Dallas Stars Defense Coming Up Big In Preseason

The Dallas Stars are showing decent signs of life throughout the preseason, even in light of their multiple injuries. Though the offense is not putting on as grand a show as usual, their defense has been nothing short of stellar.

Defense wins championships. That’s the phrase that has probably been thrown around in every locker room, practice, game, and summer sports camp you can think of.

But what does it mean? Well, it basically means that without defense, maximum success can never be achieved. For instance, a team can have a firepower offense (*cough* 2015-16 Dallas Stars *cough*) and score six goals a game. But if they have no reliability on defense, then what is stopping the other team from scoring seven?

Meanwhile, if a team has a shutdown blue line and only gives up one goal a night, their offense does not have to work extremely hard to notch two goals and win the game.

Sadly, the Stars have been stuck in a pit of defensive inconsistency over the past few years. In 2013, they started six left-handed defensemen for the final half of the season. This scheme did not produce horrific results, but it did not get them to the Stanley Cup Finals. So, in other words, try a new system.

2014-15 was an ugly year defensively. Dallas finished 26th in the NHL in goals against, which turned out to be their worst finish in the category since 2000. The defense was young, unorganized, and overall deficient.

Then 2015-16 rolled around, and the Stars sent out a relatively similar defensive group to the year before, only they turned their misfortunes into relative success. They finished 19th in the league with a 2.78 GAA. Their offense averaged 3.23 goals a game, so you can do the math from there.

Not only did Dallas win the Central Division last year, but they also finished with 109 points, which turned out to be the second highest in the league. They were near the top of the stat sheets in just about every category except defense. And it hurt them.

The Stars advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs before they were knocked out in seven games by the St. Louis Blues. The Blues, known for their big-bodied and physical defense, exploited the Stars’ offense and put their defense on its heels. All in all, their offense went cold and the defense did not know how to respond. That translates to a loss.

So back to this whole defense = championships equation. Dallas has learned, specifically over the past two years, that a firepower offense isn’t everything and can never be everything. A team’s defense must be strong in order to achieve true success. It seems as though the Stars have finally learned their lesson.

If someone were to pose the question of whether the Dallas Stars defense became stronger or weaker after this past offseason, the majority of people would probably say weaker. In a span of three weeks, Dallas lost UFA defenders Alex Goligoski, Jason Demers, and Kris Russell to either trade or free agency.

All three of these players were regular starters throughout both the regular season and postseason last year. That left a lot of holes in the Dallas defense that needed to be filled. Sure they had prospects that either served as a healthy scratch and played a handful of games or are knocking on the doorstep, but they needed something more.

A veteran presence is essential in any part of a hockey team, and it’s usually smarter to have more than one. After the departure of three veterans this past offseason, Johnny Oduya was the only true veteran left on the blue line. So Dallas went out and signed veteran defender Dan Hamhuis.

Now the Dallas Stars have eight options in their defensive group. John Klingberg, Dan Hamhuis, Johnny Oduya, Stephen Johns, Jordie Benn, Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak, and Esa Lindell could all be incorporated into the mix by the time opening night rolls around.

And at this point in the preseason, it looks like they cannot go wrong with any combo they pick.

Through the first five games, the Stars have averaged 2.20 goals against. This is with a primarily young lineup with little NHL experience. And for the people that say, “It’s just the preseason so it doesn’t count,” don’t forget that they said the same thing about Dak Prescott quarterbacking the Dallas Cowboys. After his strong preseason play, Prescott now owns the third highest QBR in the NFL.

Next: Should Stars Take A Strong Second Look At Nick Ebert?

Over the last two games, the Stars defense has given up a mere two goals. Both games were against the Florida Panthers who won the Atlantic Division last season. While the defensive lineup is still taking shape for Dallas, there seems to be plenty of promise.

It’s crazy to think that a younger lineup is a smarter lineup, but the Dallas Stars consistently prove that they are capable of surprising even in the most simple of times. We’ll see how opening night goes, but it’s looking like Dallas has a shot to do some big things on the blue line this year. Only time will tell.