Dallas Stars Need To Pull An Anaheim Ducks, Run Ahead In Second Half

The Dallas Stars have an intriguing and critical second half of their season to look forward to. If they can play just as the Anaheim Ducks did last year, they will be soaring before we know it.

Most musicals in today’s theatrical world are divided into two acts. You have the first act, which usually sets the scene and develops the plot. And then you have the second act, which usually involves heavy and dramatic action, the climax, and the resolution.

The Dallas Stars 2016-17 season could very well be considered a musical, minus the flashy costumes and alto voices. And right now we’re at the intermission.

The first half of the musical is over with. The plot has been developed and the story is off and running.

The Stars started this musical off in a rather odd and unfamiliar fashion. Unlike their early dominance in 2015-16, Dallas started this year off with some horrible inconsistency.

They couldn’t put forward a stable lineup due to injuries to key players like Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, Ales Hemsky, Cody Eakin, and Johnny Oduya. Their offense rarely put up more than two goals in a given game. Their defense lacked chemistry and energy. And to top it all off, they had no definitive starter in net as both Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi ran on spurts of consistency.

Things were ugly in Big D and it showed. The Dallas Stars quickly slipped behind in the standings and were a long ways away from their former spot at the top of the Western Conference just one year ago.

In early December, Dallas boasted a 9-10-6 record and things looked as though they may never change for the better.

But the Stars had a five-game homestand embedded in mid-December that head coach Lindy Ruff said the entire season would “land on” two days before it kicked off. The Stars welcomed the Anaheim Ducks to the AAC on December 13th and promptly routed them 6-2.

As the games kept passing, the Stars began playing more consistent and with more life. And what do you know? They started winning. Dallas finished the homestand with a 3-1-1 record and entered New Year’s Eve on a 5-1-1 streak. A loss to the Florida Panthers helped them end 2016 on a sour note, but it was still nice to see the Stars claw their way back into the fight with a powerful surge over the month.

But now it’s intermission, as we all know. The Stars sit at a record of 16-15-7, and the second act promises to be a good one as they hope to continue hitting their stride and getting back into the thick of things.

Some are saying it cannot be done. They have already counted the Dallas Stars out, assuming that they will continue to ride this rollercoaster throughout the rest of the year and end up just outside the playoff picture.

The 2015-16 Anaheim Ducks would strongly disagree with this assumption.

Back on December 12, Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge tweeted out a statistic of the Ducks’ 2015-16 season as the Stars prepared to take on Anaheim the following day.

The Stars were 11-13-6 going into that game and cruised past Anaheim as we know. But this tweet caught many Stars fans off guard. Could it actually be done? Could Dallas turn the tide in Act II and make a monumental comeback?

They say that if it can be dreamed, it can be done. Now it can be assured that there are plenty of Dallas Stars fans who have dreamed of an amazing turnaround. But can it be done?

The Stars proved in the tail end of December that when they play as one unit and are playing at their best, they are tough to get past. They snapped the Flyers’ ten game win streak and bested the Los Angeles Kings in overtime. They also turned in a solid effort against both the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues, though they would come up short in both games.

On January 1, 2016, the Ducks were 15-15-6. That’s 36 points. The Stars are 16-15-7 with 39 points. If the Stars can learn anything from the Ducks, it’s that a semi-slow start does not do you in for the rest of the season. Anaheim’s turnaround can be mirrored. It’s up to the Stars to figure out how.

Next: Stars Gearing Up For An Exciting Act II

Now surely there are plenty of different factors between these two completely different teams. But the main point still rings true: an astounding second act could turn this whole season around. The Dallas Stars are still in position to make some noise, and these first few weeks are going to be crucial in starting up that noise and keeping it going.

The first act is done and gone. The intermission is almost over, and then it’s right back to work to end this production with a bang.

The Dallas Stars might be outside the playoff picture at the moment, but anything is still possible with 44 games to go in the year. One thing is for sure: it’s going to be quite the journey. So buckle up.