Dallas Stars: Four Things We Learned In November 2018

1. The Power Play Beckons For Klingberg

When John Klingberg exited the game against the San Jose Sharks early on Nov. 8, the Dallas Stars world collectively held its breath.

Klingberg, who has been known to be incredibly reliable and durable over the past few seasons, did not return to the game that ended in a 4-3 win for the Stars. But, the two points came at a severe cost.

Following the game, it was announced that Klingberg had suffered a hand injury that would require surgery. The timetable for recovery was pinned at one month, leaving Stars fans to worry about what a jam-packed November would look like without their all-star defender. Considering Dallas was barely in the playoff picture at the time with a 9-6-1 record, it was definitely a cause for anxiety.

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But throughout the past month, the Dallas Stars have done a decent job at managing the load. The  Stars gave up a total of 27 goals (2.70 GA/GP) through the final ten games of the month, with 25 of them coming in regulation (2.50 GA/GP). Considering over half of their starting defense was injured during the period, that’s a very respectable average.

There was also a decent influx of offense from the blue line to fill in for Klingberg’s absence, with Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen stepping up in the scoring department.

However, there was one area that ended up lacking throughout the month: the power play.

Through the first month of the season (16 games), the Dallas Stars posted a 23.8 percent success rate on the power play. That was good enough for 11th place in the NHL. But, since Klingberg’s injury, they have fallen to a 10.3 percent success rate, which pins them at 28th.

Klingberg (two goals, six points on the PP) has served as the quarterback of the Dallas power play for the past few seasons and is a key cog in their success on the man advantage. He plays a strong possession game, generates offensive chances, and directs traffic on the power play.

In his absence, the Dallas Stars are struggling heavily on the man advantage (3-29).

Klingberg likely won’t be back for at least the next two weeks, meaning the Stars will have to find a way to build some consistency on the power play while he continues to recover.

But, if we learned anything from the month of November, it’s that the Dallas Stars power play direly needs John Klingberg.

2. Injuries Can Sting, But Stars Are Fighting Through

Injuries are a common theme in professional sports. They are unplanned and cannot be avoided no matter how much teams may try. All they can do is be prepared to deal with them.

In years past, the Dallas Stars have done a decent job at handling injuries. Rarely have they had to deal with numerous long-term issues at the same time and they have typically had reserves ready  to fill the voids.

But, at other times, they have struggled. Take March of 2018 for example.

SenShot

When starting goaltender Ben Bishop was hindered by a lower-body injury early in the month, Dallas turned to backup Kari Lehtonen to fill the void. As a result, the Stars hit an 0-6-2 skid and fell from the playoff picture entirely. It was an unfortunate set of events that sent the entire team into disarray.

And through the first few weeks of the 2018-19 regular season, it looked as though the Dallas Stars were in store for another tall task. With players like Alexander Radulov, Devin Shore, John Klingberg, Connor Carrick, Marc Methot, and Ben Bishop all missing different parts of the season, it was up to the Stars to adapt or fall out.

But, on top of adapting to a new coaching philosophy and style of play, the Stars are finding a way to manage. Younger players are stepping up, free agent signings from the 2018 summer are doing their part, and the team is finding a way to gel with each other and turn it into results.

Dallas turned in a 7-5-3 record through the month of November. They picked up valuable points thanks in large part to a rotation of timely goals, shutdown defensive play, and strong goaltending. And though the injuries have held them back from taking the “next step” at times, they are keeping themselves in the middle of the fight.

That chemistry and determination can get teams far in this league, especially when they are fully healthy. As the Stars continue getting closer to that level of full health, their fight through adversity will only help them in the long run.

3. Offense Could Still Use A Consistent Spark

It doesn’t seem like that long ago that the Dallas Stars owned the highest-scoring offense in the NHL. They were high-powered, throttled the opposition with 3+ goals per night, and didn’t let anyone get close to them in the average goals column throughout the year.

