The Dallas Stars May Have Figured Out Their Power Play
By Josh Clark
With the Super Bowl hype and drama coming to an end last night, it is now time to focus on the Dallas Stars as they look to finish their season strong and punch their ticket to the postseason.
It is no secret that the Dallas Stars are not the team everyone made them out to be back in September 2014. But over the last few games, they seemed to have molded into that image a bit more as each game passes.
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A big part of this has been the Dallas Stars electric and pulsating offensive attack. Over the last eight games, the Stars offense averaged 36 shots on net per game, and due to that ended up with a 3.88 goals scored average. The offense has taken full control of the situation and has proven that it can run with the best in the league.
The biggest surprise, however, over the last few games has been the Dallas Stars piping hot power play. In the first five games of the 2015 year, the Dallas Stars went 1-for-19 on the power play, giving them a 5.26% power play percentage. Over the past eight games that led to the end of January, the Stars are 10-for-4o, giving them a 25% power play percentage, which would tie for best in the league this year. In just the last two games, they are 6-for-11, giving them a 55% power play percentage. They have moved from 25th to 19th place regarding power play efficiency in a matter of less than a week, and it all has to do with a little tweaking made to the units.
“You score four power play goals, it is the difference.” -Lindy Ruff on how the Stars beat the Jets Saturday night
For the majority of the year, the Dallas Stars have attempted the same players on the power play doing the same routine, but not getting any results from it. On some nights, the Stars would go 0-for-5, or even 0-for-7 on the man advantage, and one or two potential power play conversions would turn out to be the difference maker in an eventual loss. The Stars were on the brink of falling to the bottom of the NHL power play standings, until a shakedown occurred.
The Dallas Stars set up their two power play lines in a formation like below:
Jamie Benn – Jason Spezza – Patrick Eaves
Colton Sceviour – Shawn Horcoff – Ales Hemsky
They deliberately shifted Jamie Benn to play a net front enforcer who could make a couple of quick decisions when there. They pushed Trevor Daley down to the second unit though he had been pretty consistent on scoring power play goals so far throughout the season. They put the talented rookie John Klingberg on the top unit to aid in the blue line attack. Lastly, they planted Patrick Eaves, fresh off of injury, on the top unit.
These moves may have seemed ludicrous, but have instead paid off in dividends over the past three games since the genesis of this formation. Benn is flourishing in front, and has helped set up two goals along with grabbing one of his own. Spezza has knocked in a goal. Eaves holds two goals and one helper. Seguin, bless his soul, cannot catch a break with the goal column, but still maintains four assists. Klingberg has notched one goal and three assists. Sceviour has two assists. Horcoff has a goal. Hemsky has tallied a goal and an assist. Demers has yet to get on the board, but still moves the puck excellently during his shift. Daley also has an assist.
These unsuspected heroes are molding the Dallas Stars power play into that of a contending team’s, and if they can keep it up, the wins will continue to flow. Too many times this year have the Stars lost because of multiple missed opportunities on the power play. It’s time to take back those lost chances and convert them into wins.