Dallas Stars: Statistics Starting To Lean In Right Direction

As the Dallas Stars enjoy their week-long break, it gives us an extended chance to step back and survey the team. Upon first glance, things are starting to look much better statistics-wise.

Statistics can’t tell you everything about a hockey team, but they can tell a lot. And this season, they definitely tell a lot about the Dallas Stars.

Dallas will play their next game this coming Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. The game will conclude a six-day bye week for both the Stars and Avs and bring both teams back into a heated Western Conference playoff race. That’s just what the Dallas Stars need right now.

It’s been an interesting season for the Stars. After starting the year 9-9-1 and showing similar signs of the terrible 2016-17 performance that they had put together, the team seems to finally be starting a run.

After dominating Edmonton 5-1 last Saturday, the Stars entered the break with a modest and impressive 24-16-3 record. While there is still plenty of work to be done if they want to make the playoffs a reality, they are trending in the right direction. Dallas currently sits in the first wild card spot but is in a position where one or two wins or losses could easily raise them up or drop them out of the picture completely.

Dallas Stars

And while the team is trending in the right direction, so are their numbers. That’s where the statistics come into play.

At the beginning of the season, the Stars’ stats struggled to stay consistent as did their play and performances. Their offense would struggle to put up goals on some nights, especially outside the top line. On the other side of the puck, the defense and goaltending would hit patches of inconsistency and let the GAA spike up to near 3.00 or even higher.

That’s what led to their average start and left plenty to be desired from such a high-quality roster.

But now things are turning around. The Stars entered their bye week with 43 games played, meaning they are just barely past the halfway point of the season. At the moment, their numbers look pretty good.

They are averaging 3.00 goals per game, which is good enough for 12th in the NHL. If a team can average three goals in today’s NHL, it typically means that they have a quality offense. The Stars are receiving production from all four lines and are even getting assistance from their defenders in the offensive zone.

On the other end, Dallas is sacrificing a manageable 2.72 goals against per game, which is good enough for 11th best in the league. The defense is finally forming an identity and playing with consistent structure. The lineup is staying relatively similar with each passing game and giving the Stars confidence in their back end. John Klingberg is helping lead the charge in a predominantly young group that is starting to turn into an effective one.

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The Dallas Stars are playing relatively well on special teams also. They own a 20.2 percent success rate on the power play, giving them the 11th best in the league. Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov, and John Klingberg are all proving to be lethal on the man advantage and giving Dallas plenty of scoring threats to choose from when they go on the power play.

On the penalty kill, the Stars own an 80.7 percent success rate, which puts them at 18th in the league. While that isn’t necessarily the greatest, Dallas has worked for a majority of the season without one of their top penalty killers in Martin Hanzal. But still, they are trying out new players in the PK role and finding success as of late, which gives hope for the future.

Dallas is 12th in the league in points percentage, owns the third-highest shots against per game rating, and is winning the third-most face-offs of any team in the league. All in all, their numbers are definitely trending in the right direction.

Next: Good Choices: Klingberg, Seguin Deserve ASG Spots

That’s a good sign as the Dallas Stars enter the final stretch of their 2017-18 season and shoot for a playoff spot. If they can keep it up, they should have no trouble in claiming a spot in the postseason.

The question is… will they?