Dallas Stars: What Makes Their Five-Game Win Streak So Impressive
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars are riding a large five-game win streak and are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now. It has been a fun streak to watch, but what’s been even more fun is the way in which the Stars have made it happen.
November 24, 2015. On that night, the Dallas Stars received a 7-4 shellacking from the Ottawa Senators. It was their final game before the Thanksgiving break and bumped Dallas to a record of 17-5-0 in the early part of the 2015-16 season.
But the loss also put an end to a five-game win streak that the Stars had conjured up. And it must have had a pretty lasting effect, because it took Dallas over two years to reach another five-game streak.
Through a consistent remainder of the 2015-16 season and a tumultuous 2016-17 season, the Stars’ win streaks all but disappeared. They had some two-game streaks and three-game streaks here and there, but a five-game streak never resurfaced.
Until now, that is. On Sunday night, the Dallas Stars capped off their first five-win streak of the season and first in over two years in a 7-2 thumping of the Colorado Avalanche. The W pushed Dallas to five straight W’s, spanning from November 24-December 3. They have also won seven of their past eight games.
Dallas Stars
Throughout the streak, the Stars have outscored their opponents 23-11 and defeated some tough competition. More than that, they also defeated some of their early season demons in the process.
Two of the Stars’ most significant struggles in the first 27 games of this season have been playing on the road and playing against the Central Division. Just a few weeks back, their road record sat at 3-8-0 and their record against the division sat at a humbling 1-6-0.
Sure, it was the early portion of the season, but the Stars looked fragile. For a team that experienced major renovations and upgrades over the 2017 offseason, playing just above .500 hockey was not going to cut it.
But it wasn’t all bad. The Stars had shown some good things in their play, such as resiliency and determination when faced with a deficit in a given game. But none of the good aspects in their play lasted more than a game or two before disappearing. The team as a whole simply wasn’t consistent.
After struggling to find consistency in their image over the first few games, Dallas finally started to show signs of life in the middle of November. It was the game against the Edmonton Oilers where the good things finally started to show.
After going up 2-0 early on that Saturday afternoon in November, the Stars quickly found themselves in a 3-2 hole. As a fourth consecutive loss looked more and more possible, Dallas turned the tide. They rattled off four unanswered goals to take a 6-3 win, and that’s where the consistency started.
The Stars would move on to beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 a few days later to officially start a win streak. But it was cut down less than 24 hours later when they dropped a 3-0 decision to the Colorado Avalanche.
As the debates and criticisms arose once again about the team’s inability to be consistent, the Stars prepared for a home bout against the Calgary Flames. Through adversity and an intense rally, Dallas closed out a 6-4 victory over the Flames. And then it began.
Since then, the Dallas Stars have secured a 3-0 win over Vegas, 4-3 and 3-2 victories over the Chicago Blackhawks, and most recently a 7-2 walloping over the Avs. The five-game win streak has them tied for the longest active win streak in the NHL at the moment. It has also pushed them from the middle of the playoff-bubble pile to in sole control of the first wild card spot. They are also a mere three points from third place in the Central standings and five points from the top spot in the West.
This five-game streak has been almost unfathomably impressive. And it’s not just because of the obvious things. It’s not simply because the Stars won three road games or that they picked up three Central Division wins. Those are nice, yes, but that’s not been the most impressive part.
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It’s also not because the offense is averaging almost five goals a game while the defense and goaltending are giving up barely over two goals a game. Nor is it the fact that the Stars are receiving incredible production from their depth scorers. These statistics are impressive, but they aren’t the main focus in the Stars’ newly acquired win streak.
The most significant thing is simply the Stars’ confidence. Through the first 20 games, the team looked shaky and unsure of what they could do. They also looked unable to bring similar efforts to every game and form a complete team. As a result, they would bring one-sided efforts to most games. One night, the offense would show up, but the defense and goaltending would be lacking. On another night, the opposite would happen.
But now the Dallas Stars are looking like a complete team. They are receiving consistent efforts from all sides of the puck and are finally showing their unity. The team’s confidence is brimming and even overflowing at this point.
That’s a good sign for a team that has a lot on their plate in the month of December. The Stars play 15 games in 30 days to close out 2017 and their opponents are seeing similar success for the most part. It won’t be easy, but the Dallas Stars team we are seeing currently should have no trouble going toe-to-toe with anyone.
Next: What We Learned About The Stars In November 2017
Five wins in a row is a lot of fun. But six is even better. Can the Stars can beat a red-hot Nashville Predators team tonight and make that dream into a reality?