Dallas Stars Finding Consistent Success Against Pacific Division

The Dallas Stars are currently riding a four-game win streak through a Pacific-heavy part of their schedule. And, while it’s not the Central, this early-season dominance against the other division out West is proving to be important.

Before the 2013-14 season began, the Dallas Stars underwent some significant changes. And, considering they had missed the postseason for the fifth year in a row in 2013, change was justified.

First, the Stars fired GM Joe Nieuwendyk and brought in Jim Nill to take his place. Lindy Ruff was hired as their new head coach. Their jerseys and logos received a fresh and unique makeover. And finally, they made a handful of blockbuster trades and free agent signings over the summer that left the roster looking revamped going into 2013-14.

But, there was also some change on a league-wide scale. During the summer, the NHL changed both the Stanley Cup Playoffs format as well as the division alignment. The league shifted from six divisions to four, moved a handful of teams across conferences, and attempted to align divisions based on proximity.

As a result, the Stars, after years of competing with teams like San Jose and Anaheim and suffering through a plethora of 9:30 p.m. starts, were moved from the Pacific division and placed in the newly-formed Central division. That came with a bit of a culture shock.

More from Blackout Dallas

The Central is arguably the strongest division in the NHL. It’s the only NHL division where every team has been to the playoffs at least twice since realignment. The Central division always seems to be a dogfight, producing some of the strongest talent in the league and breeding Stanley Cup favorites with each passing season.

That has provided an uphill battle for the Dallas Stars, who are a combined 61-61-20 in divisional play since 2013-14. Some years, they have been dominant; others, not so much. And, as it almost always seems to go, their success in the division directly correlates to their playoff hopes.

But though their Central division play is just average, they do have success against other Western Conference opponents.

Since realignment, Dallas is a dominant 76-31-11 against Pacific division foes. That encompasses Anaheim, Arizona, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, San Jose, Vancouver, and Vegas. It’s not uncommon for the Stars to be riding a long winning streak against any one of these opponents whenever they come up in the schedule.

That success provides a boost in their conference outlook and gives the team something strong to build on. And so far in the 2018-19 season, it’s giving them all that and more.

If you have not noticed, the Dallas Stars are in the midst of a long Pacific division stretch right now. Starting on Nov. 27 and ending on Dec. 13, the Stars have eight consecutive games against Pacific opponents. Considering they only play 24 games against the division each year, this is a hefty chunk of their season schedule.

So far, the Stars are riding a 4-0-1 streak. It’s helped them build a season-long four-game win streak as they head back out on the road for a four-game swing. But that’s only part of the success.

On the year overall, the Dallas Stars are 9-0-1 against the Pacific division. They have yet to lose a game in regulation against a Pacific foe and have played all but one of them (being Vegas, who the Stars will face on Sunday night in the desert). They have outscored the division 34-18, own a 21.7 percent success rate on the power play, and boast a 92.9 percent success rate on the penalty kill.

The one overtime loss? A 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers on the road. One night later, they rebounded and defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3.

Their most recent contest turned into a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Friday night at the American Airlines Center. The Sharks jumped ahead early, but Dallas clawed back and used a dominant performance from Ben Bishop (.953 save percentage) to seal the win.