The Dallas Stars have worked tirelessly this season to fight their way into playoff contention. Unfortunately, their work from the past five and a half months has been derailed in a span of two weeks.
There isn’t much to say about the Dallas Stars right now. They’ve fallen down a spiral of defeat during the last two weeks that has seen their playoff chances go from almost 80 percent down to five. It’s a collapse of epic proportions, and they are out of second chances.
Option A: Win Out
Essentially, if the Stars want to find themselves anywhere other than a tropical beach vacation come mid-April, they’ll need to be victorious in their final seven games. That doesn’t mean picking up a point here and there, they need to win every. single. game.
While that task is daunting and nearly impossible given the talent they’re up against and their complete inability to play past the second period, it has to be the light at the end of the tunnel.
Jamie Benn‘s interview after the 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins — that saw Dallas surrender three goals in the third period alone when they led by two after forty minutes — displays the captain’s disappointment. He was on the ice for the goal against with 11.1 seconds left, which only further hurts his demeanor.
Jamie Benn speaks on tonight's loss. https://t.co/0cVeWc2E3R
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) March 24, 2018
Of course, as the captain, he has to remain somewhat positive. Benn claims that the Stars are still in it, and they are. He just failed to comment on the severity of the climb they’re facing.
Option B: There’s Always Next Year
No one wants to hear it, but the Stars’ season is an uphill battle from here on out. It became an uphill battle when they couldn’t get two points out of any game on their lengthy road trip, and it’s only grown since. That leads to their other option.
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The locker room is full of talent; there’s arguably no shortage of it in the organization. It’s how that talent is being utilized that’s the problem. Under Lindy Ruff, the Stars were a quick-paced, offense-focused club. Now under Ken Hitchcock, they’re a dump-and-chase, sort of defensive-minded team. That complete 180 doesn’t work.
Essentially, that leaves Dallas in a unique position. They can keep the players they have and change the system they play — likely meaning Hitch has to go. Or they can go into rebuild mode for the second time in the last decade — obviously the less desirable of the two.
Next: Nill's Poor Drafting Might be Cause of Dallas' Downfall
This team, this group isn’t set up for the style of play Dallas Stars hockey has become. They aren’t strong enough defensively and have faced substantial injuries in the past few weeks that harm that effort even more. Something has to change, especially if they want to keep young talent like Julius Honka around. Hitch’s system has been the same for decades, and it shows no signs of changing.