Dallas Stars: Setting Reasonable Expectations for the Road Trip

This six-game road trip is the longest one for the Dallas Stars this season, and they’ll need to do much better than their other road games this season.

The Dallas Stars had two previous road games and went 0-2-0 while only scoring one goal between both games.

It was an embarrassing start for the Stars on the road, but they’ve had a strong showing the past two games and can hopefully carry that momentum forward as they head to Detroit to get started.

The Stars should be able to win against the Red Wings, who currently sit at 1-7-2 on the season with a -20 goal differential already. Long gone are the days of the Red Wings’ high level of success, but even the worst team in the league still wins some games, so the Stars can’t take a step back. Instead, they need to keep things going from last week and start with a solid road win to set the tone for the trip.

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

On Tuesday, they’ll head across the border to play Montreal. The 6-2-2 Canadiens have been better than expected so far this season, but this is still another winnable game for the Stars.

Their third game of the road trip is a rematch against Toronto, and fans saw how that played out two weeks ago when the Leafs handed the Stars their first loss of the year. The Leafs are 8-3-0 and one of the best teams in the league right now, but it’s not a hopeless game if the Stars are playing their best.

Saturday, the Stars will play their first game of the year against the reigning Stanley Cup champions. The Caps have had a mediocre start so far at 5-3-2, but they’re still the Capitals, and they’re a tough team to beat. The Stars will have their work cut out for them going into Washington.

Next week Monday and Tuesday, the Stars will have a back-to-back against Boston and Columbus. The 6-3-2 Bruins have also been really good in the past few years like the Caps, but Tyler Seguin usually pulls out a good game when he plays them. If Seguin could grab another hat trick against them this season, he’d also break Mike Modano‘s franchise record that he’s currently tied for. As for the Blue Jackets, they’re doing similar to the Stars this season, going 6-4-0.

Looking at the road trip as a whole, it seems reasonable that the Stars could go something like 3-3-0, or maybe 2-2-2. The Red Wings seem like the most likely win, with Columbus and Montreal as strong possibilities as well. Realistically, they aren’t going to come home with all 12 possible points, but if the Stars can win two of those three and grab two or three points out of the games against Boston, Toronto, and Washington, that’s not too bad.

If this team can keep playing strongly at home and go .500 on the road, they’re in good position to make the playoffs, but they’re already behind the curve on that with ground to make up. These six away games need to turn things around for their road play and quickly.

Early road trips are often considered bonding experiences for new teams, especially when they’re this long, so some good could come from the extended trip. It’ll be two weeks between home games, and there’s a lot of time for the team to work on their chemistry in that time.