Dallas Stars: Grading First Quarter Of A Beautiful Season
The Dallas Stars are officially 25% into their 2015-2016 regular season campaign, and so far the results are nothing less than stunning.
On Saturday night as the game clock hit 10:00 in the second period, the Dallas Stars had officially completed one quarter of their 2015-2016 NHL regular season. So just to clear the air for all you dedicated mathematicians and perfectionists out there, the Dallas Stars are just a bit more than a quarter of the way into the year.
But whatever the case may be, one thing is clear: the Dallas Stars are dominating. Not just dominating, but utterly dominating.
It’s a beautiful sight to see if you’re a Stars fan that suffered through the discouragement that was the 2014-2015 season. The Stars just did not receive the results that they had expected in the preseason. When it was all said and done, seven points separated the Stars from a playoff spot. After an exciting 2013-2014 year that ended a six year playoff drought, they took a step down and fell short of an extended season.
So there was speculation coming into this season on whether the Dallas Stars would be able to rise from the ashes of tragedy in 14-15 or not. GM Jim Nill has a repuation for not wasting offseason opportunities, and as a result he has completed blockbuster deals in each of his three years as the Stars new general manager.
By adding Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya, and Antti Niemi, the Stars had potential to do something rather impressive this year. But no one expected them to meet the level of exceptionalness that they have so far this year.
Standing tall at 17-4-0 with 34 points, the Stars own the best record in the NHL and continue to down opponent after opponent. Barring two slip ups against the Toronto Maple Leafs and hiccups against Colorado and Florida, the Stars have yet to show any detrimental weaknesses. As a result, they are the talk of the NHL and are being included in Stanley Cup talks.
But that is still a long way off, considering there are 61 games left to be played. Not to mention the three rounds of tough playoff competition the Stars would have to bear if they even qualify for a playoff spot.
Even though the hype and excitement was delivered a year late, at least it eventually came along and is now giving fans the chance to bask in its glory. The Dallas Stars are experiencing their best start in franchise history, and it’s rather entertaining to say the least.
It’s interesting to examine their start with an intuitive eye and see just what is causing their blazing start. So let’s take a look at a few of the different aspects of the Stars’ play this season and grade them efficiently:
Offense: A+
There really is not much room for debate on this grade.
The Dallas Stars prolific offense has been hitting the ice for the past year and a half now, and has yet to slow down. Ever since the addition of Jason Spezza, Ales Hemsky, and Patrick Eaves in July of 2014, the Stars have been a completely new club on offense.
The additions of these players plays a large role in that step up, but all of the players have turned a corner. Nill found the perfect combination of 12 forwards who are determined to give it all on the ice and given head coach Lindy Ruff free reign over mixing them up. So far, there has yet to be a line that has not worked out at least for the most part.
And what did the Stars do this past offseason? Improve the front lines even more. Because why not? The Stars are now known as one of the fastest and most efficient clubs in the league when moving and shooting the puck, and all the forwards, and even some defenders, have a hand in the overall success.
The Stars have scored 74 goals in 21 games this season, giving the team an average of 3.52 goals per game. These numbers are utterly larcenous (as Razor would say). They are tied for first in the NHL in the “goals-for” category. Led By Jamie Benn with 14 and Tyler Seguin with 30, the Stars have given new meaning to the word “flawless” by their young core and its production. Nothing else to say at this point. This offense is just scary good.
Defense: B+
If you had graded the Dallas Stars defense around this time one year ago, that B+ would more than likely be looking like a D+. That is how significant a change the Stars blue line has seen.
The Stars blue line is made up of a perfect mix of veterans and younglings. In other words, there are three veteran starters and three younglings.
Alex Goligoski and Jason Demers picked up where they left off last year, leading the Stars defense by eating up minutes and leading by example for the younger players.
But they are not the only defenders putting on an impressive showing. John Klingberg is on his way to a Norris Trophy nomination with his play so far this year. He has four goals and 23 points in 21 games this season and shows no signs of slowing down. Mix that in with his willingness to play a stay-at-home kind of game and break down rushes from the other team make him a rare find among defensemen today, young and old alike.
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Johnny Oduya, Jyrki Jokipakka, and Jordie Benn are also putting together entertaining years. Jokipakka is coming off of a “roller coaster” rookie season while Benn is coming off of the worst year of his NHL career by far. Both have improved and now make up the third defensive pairing on most nights. Oduya is in his first season with Dallas and is transitioning rather well. These three defensemen preach playing in their own zone and looking to shut attacks down.
Now of course there is still plenty of room for improvement. Sometimes the defense will give up an odd-man rush that turns into a goal or forget an assignment that ends up hurting them. The Stars currently sacrifice 2.38 goals per game, which is seventh best in the NHL. So it’s clear that there has been a vast improvement to a defense that was once 30th in goals against last season.
Goaltending: A-
If anyone says that they knew the Dallas Stars two-goalie tandem would be as successful as it has been before the season started, they are a complete liar.
GM Jim Nill had the bright idea to bring in G Antti Niemi this past offseason to compliment current starter Kari Lehtonen. Both goalies were coming off one of the worst seasons of their long tenured careers and needed redemption. So why not completely change their regular lifestyle of starting the majority of games by splitting time among them evenly.
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But so far the results have been stellar. Both goalies have evenly split time and are succeeding in their new roles. Lehtonen is having one of the best starts of his career with a record of 9-1-0 with a .923 save percentage and a 2.34 GAA. Niemi continues to impress as well with a record of 8-3-0, .917 save percentage and 2.41 GAA.
These two goaltenders have kept the Stars in games late and helped protect narrow leads on more than one occasion. Their play is helping Dallas remain atop the Western Conference.
Hey, it only took five years to find a respectable duo!
Power Play: A
For the record, this Dallas Stars team is doing a lot of things right. One of those things is the efficiency of their power play.
The Stars power play turned a new leaf this year in the face of last year’s disappointment. The man advantage was not a friendly endeavor for Dallas last season. Though they improved towards the end of the year, the Stars finished 12th in the NHL in power play percentage at 19 percent.
This season there is a bit of a change. By a bit, I mean a lot. This year, the Stars are 27.7 percent on the power play. They have scored 18 goals in 65 attempts this year and sit in second place among the other NHL teams.
Part of this is due to the new additions to their power play unit. Patrick Sharp made his way to Dallas this past offseason and is now a part of the Stars top PP unit along with Jason Spezza, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and John Klingberg. These five are known for their tenacity on the power play, and it shows considering how dangerous they are. The Stars are known for multiple strengths this year, but their strongest one is the ability to score. Being on the power play makes it that much easier.
Penalty Kill: B-
Oh my word, the Dallas Stars have a grade below an average B? No way.
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The thing is, this grade could very well be a B, but the Stars could really use some improvement in the PK department. Last season, the Stars ended the year at 80.7 percent on the penalty kill which was good enough for 19th place. They scored nine shorthanded goals and were third among the league in that category.
This season, the Stars sit 15th in the NHL at 80.3 percent. They have already tallied three shorthanded goals, but they need to tighten up their penalty kill game. The Stars have given up too many power play opportunities this season late in games when they hold one goal leads. These opportunities give the opponent a chance to score on the man advantage, and they have done so multiple times this year.
Luckily, the Stars have an offense that can acknowledge that the game is tied up and find a way to put up another goal of their own to keep the lead and claim two points. But the penalty kill has not been horrific and has made a few key stops in the third periods of tight games.
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So overall, the Dallas Stars are really doing well in their 2015-2016 campaign. That being said, the season is only 25 percent over with. Let’s see if they can keep up the firepower.