Dallas Stars: Recent Unfortunate Luck Should Fuel Their Fire

Things don’t always go as planned in the NHL. There are weird bounces, strange officiating calls and confusing endings that can frustrate teams. The Dallas Stars aren’t immune to this aspect of professional hockey, but should use it as a way to encourage them moving forward.

There’s nothing great about fighting your way back into a game, only to lose in a shootout. Thursday night in Columbus, the Dallas Stars experienced just that.

Although they earned a much-needed point in the loss, it would’ve been better to have two. Now that it’s in their rearview, though, they can use it as a motivator for the upcoming final stretch.

Frustration Fuel

It’s not great to have head coaches — especially those as notable and respected as Ken Hitchcock — calling out the officiating in a game. While the press lives for those moments, they serve as negative public relations.

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

For the Stars, though, it can be another thing to add to the list of motivation. Just like how Hitchcock benched Jason Spezza for a game, Dallas can utilize their misfortune as encouragement to do better next time.

In No. 90’s case, it resulted in a multiple goal game and praise from the rest of the team and fans alike. Hopefully, the no-goal determination can serve as a similar motivator for the Stars a as a team.

Playing Stars Hockey

Of course, it’s difficult to play a game in which the rules aren’t clear-cut. Like Hitchcock said, the call essentially discourages players from creating traffic in front of the net, which is a mainstay of today’s NHL. Dallas can really only try their best to play a clean, legal game and hope for the best. It’s not the ideal scenario, but it’s really all they’ve got.

The Stars can only control so much. They — and every team in the league — won’t agree with all of the calls made. It’s part of the sport and isn’t going to change in the near future. However, they have to keep playing Stars hockey because right now, it’s winning hockey.

Next: Stars Struggle to Beat Back-Up Goalies

Dallas has had a successful road trip thus far and will need to continue in today’s afternoon match-up against the Buffalo Sabres. They’ve already earned five of six possible points, so squeezing any extra tallies in today’s game would be the cherry on top of an impressive run.