Dallas Stars Find Former Identity For First Time In Season
By Josh Clark
Things went really well for the Dallas Stars last night. Actually, “really well” might be an understatement. Now the question is whether they can consistently replicate it.
Friday always seems to be the best day of the week, but it’s definitely more exciting when the Dallas Stars win.
Going into Thursday night, the Stars had a lot stacked against them. They had lost five of their last six contests, could not seem to stop losing players to injury, and had yet to show the consistency that they thrived on in 2015-16 in a single game this year. They were staring down a four-game series against Central Division opponents and needed all the help they could get.
First up was the St. Louis Blues. The Stars had not seen the Blues in a non-preseason setting since May 11th when Dallas was embarrassed and knocked out by St. Louis in game seven of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Stars were undermanned and lacking motivation, while the Blues were sitting near the top of the Central Division. So, in other words, things weren’t looking too promising for the team in green.
Instead, the Dallas Stars picked the Blues apart piece-by-piece in what eventually turned into a 6-2 massacre. They were dominant, stingy, and one-upped St. Louis in every area of play. And when they do that, the wins will flow forth.
The Stars started out the first period with a decent effort that matched up well with the Blues’ effort. The second period was where Dallas started to show signs of life and even anger. Some hits were thrown, scuffs were had, and gloves were dropped.
Jordie Benn demolishing Scottie Upshall might have been the pinnacle moment. Or maybe it was Antoine Roussel and Kevin Shattenkirk dropping the gloves and getting extra personal.
Either way, the Dallas Stars were ready to fire at every turn. Patrick Eaves and John Klingberg scored in the second period to take the 2-1 lead. Once the third period commenced, the Stars absolutely went off. Stephen Johns, Jason Spezza, Klingberg again, and Jordie Benn all found the back of the net to finish off the 6-2 routing.
The Stars were just ready for last night. In terms of physicality, they outhit the usually big and bruising Blues 28-10. They also used their speed as a one-two punch with their physical game plan.
In terms of special teams, they went 3/3 on the penalty kill and actually scored on the power play (1/4 on the night). Antti Niemi stood tall between the pipes, finishing 28/30 and surfacing from the funk he’s been stuck in his past few starts.
Tyler Seguin led the way with four assists on offense. Jamie Benn was close behind with three of his own. Patrick Eaves scored again. Every line was firing on all cylinders. If they weren’t scoring, they were taking it to the unsuspecting Blues.
All in all, the Dallas Stars absolutely abused St. Louis. Not many expected it to happen that way, but it did. The Stars may still be missing some key players, but they proved last night that they can still be a scary good team capable of anything as long as they put their mind to it and rally together.
The real question is whether they will be able to keep it going. Throughout the first month of the season, it seems that all we’ve talked and written about is how inconsistent the Stars have been so far. One night they would win in dominant fashion, and the next night they would fall hard on their faces at the hands of the next opponent.
It’s not easy to replicate a powerful performance, and only strong teams can accomplish it. Last year, the Stars were able to. Now that they seem to have finally lit the flame, can they keep it burning?
Next: Central Division Not Making It Any Easier On Stars
Their next two chances at keeping the flame aglow are against another Central Division team that they don’t necessarily get along with. The Chicago Blackhawks will head to town for a Saturday night showdown. Following that, the two teams will fly back up to Chicago to finish the back-to-back, home-and-home series.
Does Dallas have what it takes? Or will they fall back into their shell of mediocrity? One thing is for sure: last night’s play can win them a lot of hockey games.