That was 2015-16, which also happened to be the season that the Dallas Stars won the Central division and Western Conference regular season titles. Oh, how the times have changed.

Following an injury-ridden 2016-17 season that saw Dallas tumble to the conference cellar and head coach Lindy Ruff relieved of duties, the 2017-18 season sent the Stars into a shift. Ken Hitchcock was hired as the new head coach, bringing with him a defensive style and mindset that this young and developing Stars team had never witnessed before.

Blackhawk Up

It somewhat paid off as the Stars went from 29th to seventh in the league in goals against average. But, in return for their improved defensive play, the offense suffered. Dallas finished 18th in average goals per game with 2.82 and lost many games down the stretch due to a lack of offensive pressure. As a result, Hitchcock stepped down from the head coach position shortly after the season ended.

Going into the 2018-19 year, that lack of offensive power was supposed to disappear. With a healthy lineup, newly-added depth forwards, and a head coach that thrived on possession time and offensive relentlessness, the Dallas Stars seemed to be set up for a big turnaround.

So far, they have yet to hit that stride. And, though partially due to injuries and inconsistencies with the lineup, the month of November saw a lack of consistent offense at times.

At the moment, the Stars average 2.74 goals for per game. That’s good enough for 24th in the NHL, pinning them in the bottom eight. They averaged an impressive 3.09 goals per game in the month of October, but sank to a mark of 2.53 throughout the month of November.

Part of the offensive problem is the lack of Klingberg in the lineup, considering he usually generates a handful of chances with each shift. But it also simply has to do with consistency.

In an eight-game span in the second half of the month, the Stars only scored more than two goals on two separate occasions. Both of those occasions saw them score six goals, which was impressive, but the other six games were less impressive. In the other six, the Stars scored one goal four times, two goals once, and were shutout one time as well.

It’s a four-line problem, with the Dallas Stars needing all 12 forwards to stay involved with each passing game. On some nights, the top line delivers while the depth scorers are off; on other nights, it’s the depth forwards that do all of the heavy lifting.

Either way, the Stars spent November trying to adopt some consistency on offense. Let’s see if they can find it in time for a December push.

4. The Road And Central Are Still Causing Grief

It’s no secret that the Central division is the toughest division in hockey and perhaps in all of professional sports. No other NHL division has seen each of their teams make it to the postseason twice, let alone even once, since realignment in 2013.

Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, and Winnipeg have all been legitimate threats at one point or another, leaving the division to be a gauntlet for whichever team wanted it the most.

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Last year, the Dallas Stars saw the Central once again play a part in their ultimate undoing. Dallas posted a 12-14-0 record against the division in 2017-18, which ultimately helped pin them in sixth place and leave them outside the playoff picture. That followed up a 9-15-5 record from the 2016-17 season and once again showed the Stars’ struggles against Central clubs. And, considering playoff seeding can rely heavily on points against the division, it’s a critical part of any regular season schedule.

The Stars are trying to avoid that same pitfall in the current season. But so far, they have hit a few bumps. Dallas is 1-2-1 in Central division action this year. While that does not seem entirely unreachable, the last time the Stars beat a Central team was Oct. 6 (the second game of the season). November provided a 5-4 overtime loss to Nashville and a humiliating 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

In addition, their road play could still use a slight boost going into December. After starting the year on a 0-3-0 note away from the American Airlines Center, the Stars posted a 4-4-2 road mark during the month of November. That’s an impressive improvement, but the road game still needs to be better if Dallas wants to be a playoff team.

Winning at home is fun and can be easier at times; but the road is where the real teams separate themselves from the one-dimensional teams. And with seven road games scheduled in December, it will be up to the Stars to keep their progress building when away from home.

All in all, the Dallas Stars had an intriguing November filled with many twists and turns. Those twists and turns brought a lot of change to the team and their play, but they found a way to fight through it and remain in the race. That strength will only benefit them as time goes on.