Dallas Stars Have Learning Experience in Colorado

The Stars and the Avalanche went at it in their preseason game last night, and the Stars did not come out on top with this one.

With their first preseason game under their belt and a win to match up with it, the Stars started out on a good note at home, and against the Blues no less. But things took a turn last night, as they are often wont to do, and the Stars 4-2 fell to the Avalanche in Colorado.

With a notable amount of Dallas’ key players still on the mend, a preseason loss like this to a Central Division opponent- and one the Stars have struggled against historically- is not terribly disconcerting, although there are a few key things to point out, good and bad.

First off, a positive. This is clearly a growing and evolving team with growing and evolving players. A good chunk of the players in the line-up last night were up-and-comers. The benefit of that was seeing the old up-and-comers shine.

Radek Faksa, still in World Cup of Hockey mode it seems, scored the Stars only two goals, both in the second period. Scoring the equalizer to the Avalanche’s first period goal as well as the goal that put them up, he gave the Stars an opportunity to get out on top.

But the Stars are still figuring out how to play a solid third period. Last night, that became, once again, where it all fell apart. Antti Niemi stopped twelve of the thirteen shots he saw, while Philippe Desrosiers blocked four of his six. If you’re counting with me, that leave one empty net goal for Colorado.

This, in itself, is obviously not the end of the world. But  lets look at some other interesting take aways from last night’s match up. The game resulted in whopping total of 40 penalty minutes, 20 going to the Stars and 28 going to the Avalanche. For what reason were these penalties acquired, you ask?

Well, perhaps we are getting a glimpse at a world with Antoine Roussel in the top line, because these almost half these minutes were designated to fighting majors on both sides, leaving wiggle room for the more normal infractions that come with the game.

What doesn’t come naturally with the game, though, is a power play that doesn’t work. Which is what the Stars seem to have at the moment. Again, it’s just preseason, so don’t go crying doom and gloom yet, but it’s also not something to ignore. While Dallas failed to convert in each of its 6 power play situations, it did kill both of the Avalanche’s power play opportunities without a hitch.

We’re also seeing a little retrograde when it comes to shot attempts here. Last season, the Stars had, for the most part, been able to shift their perspective from “more shots” to “better shots,” and had upped their shot percentage while lowering their number of shots taken for that reason.

The new guys on the block are still figuring things out in that department. They bested the Avalanche in shots 31-20, but their attempted shots tally is much, much higher, with 63 to Colorado’s 35.

While shot attempts do mean the puck is entering the realm of the net more often, it’s not necessarily a good thing to be shooting without much thought. Obviously, that’s something that will get honed for a lot of these players as they become more comfortable on the team.

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So all in all, last night was a learning experience for the fresh-faced Stars. They’ve won one and lost one, and now they have things to learn from as well as ideas of what they do well. A rounded approach like that is something Lindy Ruff and company can definitely work with.

Oh, and one last thing. You know who lead the team in ice time with 23:07 minutes? That’s right. Jordie Benn. Oh, how the tables have turned.