Dallas Stars Face Another Early Season Challenge In Toronto Maple Leafs

Through their first two regular season games, the Dallas Stars have looked nearly perfect. But here we are at game three, and they have yet another tall task to face in the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

As a sports fan, one quality that you must always possess is that of moderation. Otherwise, you might never experience victory in its truest form. The Dallas Stars know that and so does new head coach Jim Montgomery.

“Let’s not get too excited, it was game number two,” Montgomery said following the Stars’ 5-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. “We’ve got a lot of room. We’ve got to get better.”

The thing about moderation and reality is that sports fans need it in every situation. If their team wins the championship, it’s usually folly to automatically assume that they will win the following year as well (unless your team is the Golden State Warriors). In an opposite case, if a team is struggling, fans must find a way to endure and hold out hope that change and promise are coming.

But it also absolutely applies to a hot start out of the gate. That’s where the Stars come in.

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Through their first two games of the 2018-19 season, Dallas is 2-0-0. They beat both a rebuilding team in the Arizona Coyotes and a Stanley Cup contender in the Winnipeg Jets within a two-day span. They were very clearly the better team in both games with their offense clicking, their defense giving up few chances, the goaltending of Ben Bishop providing strong insurance, their special teams play rolling, and their overall energy and aggression being on a higher level than both opponents.

For a team that is still trying to adapt to a new system and build chemistry with new teammates, it’s been an impressive transition. They have faced a team on both sides of the spectrum, outscoring the two opponents 8-1 and taking all of the momentum for themselves.

It’s easy for a team in their situation to become big-headed and complacent with their success. But that’s a recipe for disaster more often than not. The Stars need more, and there’s no time to rest on the success of the first few days. After all, it is only two games. There are 80 more waiting down the line.

The next one comes tonight as the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Dallas. And while the Maple Leafs are also considered a favorite to win the Cup (it just doesn’t get any easier for the Stars), they have struggled out of the gate.

In three games, the Leafs are 2-1-0 with wins against Montreal and Chicago but a loss to the struggling Ottawa Senators. But it’s more of how they went about getting the results for each game.

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The Maple Leafs currently have 13 goals on the season. They are averaging 4.33 goals for per game and are one of the highest-scoring teams in the league. John Tavares already has a hat trick with his new team and Auston Matthews leads the Leafs with five goals and eight points.

But although they have 13 goals for through the first three games, they also have 13 goals against. The defense has been lackluster for Toronto, giving five goals away to a heavily undermanned Senators offense and six goals to the Blackhawks.

All in all, it’s been a growing process for the Leafs as well throughout the first six days of the regular season. They now have a tough challenge awaiting them in the Dallas Stars, who will also have to find a way to get over the hump of their early season success and into the win column yet again.

Both teams possess top-10 units in the power play and penalty kill. Ben Bishop will attempt to outdo Frederik Andersen after being swept by the Leafs in the two meetings during the 2017-18 season. And to top it all off, the top line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov will look to continue firing away after tallying 11 points altogether on Saturday.

The lineup looks pretty similar for Dallas, though Valeri Nichushkin might slot in on the fourth line upon his return from injury. And if it isn’t broke, why try and fix it?

The Stars have shown a lot in their first few periods of “Montgomery style” hockey. They have been aggressive, energized, and overwhelming in the offensive zone, which has led to both goals for and penalties that turned into power play goals for.

Their attack is built on a few different foundations, and Dallas is showing its ability to do well in every area and fully embrace the system.  That is paying dividends so far, but it’s up to the Stars to not get complacent. A win against the Winnipeg Jets is large and ultimately impressive, but the schedule rages on and there’s no time to lay back.

The Dallas Stars have another challenge to face and test to pass on Tuesday night. There’s a lot that can be said about this Dallas Stars team from the past five days, but the results must keep rolling in. That can continue tonight against a Toronto Maple Leafs team that has some threatening tools but is still trying to smooth out the rough edges.

Another day and another opportunity to stay undefeated.