Dallas Stars: Four Things We Learned In November 2018

 With the month of November now in the rearview mirror, the 2018-19 regular season is well underway for the Dallas Stars. But with December now on the forefront, what did we learn about the team in the month prior that could affect their success going forward?

In any typical NHL season, the month of November is where teams really begin to take shape. And if that ends up being the case for the Dallas Stars, they should be alright.

Serving as the first full month and second overall of the regular season, it’s a time for

Now that it’s Dec. 1 and the Stars look ahead to another month of action, there’s a lot to look back on over the past 30 days. There were some good parts and some not-so-good parts, but Dallas made it through and will hop into December play still in the thick of the race. That’s impressive, to say the least.

In a year that already boasted its fair share of uphill battles with a new head coach in Jim Montgomery, new schemes to learn, and a new arsenal of players to incorporate, the Dallas Stars have been dealt even more over the past month. In their first 26 games overall, they have been given a handful of different challenges, with all of them in need of a response.

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

Their answer? A 14-10-3 record with 31 points and a current hold on the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. They sit just six points out of first place in the division and only three points out of third place.

Considering the circumstances, that is not much to look down on. When it is all said and done, their play in the month of November may end up being what saves the Stars’ season.

But just what was it that we learned about the Dallas Stars in November? They had a strenuous schedule to work through that included 15 games in a 28-day span. Ten of those came on the road, meaning there were a number of trips to handle.

That’s only hitting the tip of the iceberg, though, in what could be the most intriguing month of the Stars’ regular season come April.

Let’s take a look at some of the most influential things we learned about the Dallas Stars in the month of November.

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.

Editor In Leaf

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.