Dallas Stars: A Look Ahead At November 2015 Schedule

The Dallas Stars are officially looking at the month of October in the rearview mirror, and it is likely that they are happy with what they see.

Throughout the month of October, the Stars tore into their schedule, besting a total of eight NHL teams while only falling to two. They ended up with a record of 9-2-0 and 18 points, which was enough to give them bragging rights with the best record in the Western Conference and second-best in the entire league.

The Stars have pulled a complete 180 from their play in October last year. With preseason hype engulfing the team, the 2014-2015 Dallas Stars could only deliver at a subpar level, finishing with an October record of 4-2-4 for 12 points. The month of November could very well be considered where Dallas was laid to rest and ultimately separated from playoff contention, considering they turned in a record 5-8-1. This included both a four and three game losing skid.

They will look to bury the ghosts of November 2014 altogether and build a strong and powerful November of 2015. This starts tonight in Canada when they take on the ailing and battered Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs currently boast a disappointing record of 1-7-2, which puts them in second to last in the Eastern Conference. While it is still early, they have some ground to cover up that may take multiple months.

The Stars will duke it out with the Leafs twice this month, finishing the series between the two teams. Here is a list of the Stars opponents this coming month and how many times they will be facing them:

Toronto Maple Leafs (2 games: 1 home, 1 away), Boston Bruins (1 game: away), Carolina Hurricanes (1 game: away), Detroit Red Wings (1 game: away), Winnipeg Jets (1 game: home), Minnesota Wild (2 games: 1 home, 1 away), Buffalo Sabres (2 games: 1 home, 1 away), Washington Capitals (1 game: away), Ottawa Senators (1 game: home), Vancouver Canucks (1 game: home)

There are a few things that can be taken away from this list.

First off, besides the Maple Leafs, the Dallas Stars will be taking on some relatively powerful teams. Out of the ten teams the Stars will face off with this month, only three have losing records. Two of those three teams picked up wins in 5 of their 12 games through October. So some serious competition will be threatening to dethrone the Stars.

Secondly, the Central Division will make three different appearances against Dallas this month. Though the Stars are soaring with their strong start, they still look like they may have trouble brewing in their own division. They are 0-1-0 in division play this season, and their one loss was a brutal 6-3 final to the Colorado Avalanche, who are currently 3-7-1 this season.

Minnesota currently sits a mere two points behind Dallas for the top spot in the Central, and Winnipeg is only three points back. So a key loss here and there for the Stars could easily pin them in the wild card. Things in the Central standings could not get much tighter at the moment (way to evenly divide the firepower with the division realignment, NHL), so the Stars must focus in for their interdivisional games.

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It seems that there is just something about the Central that always catches the Stars when they are not looking. Last season, the Stars finished the year with a record of 8-14-7 in the Central, while every other team managed to pull off a winning record. But the Stars have a chance to fix that before it finds a way to hurt them.

Surprisingly enough, the Dallas Stars only had winning records against the final three teams on the list above last year. November will definitely bring back some memories of losing games that should have been won against some of these teams last season, which will hopefully spark some intensity and turn it around.

The Stars have yet to be tested with a back-to-back this season, but that will be changing in November. They will face their first back-to-back when they take on Toronto tonight and immediately hop a plane for Boston for their matchup with the Bruins on Tuesday night. They will face one more between November 27-28, being a home-away set.

While the month of November looks relatively simple for the Dallas Stars on the surface, there are plenty of hidden pitfalls when it is examined closer. But if they can transition their solid play in the month of October, there should not be any problems. Right?

Next: The Stars Finally Know How To Take, Instead Of Give, Leads Away

But all in all, the Stars clocked out of October with a strong performance and are sitting pretty as a result. But one or two losses could easily send them to the bottom of the pile. They got the strong start they preached about all offseason. Now is the time to transition it and continue to man the driver’s seat.