Dallas Stars: Final Thoughts On A Dominant 6-0 Win Over San Jose
By Josh Clark
Boy, when they are hot, they are hot. The Dallas Stars had no mercy on the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night, beating them 6-0 to close out the 2017 calendar year. Here are some final thoughts.
That’s one way for the Dallas Stars to close out 2017.
The Dallas Stars continued their bid for a sweep of the six-game homestand tonight by routing the San Jose Sharks by a final score of 6-0. The Stars took control right out of the gate and never looked back, scoring two goals in each period.
It was a powerful end to the 2017 calendar year and leaves the door open for plenty of hope in 2018.
Game recap
The first period started with complete domination by the Dallas Stars. Yes, you read that right. Complete domination. John Klingberg opened the scoring about six minutes in off a beautiful pass from Mattias Janmark to take the 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, Tyler Pitlick cashed in off of a face-off to take a 2-0 lead for Dallas. They carried that two-goal lead into the first intermission.
Dallas Stars
The second period was where things really got out of hand and messy. After a few penalties in the first few minutes, Stephen Johns got the scoring started during a 4-on-4 session to take the 3-0 lead. Moments later, Alexander Radulov left the game after colliding awkwardly with the boards on a breakaway attempt. Tyler Seguin responded to his absence with a power play goal to make it 4-0 Stars. The period ended with a lot of bad (and literal) blood as Dan Hamhuis caught a stick to the face from a Sharks player away from the action. He headed for the locker room immediately, but the Stars carried a 4-0 lead into the second intermission.
The third period, well, was more Dallas Stars domination. After a quiet first half, Devin Shore scored on a beautiful backhand goal to make it 5-0. He was followed up 50 seconds later by a Tyler Pitlick rebound goal to ring it up at 6-0. The Stars would hold onto the lead through the end of the game and cap off 2017 with a bang.
Thoughts and Observations
Dominate early, have more fun
The Dallas Stars took the reins in this game right out of the gate. They outshot the Sharks by an unreal deficit of 14-2 through the first 12 minutes of the first period and notched two goals in the first 15:07. They held a dominant 17-5 shots advantage and 2-0 lead at the end of the first period.
“I think we dominated a lot of aspects in the game today,” said Stars defenseman John Klingberg. “We feel really good about ourselves now and we just have to keep it going. We’re playing really good and that’s important.”
When the Stars can take quick advantage of a game like they did tonight and capitalize early, good things tend to happen. But it’s a matter of keeping that going every night.
After all, it’s not every day that you win 6-0 to ring in the new year.
Live Feed
Predlines
Dan Hamhuis keeps on chugging
Warhorse. Boss. Veteran. Freight train. It really doesn’t matter how you want to describe him. The point is, Dan Hamhuis is giving his all in every game he’s played in the recent past for Dallas.
Tonight, Hamhuis once again led the team in ice time with 21:13. And yes, he also missed the the final two minutes of the second period and valuable penalty kill minutes (where he tends to play the most of any defenseman).
He also registered an assist and a +1 rating on the night. The 35-year-old is contributing on a nightly basis and giving the Stars depth as well as good leadership and energy on the blue line. Alongside Greg Pateryn, the two continue to post impressive showings.
Props to the Rooster
Midway through the second period, the Dallas Stars looked as though they were about to get their fourth goal from Alexander Radulov. He caught a long breakout pass from Julius Honka and almost had a chance at the net. But Justin Braun tangled himself up with Radulov and ended up causing Radulov to lose his balance and crash into the boards shoulder-first. No. 47 laid on the ice for a minute or two before skating off on his own power.
A few moments later, Antoine Roussel delivered a heavy and clean check to Braun near the benches and skated away before a fight ensued while Braun went to the box for roughing.
Later in the period, Dan Hamhuis caught a stick up high from Joonas Donskoi while away from the action. He headed for the locker room, but Antoine Roussel had some words with Donskoi. No. 21 ended up being charged with a 10-minute game misconduct.
But it’s his efforts that really count. With the lack of a true enforcer on the team anymore after the Jamie Oleksiak trade, Roussel stepped up and took matters into his own hands. He defended BOTH of his teammates and did a good job at sparking the offense. Props to the Rooster.
Live Feed
SenShot
Ben Bishop playing squeaky clean hockey
Less than two weeks ago, Ben Bishop had a .908 save percentage and was struggling to provide a consistent starting presence in the crease for Dallas.
All of that seems to be gone now, though. In the past 10 days, Bishop has started in five straight games, posting two shutouts and a .946 save percentage overall. He’s quickly budding into the elite starter that Dallas signed him to be back in May 2017.
“When we needed [Bishop] to step up, he did,” said Klingberg about Bishop’s now fourth shutout as a Star.
