Dallas Stars: Bringing In New Year With Central Division Fireworks

The Dallas Stars are slowly but surely improving their game against divisional rivals, a crucial step in making it to the post-season. And closing out the year with a Central Division win is a stride in the right direction.

For a team that’s been on top of the division within the last two seasons, the Dallas Stars sure can disappoint sometimes when it comes to holding their own against divisional rivals. While it is one of the toughest groups in the NHL with teams that are improving all the time and clawing tooth and nail to be on top, we sometimes expect more out of the Stars than what we get, in terms of the Central Division.

Lately, though, Dallas seems to have put improvement in the division on top of their New Years resolutions list. Their last four games have all been against Central Division opponents, and they’ll walk into 2018 with a 3-1-0 record for that stretch.

What’s more impressive than the stark stats, however, is the growth that these wins (and even the loss) demonstrate. All the wins were earned against teams that the Stars have historically caved to: the Blackhawks, Predators, and Blues.

The loss sandwiched in between those wins, at the hands of the Wild, was also, believe it or not, not a total loss.

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Although at this point in the season, a 4-2 road loss- and especially a divisional one- will stick with the Stars and perhaps haunt them a bit, the way they responded was the real win.

Their follow-up game against the Blues, whom they have struggled against and fallen to all season long, was the perfect way to work up to the New Year. Despite the Blues’ early lead, the Stars came back from behind to seal the deal against Hitchcock’s former team.

We’re starting to see a Dallas Stars team that does their best when the odds are stacked against them. This season, they’ve built up several advantages for themselves- notably that they usually do well when scoring first. However, Dallas is growing more and more determined to take its destiny into its own hands.

In the past, that’s been a problem for the Stars. When they’re down, they have a habit of wallowing instead of bouncing back quickly. However, their recent performances against their own divisional rivals suggests that they could be on a learning curve.

Next: Things Are Too Close For The Stars To Hit Any More Skids

Although the Stars will go outside the division to take on the Sharks at home to ring in the New Year, their triumphant record against the Central Division these last four games is sealed in stone. With any luck, we’ll see a lot more of the same in 2018.

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