Dallas Stars Have Yet To Play Complete Game In 2016
January 2016 is just about three quarters of the way over, and the Dallas Stars have yet to win in regulation. Something is clearly wrong, and it all comes down to their inconsistency in playing a complete game.
Back on November 6, 2015, Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox Animation released a movie based on a 65-year old comedy strip legend. The Peanuts Movie aimed to bring back the childhood memories of all that lived through the second half of the 20th century.
The movie did a fantastic job at reaching back into the past and bringing new life and energy to a celebrated comic.
If you somehow have no idea what Peanuts is, let me lay out a baseline story for you. The main character, Charlie Brown, and his closest friends simply live out their everyday lives as children in a regular American suburban town. The only problem for Charlie Brown is that he can never seem to do anything right.
Whether it is kicking a football, celebrating a holiday, or admitting his feelings to the pretty new girl, he can never figure out how to act. Sometimes he succeeds, but only after long thought and careful studying into the certain subject.
Right about now, it looks like the Dallas Stars are living life just like the famous blockhead himself.
The Stars began the 2015-2016 regular season with a burning fury driving their play. It is still unsure just where this fury came from, but no Stars fans were complaining. After a disappointing 2014-2015 season that ended with the club falling just short of the postseason, the Stars reverted back to the drawing board and pieced together another stacked offseason.
In a mere 18 days, Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill once again secured himself a strong look for the GM of the Year award. Nill managed to trade for Antti Niemi (June 27th) and Patrick Sharp (July 10th), as well as sign Johnny Oduya (July 15th) all in a small span. These additions not only rounded out the veteran leadership in each category of the Stars gameplay, but also brought plenty of playoff experience to the mix.
This gave way to the strongest start in franchise history, and by late November, the Dallas Stars were first place throughout the entire NHL. To say it shocked the league as a whole would be an understatement. While the Stars did add plenty of skilled talent in offense, defense, and goaltending over the summer, their inconsistent play from the year before had a chance at tailing them into the new year.
But that obviously is not what happened. Well, at least early on.
The Stars capped off 2015 with an enticing 5-1 win over the Nashville Predators. That officially locked the Stars in first place among the league with 59 points. Everything seemed to be going right, and the Stars looked like a sure lock for a playoff spot, the Central Division title, and possibly even the President’s Trophy.
20 days later, it looks like most of those potential luxuries have been thrown out the window. In just eight games this month, the Stars are 1-5-2. Their only win came as a 2-1 shootout victory against the struggling Winnipeg Jets who had a rookie goaltender starting in net that night.
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In other words, things are far from pretty. The Stars main problem is that they no longer seem to be able to string together a complete effort in their games. One night, the offense and defense are giving strong efforts, but the goaltending is spotty. Other nights, the offense is lacking while the defense and goaltending are striving their best to keep the team afloat. Same goes for the defensive struggle.
Their special teams have been nothing to gawk at, either. The Stars are 2/12 on the power play (16.7%) over the last five games and 7/11 on the penalty kill (63.6%).
It’s starting to become a habit for the Dallas Stars, and it is a nasty one to have. The Stars are clearly struggling and trying many different things to counter the slump. But so far, they have been unsuccessful. As a result, the Stars are slipping down the standings with many other teams closing in behind them. This simply cannot happen if they are looking forward to a playoff run. Their division is too tight.
Their strong start to the beginning of the year has been a strong aid in keeping them near the top of the standings so far in 2016, but it will not hold forever. It will require backup soon enough, because now is the time when other teams begin to heat up.
Next: Dallas Stars Have Plenty Of Defensive Prospect Depth
Overall, the Dallas Stars are trying a myriad of different things, yet none end up working. They are the ultimate Charlie Brown. Always having a goal to do something right, but finding a way to fall from it. Every team has their slumps during the year, and it is the Stars time to pay the piper. But how much will they pay?