 goals scored through five games puts them 26th best in the league. They are averaging barely above two goals per game, and as a result the revamped Stars are having a slow start to the season.
However this week showed glimpses of better play to come.
Weekly Recap
Things started to look better for the Stars in their second home game of the season on Tuesday. In front of another packed crowd at the AAC, the Stars took a 2-0 first period lead against the Detroit Red Wings. Klingberg and Seguin both connected for their second goals of the season. The Stars did not surrender the lead as goals by Mattias Janmark and Martin Hanzal (first as a Star) capped off the first win of the season, 4-2.
Thursday’s game against Nashville was more like the first two games of the season. Poor defensive play, defensive zone turnovers and inability to execute resulted in another road loss. Jamie Benn opened the game’s scoring but the Predators rattled off four straight goals dominated the Stars, 4-1.
The best game of the week came on Saturday in the AAC against the Colorado Avalanche. This game was led by the leaders on the first line. Benn and Seguin each scored beautiful wrist shots in the second period that gave the Stars a lead they would never give up. Seguin picks up his first ever fight and Gordie Howe hat trick (scoring a goal, record an assist and get into a fight) as the Stars slow the hot starting Avalanche, 3-1.
Stars turned things around in Week 2 of the season. The top line of Benn/Seguin/Radulov are creating numerous opportunities each game. Ben Bishop looks to be a true number one goaltender and a guy who can bail out some o the defensive lapses the team is still prone to give up.
We will just have to be patient with this bunch and let this first month play out. Comfortability is almost there. Opportunities are there. Execution is just not consistent, yet. This team is close to being a top level team, but more growing pain is still to come before they get there.
Upcoming Schedule – All Times Central
10/17 vs Coyotes 7:30 p.m.
10/19 @ Coyotes 9:00 p.m.
10/21 vs Hurricanes 7:00 p.m.
