Dallas Stars Need these Three Things this Holiday Season
The homestand is over and the holiday break is settling in for the Dallas Stars. What are some things that they could use coming out of the break?
Christmas is in less than 24 hours and the Dallas Stars are in need of a few wishes coming true this season.
Although Dallas conquered their overtime woes in last night’s 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, there are a few remaining boxes on their checklist before the second half of the season gets into full swing.
Health
Health has been undoubtedly the most talked about aspect of the Stars’ game this season because it has influenced nearly ever match-up. The Stars have seen most of their forwards and a number of defenseman fall to injury and it hit them hard to say the least.
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Dallas is still dealing with some serious injuries despite steps in the right direction.
The injury bug bit two of Dallas’ forwards, Mattias Janmark and Ales Hemsky, rather hard. Janmark is a promising up and coming forward with a lot of potential and Hemsky is playing to remain a Star in the coming years. However, they both have been ruled out for the vast majority of the season, if not the season in its entirety.
On top of that Stephen Johns and Antoine Roussel did not play yesterday due to injuries sustained in the last week.
In the spirit of the holidays, it would be fantastic if the Stars could benefit from health throughout the line-up because, quite honestly, they need it.
Consistency
Throughout an 82 game season it is no wonder that NHL teams struggle to be consistent. It is difficult to put up a solid game each and every night over the course of a number of months, but Dallas has seemed to struggle a lot this season in that regard.
They have only successfully won consecutive games once this season and their mediocre win one, lose one pattern will certainly not be good enough to make the playoffs.
However, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what the Stars need to work on the most. Their defense has been scrambled with recent injuries and simply having too many options. Their goaltending has seen stretches of solid play, but a number of weak goals against. Their forwards have dealt with scoring problems and poor defensive play as well.
For that reason they will take what they can get to have something positive be more consistent after their abbreviated holiday break.
Cashing In
Lastly, the Stars simply need their best players to earn that designation. Again, it has been pointed out numerous times, but the players are still finding ways to struggle in their roles.
Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza and John Klingberg have to step it up. There is nowhere to hind in the NHL because bad play is scrutinized from every angle in fast and slow motion both online and on television.
Meaning, it is not a secret that the Stars’ big name players have been playing below the standard at which they should be held. There really is no excuse for not skating back to help out defensively or missing a simple pass because they just are not looking. The simple aspects of the game seem to be the most troubling for this particular group of four and it needs to stop immediately.
Whether it is simply a side effect of a rough start to the year, a lack of motivation or being preoccupied with other aspects of life, Dallas needs to overcome their lackluster play and get back to having solid players yet again.
Moving Forward
The Stars have a few days off for the Christmas holiday before taking the ice again in Arizona against the Coyotes. Hopefully their holiday wishes will come true and they will have a solid outing after spending quality time with friends and family, while also getting some rest.