Dallas Stars’ Playoff Pros, Cons
If you woke up this morning with a hankering for an incredibly balanced list of the Dallas Stars’ assets and obstacles heading into the post season, well, consider today your lucky day.
Okay, let’s talk shop. The Dallas Stars have a playoff spot and their performance this season makes them seem far more ready to rumble than in years past, but let’s not forget that the playoffs are a different kind of animal and present a new kind of challenge altogether.
So, in the spirit of full disclosure and being a firm believer that you should evaluate what’s actually in your cup before deciding to view it as half empty or half full, I want to look at the Stars’ playoff pros and cons. I’ll try to stagger the positives and negatives for symmetry and also so you don’t accuse me of being unbalanced.
Pro: The Dallas Stars’ defense is growing in leaps and bounds.
This is an obvious pro. Thanks to the timely additions of Kris Russell and Stephen Johns, and Johnny Oduya this summer, the Stars’ defense has been able to weather some tough spots this season. With Jason Demers hopefully in a place to be playoff ready, the Stars could be back at full defensive strength for the post season, since Russell will be back in before the end of the season.
The most obvious asset the Stars’ defense has this post season will be physicality. They’ve got big bodies and shot blockers now, which have served them well in their race to the playoffs. If the Stars face the Blackhawks in the first round, defense could be their saving grace, as it’s been one of the most important deciding factors when these two teams have faced off during the regular season.
Con: But the turnovers are still hot out of the oven.
Despite the vast improvements made to defense, there are still a few fatal flaws- a few mistakes we can’t seem to shake off for good- that could really cause issues. The most pressing of which has made appearances lately, most recently in the Dallas Stars’ 3-1 loss to the Ducks.
Sloppy passes resulting in turnovers are the Stars’ Achilles’ heel right now (sorry, Seggy). I think we’d all like to think that the pressure and sobering atmosphere of playoffs would put the Stars in a hyper-vigilant place where turnovers become inconceivable sins and the stuff of nightmares, but that’s not realistic at all.
The Stars have a few more regular season games left to get the jitters out and practice clean, purposeful passes that connect with their targets (I’m looking at you, Klingberg). There will be plenty of time for turnovers and whatever else the Stars’ hearts desire after the Stanley Cup has been hoisted and kissed, so as of now, it’s still crunch time. And absolutely no turnovers are allowed in crunch time.
Pro: They have a more than stable, mature offense that can hold its own.
I know I’ve made this comparison before, but I still get excited when I think about where this team’s offense was last year around the same time in the season when Seguin was yet again out injured. The goals came from mostly Jamie Benn, Jamie Benn, and, well, you get it.
This time around, the Stars’ depth scoring ability is off the charts and it’s a thrill to watch a game and genuinely have to wonder who we’ll have the pleasure of watching score. Most teams have surprise breakouts from other-than-star players from time to time, but I think at this point, it goes beyond surprise breakouts and ventures more into the territory of displaying an offense that has matured and can produce no matter the variation of the lines. And that will be a HUGE benefit in the post season, even after Seguin’s returned all patched up.
Con: But it seems like somebody sucked the “special” right out of their special teams.
Other teams have worse power plays, it’s true. But the Dallas Stars aren’t other teams, and they’ve worked too hard this season to start acting like one now. Unfortunately, a bit of that behavior seeped into their last loss, when they gave up two shorthanded goals which ultimately cost them the game.
We’ve seen the Stars’ power play stumble for short periods during this season, and while it’s for sure nowhere near the same kind of dire straits as it was last season, the power play needs a little pizzazz heading into postseason. But here’s a free half-pro to go along with this con: the Stars’ mistakes against the Ducks can be attributed to fatigue on the second night of a back to back, so hopefully a little rest this week will do the Stars special teams some good.
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Pro: The Dallas Stars will be looking good full-strength-wise come playoff time.
That one sort of writes itself. In the midst of a lot of still currently unresolved injury situations, it’s comforting to know that they’re all expected to be cleared up by the time playoffs come back to Dallas. According to Ruff, Tyler Seguin will be skating again soon, Russell will mostly likely be back in action before the season’s end, and Brett Ritchie and Mattias Janmark are still taking it easy.
Con: But, that could also be a bad thing.
I know that’s a cheap con, but I’ll explain. With several crucial players returning just in time for playoffs, the Dallas Stars could find their groove thrown off at the worst possible time. It could take a game or two for these players to readjust and find their places again, but in playoff mode, a game or two lost is a much more serious problem than it is in the regular season.
The job of keeping the Stars in a good place could still fall to those who have been filling the shoes of the guys who have been out.
Pro: Tandem goalkeeping is where it’s at.
That one doesn’t even need a corresponding con. The Dallas Stars’ goaltending situation is night and day from last season’s, and we can thank the tandem goalie set-up for helping Kari Lehtonen get his groove back. We’ve seen class acts from him for the majority of the season, performances that have been playoff worthy and prove that he’s ready.
Additionally, although Antti Niemi has become more of the fallback guy as of late, he put in some serious work early in the season. Having two goalies ready to go in the post season will be a serious advantage against teams like Minnesota or Chicago, who have a much more decided starter-backup goalie set-up that hasn’t always worked in their favor.
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So, I think that mostly adds up to a pretty balanced picture, the last solitary pro notwithstanding. With the season mostly behind us and the Stars looking to chase down their picture-perfect ride off into the sunset, what do you think will be their biggest asset and obstacle in succeeding in the postseason?