Dallas Stars Use Grit In Impressive Performance Against Avalanche

The Dallas Stars were in danger of falling to a worrisome 1-4-0 record going into Saturday night. But that didn’t happen, and Dallas did a lot of good things on their way to a dominant victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

Last night, Tyler Seguin fought Patrik Nemeth in a game between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. Yes, you read that right.

Just 12 days ago, these two were teammates in Dallas. But on Saturday night, none of those brotherly ties carried over as the two dropped the mitts and went for it. It was Seguin’s first career fight (throughout his entire hockey career).

No one knows exactly how or why it happened. All fans did was sit back and watch in awe as the superstar went swing for swing with a former Star.

The night was made even more pleasant when the Stars claimed the 3-1 win over the Avalanche a few minutes later.

Dallas Stars

Going into the game, the two teams were practically polar opposites. That’s because through the first week of the season, the two teams had experienced completely different results.

The Dallas Stars entered the season with lofty expectations following a disastrous 2016-17 season but redemptive 2017 offseason. They were expected to hit the ground running and make a strong claim at the Central Division title. But after one week of play, the Stars sat at 1-3-0, including an 0-2-0 record in divisional play. Their offense was stagnant, the defense was improved but still making costly mistakes, and the team was frustrated as a whole.

While the Stars had played quality hockey in each of their first four games, they couldn’t seem to get it figured out and escape with the two points.

On the other end, the Avs were expected to fall hard this year. They put together a 22-56-4 record last year, making them one of the worst NHL teams in history. To make things even worse, the Avs did very little to improve their team in the offseason. Entering the 2017-18 season, virtually everyone had them at the bottom of their projections list for the Central, Western Conference, and even across the league.

Instead, Colorado exploded out of the gate. After the first week, the Avs sat at the top of the Central Division with a 4-1-0 record. Their offense was putting up quality scoring, the defense was providing a shutdown presence, and starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov had a perfect record.

On October 1, the Stars were an easy pick to best the Avs in last night’s game. But yesterday morning, that “easy” pick was nowhere to be found.

But Dallas did what they had to do and made it look easy against the Central’s best team.

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The Dallas Stars did a lot of the same things that they have been doing for the entirety of the season. They were dominant on offense (at one point, they were outshooting the Avs 24-6), the defense played with structure and poise, Ben Bishop provided an extra edge in the crease when the team needed him to, and they cashed in on their special teams opportunities.

This style of play is encouraging, but it’s very rarely produced the desired result. So what did the Stars do differently last night? It’s simple: they had grit.

Playing a game with hockey smarts and a high hockey IQ can get you far in the NHL, but it can’t do everything. At some point, you have to put a chip on your shoulder and use it as motivation.

So what was that chip on the Stars’ shoulder? It’s anyone’s guess. Maybe it was that they were going up against the big dogs. Or maybe they were responding to the early-season criticism being directed at them.

Whatever it was, it worked. If it’s strong enough to push Tyler Seguin to the brink of throwing fists,  there’s something special about it. The Dallas Stars were more physical, more aggressive on the puck, and seemed more focused and enthused as a result of this additional style.

This is what their game has been missing this season. They’ve needed that extra bump of confidence and raw, inner determination to charge them up in games.

We’ve already established that this Dallas Stars team can win a lot of hockey games this season. The talent, strategy, and effort are there. But as we saw last night, being forced to roll up the sleeves and get dirty can really show the strength of a team.

The Stars knew that there was a sense of urgency going into Saturday night. Falling to 1-4-0 would have only further pushed the speculation and panic buttons. As a result, Dallas did what was necessary and dominated every aspect of the game. When they do that, winning will be the result more often than not.

Dallas needs to continue bringing this newfound swagger in addition to their regular efforts. If they do, this team could be ascending the mountain before we know it.

Next: Some Takeaways From The Stars' First Week Of Play

Last night’s game was definitely a step in the right direction. The Dallas Stars know how to win, that much is sure. But will they be able to keep it up? That depends on which Stars’ team shows up starting Tuesday against Arizona.