Dallas Stars Showing Impressive Team Play Through First Two Games
The Dallas Stars are 2-0-0 through their first two games of the 2018-19 regular season. It doesn’t get much better than that, right? But it’s not just about the wins. Their overall team play in every area has been just as impressive.
It’s been less than 72 hours since the Dallas Stars began their 2018-19 campaign. But even in the short timespan, the Stars have already fought their way to an undefeated 2-0-0 mark.
And though it’s only been six periods of hockey at the beginning of the year, we’ve already seen a lot from this new Stars squad. So, where do we even begin with unpacking all that’s occurred?
Well, there’s really plenty of good ways to go about it. The Dallas Stars have rolled over both opponents in their early-season slate. And more so, they have done it behind solid play from all 19 starters.
Now, certain players have come through in large situations and given the team the extra push it needed. But there’s been a real energy from all four lines, all three defensive pairings, and their stud of a starting goaltender. And that’s translating into success.
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
The Stars welcomed in the Arizona Coyotes for their season opener on Thursday night and came out with a 3-0 victory. Devin Shore (third line), Alexander Radulov (first line), and John Klingberg (first pairing) all found the back of the net, while all four lines generated plenty of strong offensive chances. Miro Heiskanen looked calm and confident in his NHL debut, Connor Carrick secured two assists in his Dallas Stars debut, and to top it all off, Ben Bishop stopped all 30 shots faced.
But their real test came on Saturday night when the Winnipeg Jets visited Dallas for a Central division showdown. The Jets had defeated the Stars in eight consecutive matchups going into Saturday and left a new Stars team with a significant challenge.
And they succeeded in running Winnipeg out of the building. Dallas secured the 5-1 victory and knocked off one of the favorites to win the division as well as the Western Conference.
The Stars purely dominated in the win. They had a 16-9 shots advantage through the first 20 minutes, picked up goals from Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin within three minutes of each other in the first frame, and continued to pile it on throughout the game. The power play went 3/5, the penalty kill went 3/3, dominated the face-off circle with a 62.3 percent win rate, and brought consistent energy and aggressiveness that the Jets seemingly had no answer for.
Jamie Benn (2-1-3) and Tyler Seguin (2-2-4) scored two goals apiece, Radulov finished with three points of his own, Jason Spezza notched two assists, and Bishop stepped up again, stopping 32/33.
Dallas has been faced with two sides of the spectrum. They have gone up against a struggling team while also trying to build their own foundation and passed with flying colors. On the other hand, they went up against a divisional powerhouse and broke them down piece-by-piece.
It doesn’t seem to matter who the Dallas Stars are going up against right now. They are finding ways to win and are using Monty’s new scheme to their greatest advantage. The Stars own a +7 goal differential, their top line is running the show with six of the eight goals, the power play owns a 42.9 percent success rate and the penalty kill owns a perfect 100 percent success rate, and Ben Bishop has a .984 save percentage and a 0.50 goals against average. And to top it all off, they got off on an incredible foot in divisional play against a team that had been weighing down on them for over a year.
Live Feed class=inline-text id=inline-text-14
Causeway Crowd
“When a team has your number it seems to stick for a little while,” Stars defenseman Marc Methot told Sean Shapiro of The Athletic following the win over Winnipeg. “We’ve got some fresh faces back there behind the bench. And obviously some growth in this team and other young guys that have come in and played very well for us. Mix a little goaltending with that, and you’ve got a good recipe for wins.”
But Jim Montgomery and the Stars aren’t set to rest on the major upset or the early season success. Instead, they are ready to keep building.
“Let’s not get too excited, it was game number two,” said Montgomery in his postgame press conference. “We’ve got a lot of room. We’ve got to get better.”
The Dallas Stars are 2-0-0 to start their 2018-19 season. It’s their first time starting a season with two straight wins since October of 2010.
Their top line is putting on a scoring clinic, the depth forwards are generating consistency and scoring chances in the offensive zone, the defense is limiting mistakes and opportunities against, the power play and penalty kill are firing, and the goaltending of Ben Bishop is near perfect. Oh, and Montgomery is still looking for ways to get better even after the dominant start.
So far, you cannot ask for much more from these Dallas Stars. The team is doing just about everything right.
Next. Why You Should Believe In The 2018-19 Dallas Stars. dark
And now, they have until Tuesday night to prepare for another big test at home.