Dallas Stars Strutting Their Staying Power

The Dallas Stars’ 4-0 trouncing of the Blackhawks came at a perfect time to dismiss some fears and send a celebratory message of joy to the world…or at least the Dallas hockey world.

The Dallas Stars’ Christmas could not be any more perfect. With the Stars refusing to give up their place at the top of the league table and heading into the break with 54 points and a 26-7-2 record, Stars fans really are getting to take the whole joy to the world thing to a new level.

And the fresh resurgence of confidence owes highly to the Dallas Stars’ atmospheric performance against the Blackhawks last night, denying them the comfort of even a single goal at the AAC.

Now, the Stars were good before. Their lengthy occupation of first place in the NHL as well as their glowing record serve as evidence of that. But their putdown of the Blackhawks came at a perfect time to quell some worries that they’d been giving credence to over their last few games.

However, the Dallas Stars were finally able to bring all the fragment pieces together: coming out strong, utilizing scoring depth, power play opportunities, penalty kills, and mental toughness to stay in the game for the full sixty minutes.

Returning home after a one game road trip, Lindy Ruff decided not to hold morning skate, but trusted that the extra time would help the players bounce back better. And he was right. From the onset of the game, the atmosphere was what Ruff described as play-off like.

The energy didn’t dampen, either, when the Stars were met with two Blackhawks power plays in the first period, killing them both off efficiently.

Despite very few good offensive opportunities for either team, the Dallas Stars have never been ones to give up on scoring. Midway through the second period, Jason Spezza scored on a power play that, at times this season, has seemed a bit rickety, but clicked to produce the first goal of the game.

Although there was no more scoring until the third period, Antti Niemi continued to come up big behind the Stars. Combined with the hard work of the defense, which kept Chicago’s chances to a minimum, Dallas played an impressive game in its own end, according to Ruff.

After an appropriate and timely goal from Patrick Sharp early in the third, the Dallas Stars really let loose. Colton Sceviour, who led the Stars that night with six shots on goal and eight attempted shots, notched his first goal in 16 games mere minutes after Sharp, and Mattias Janmark followed with six minutes left to play in the third.

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The Dallas Stars’ scoring depth is another area that has made them such a special team-to-watch this season, and Ruff noted that, as the season progresses and the race gets tighter, utilizing that depth is going to be even more important.

Beating the Blackhawks 4-0, in the second night of a back to back when they could’ve simply made excuses for mediocre play, the Dallas Stars are really starting to dig their spurs in and show some grit.

There was obviously the added motivation of proving to Chicago once and for all that the Stars really did get the better of them this summer and, no, they can’t have Sharp back even if they say pretty please. And with all the so-called Hawks fans flooding the AAC, what better time to assert a little dominance?

Still, Sharp insisted that dominance had nothing to do with it, only capitalizing on opportunities, smart playing, and taking the chances that were presented to them.

Next: Dallas Stars Quotes After Stellar 4-0 Win Over Blackhawks

And at the end of the day, that’s the best kind of hockey- the winningest kind. With a game like last night’s under their belt, the Dallas Stars can take a well-deserved break and fans can celebrate with a little extra cheer. That’s one more win sitting under the tree this Christmas, wrapped up all pretty with a bow on top, and many more to come.

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