Dallas Stars Need To Fix Opening Night At Home Struggles

The Dallas Stars are less than 48 hours away from beginning a new adventure in the 2015-2016 season.

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After a disappointing path endured throughout the 2014-2015 season and a strong offseason to counter the weaknesses, there is reason to believe that this could be a special year for the Stars. Picking up F Patrick Sharp, D Johnny Oduya, and G Antti Niemi helped solidify all three positions on the ice, hopefully making the Stars stronger in each aspect.

On Thursday, October 8th at 7:30 pm, the Stars will drop the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins to open up both teams’ seasons. The Stars and Penguins have put on some memorable competitions since the beginning of the 2013-2014 season. Including a 3-0 shutout in Dallas, a game-winning goal in the final seconds, and a “hold-the-line” scenario that ended in a 2-1 win, the Stars always put on a show.

Hopefully that will be able to carry into Thursday night.

The Dallas Stars have not seen much success in their season openers over the past two seasons. The sad thing is, both of their games were at home in front of near-sold out crowds.

On October 3rd, 2013, the Dallas Stars were on the brink of starting a new chapter in Texas hockey. After another season ended early the year prior (which tallied six straight years of no playoffs), the Stars made a move and fired GM Joe Nieuwendyk. They brought in an assistant GM from the Detroit Red Wings named Jim Nill to fill the void. After an offseason of massive renovations in the lineup and to the logo and jerseys, the Stars looked like a completely new team in multiple ways.

Perhaps it was all of the new changes that caused the Stars to struggle in their opening night game. The Stars would end up dropping their first game of 2013-2014 to the broken and disgruntled Florida Panthers by a score of 4-2. Though the rest of the season would bring hope and redemption, the Stars could not start their “magical” year off on the right foot.

Fast forward one year to October 9th, 2014 with the Stars taking on the Chicago Blackhawks. Once again at home, except this time facing off against a Central division rival and power.

The Dallas Stars had struck a goldmine for a second offseason in a row, bringing in some top-tier talent that no team could truly replicate in their own offseason endeavor. The Stars were coming off of a playoff berth the season prior and had their fan base expecting big things in the 2014-2015 season, perhaps even a Stanley Cup run.

Instead, the Stars perfectly molded their entire season’s result into their performance on opening night. The Stars gave a strong showing on offense, but their defense and goaltending could not hold up the one goal lead presented to them with 20 minutes left. The Stars eventually fell 3-2 in the shootout. Hawks coach Joel Quenneville was quoted after saying, “We have to call the cops: we stole two points tonight.”

So two straight seasons of disappointment at home and not getting off on the necessarily correct foot. But it is now a new season and the Stars have a chance to kick off their year by impressing their fans and pulling out two points. Not to mention the opportunity comes against the Pittsburgh Penguins who always have a rather hefty stock of their fan-base in attendance.

The Dallas Stars are 1-1-1 in their last three home openers, with the win coming in the lockout season of 2012-2013. It’s been a tad disappointing the past two years for Stars fans, but this year could make it all better.

Next: Alex Goligoski Named Alternate Captain For 2015-2016

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