Dallas Stars Aiming To Own Western Canada Road Trip Again

As the Thanksgiving leftovers slowly disappear from the fridge and everyone gets back into the work groove for another three weeks before the Christmas holidays, the Dallas Stars are continuing their drive.

The Stars finished off the month of November with two exhilarating wins against the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild. After finishing off the Canucks in an intense shootout on Friday night at home, the Stars traveled to Minnesota and rallied from down three goals in just over 15 minutes left of play. Tying the game up with just minutes to go, the Stars took it to overtime and downed the Wild 4-3.

With those two wins, the Stars ended November with the most wins in the NHL and only one point back of first place overall in the league with a game in hand. They are 19-5-0 with 38 points, giving them their best start in franchise history.

The Dallas Stars will now start off the month of December with a road trip through Western Canada. This three-game excursion will span over four days, starting Tuesday night and ending Friday.

Most Stars fans naturally cringe at the thought of three “late” games coming up, with each one starting 8:00 or later.

But what it should mean is the Stars have another chance to dominate this road trip and expound on their record all the more.

The three teams that are a part of West Canada include the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, and Edmonton Oilers.

The Stars took this trip two times last year, and came back both times with positive results. On their first swing in mid-December 2014, the Stars fended off all three teams and came away with the 3-0-0 perfect record. Their final victory on the first leg was the unbelievable comeback shootout win over the Oilers. This was the game that you, the fans, voted as your second favorite game of 2014-2015 in our annual poll this past offseason.

The second trip up north occurred in late March. The Stars were less successful to an extent, but still came out with a 2-1-0 record. Their final win was on a John Klingberg game-winning snipe in overtime against the Vancouver Canucks.

So the Stars finished with a record of 5-1-0 in Western Canada last season, gaining 10 of a possible 12 points. Not to mention that in 2013-2014 the Stars once again found a way to finish 3-0-0 in their only trip up north for the year.

The Dallas Stars only take this trip once this year, as it alternates with each passing season between one and two trips.

But this season, the Stars have an excellent opportunity to once again continue their reign of terror in West Canada.

They will start off with the Calgary Flames tomorrow night. While the Stars are the best team in the Western Conference at the moment, the Flames are tied for worst. They have quickly shifted from a team with so much promise back to their former ways of consistent losing. The Stars seem to have trouble this year with sub-.500 teams though, so keep a watchful eye.

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Then they will travel to Vancouver, B.C. for their third and final matchup with the Vancouver Canucks this season. The Stars won both of the games prior at home this season, but both were close. The first game included a rally from Dallas and an eventual overtime goal from Jamie Benn and the second was just days ago in a thrilling shootout victory.

The thing is, the Canucks seem to be cursed whenever they play the Stars. Since the beginning of the 2012-2013 lockout-shortened season, the Stars are 10-1-0 against Vancouver. No one knows exactly sure why, but the Stars always seem to be on their A-game when they take on the Canucks.

They will then conclude the road trip Friday night in Edmonton, Alberta against the Oilers. The Stars seem to have their fair share of luck against Edmonton as well, though the Oilers could be considered as the ones who derailed the Stars playoff hopes last season. But the Stars have already beaten the Oilers once this year. Considering they are the team that is tied with Calgary for bottom of the West, it will surely be an interesting one.

But nonetheless, the Dallas Stars are presented with a great opportunity. With three wins on this road trip, the Stars would not only increase their lead on the Central Division, but also more than likely claim first place in the NHL solely for themselves.