He’s beaten some of the best teams and looked both calm and composed in his starts. Bishop now has his numbers up to a .918 save percentage on the year and a 2.35 goals against average. That’s not bad at all, and if the recent past gives any indication to the future, expect those to keep going up.
Injuries are no fun (so that’s why the Stars don’t have any)
By the end of the second period, it looked as though this was going to be the most dominant yet costly win of the 2017-18 season.
In a span of a few minutes in the middle frame, both Radulov and Hamhuis went down with injuries. Radulov was ruled out for the remainder of the game with an upper-body injury and Hamhuis came back for the third period after regaining vision in his right eye.
But luckily, both players were deemed healthy and in good shape following the game. Neither is expected to miss any time, which means the Stars’ lineup will stay healthy and intact (besides Marc Methot and Martin Hanzal).
It’s a close call, but things ended up alright, thank heavens.
Oh boy, bad blood
This game involved a lot of physicality, and I mean a LOT. Though there were surprisingly never any fights, there may as well have been. The Stars lost a few dedicated soldiers due to some rough plays, but they made sure to play gritty on a constant basis and scrap back at the Sharks.
More from Analysis
- Dallas Stars Traverse City Tournament: Who had great performances?
- Taking a look at the teams the Dallas Stars will be playing in the preseason
- Should the Dallas Stars revisit signing Patrick Kane this season?
- Realistic regular season stats for Dallas Stars Roope Hintz
- Realistic regular season stats for Dallas Stars Joe Pavelski
“We played the way we have to play to beat San Jose,” said head coach Ken Hitchcock. “We played a very sound start to the game and then we didn’t let up. We didn’t give them a chance to breathe and we built a lead.”
The past few games for the Stars have involved a lot of scrappy moments and having to dig deep. But Dallas is getting the job done and proving that they can hang around and even knock down some of the best teams in the league.
Plus, it’s more fun when the players throw fists, right?
That team right there can compete for a Stanley Cup
Let me start by saying that tonight was a very small sampling size of the 2017-18 season. This game constitutes for 1.22 percent of the Stars’ entire season.
But in this one game, the Dallas Stars looked like a Stanley Cup caliber team. They owned possession and controlled the flow of the entire game, went 1-3 on the power play and 3-3 on the penalty kill against one of the NHL’s best special teams units. The Stars were quicker, more precise, and more physical on their way to a dominant win against an opponent that they will very likely see playing past April 7.
It’s a small sampling size, but boy is it a good sign of what this team is capable of.
More from Blackout Dallas
- Dallas Stars Traverse City Tournament: Who had great performances?
- Grushnikov and Stankoven lead Dallas Stars to 6-3 win over Columbus
- Dallas Stars prospects look to wrap up tournament with a win
- Burn the tapes: Dallas Stars prospects lose 5-1 to Toronto Maple Leafs
- Dallas Stars look to continue success today against the Maple Leafs
Holding in at the top (of the wild card) and still rising
The Dallas Stars once again separated themselves from the rest of the Western Conference pack, bumping their record up to 22-15-3 with 47 points. They sit just three points out of third place in the Central Division with a game in hand on the St. Louis Blues. It’s crazy that they have won four of their past five games and still cannot seem to make up ground, but it just goes to show that the division and conference are moving with them.
“We’re in a good spot right now,” said Stars forward Mattias Janmark. We’ve chased our way back into the mix in the division and wild card. But there’s no time to rest. We just have to keep it up and keep working on our game.”
That third line good
The line of Antoine Roussel, Radek Faksa, and Tyler Pitlick may very well be the Dallas Stars’ most consistent line right now. While Hitchcock has juggled lines at various points throughout the year, these three have stuck together.
Tonight, they proved why. Six points were tallied between the three players, including two goals and four assists. Faksa won 67 percent of his face-offs, Roussel stood up for both Radulov and Hamhuis, and Pitlick scored two goals in a game for the third time this year.
This line has a knack for controlling play when they are on the ice and helping set the pace for the rest of the team. Let’s see if they can keep clicking.
Happy New Year indeed
That’s one pretty darn good way to ring in the New Year. Even with the threat of ice and sleet in the forecast, the Dallas Stars had a nearly full building tonight, cheering them on at every step and really getting into the game emotionally.
“It seems that every time you look up, it’s a full building,” said Hitchcock about the Stars’ relationship with their fans. “They are helping us a lot because they are really into it. I think the players appreciate the support and it works in a good way because the players are feeding off of their energy.”
Next: Stars Upping Central Division Competition
All in all, it was a perfect end to the 2017 calendar year for the Dallas Stars. They now sit 22-15-3 and are catching fire as they go along. They will take the day off tomorrow and be back for Tuesday night’s matchup at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Until then, enjoy your New Year’s celebrations, Stars fans.