Dallas Stars: What Goes Into Enduring, Breaking A Losing Streak
By Josh Clark
A losing streak never produces an enjoyable experience for a hockey team. Right now, the Dallas Stars are stuck in their longest skid of the 2018-19 regular season. But, what all goes into enduring and breaking a losing streak from both a player and team perspective?
On March 11, 2018 as they entered PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Penn., it’s unlikely that the Dallas Stars knew what was coming; in fact, not even the coaches, management, or fans knew. That ended up making for a rather rude awakening.
“It was the worst time you could’ve had a losing skid, and it was our season,” said Tyler Seguin. “That’s the end of it.”
With a record of 38-24-6 and 82 points, everything seemed to be in place for the Stars’ return to the playoffs. They sat in the first wild card spot following a gritty 2-1 comeback win over Anaheim and were set to embark on a six-game road trip against decent opponents. The trip included stops in Pittsburgh, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Washington.
The mixture of strong and flawed competitors seemed to provide a certain element of promise even to a Stars team that had only played .500 hockey (14-14-3) away from home in their 2017-18 campaign up to that point. The table was set for a playoff run, and Dallas simply needed decent results from their six-game trip to keep their playoff hopes in good health.
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But, that didn’t end up happening. In fact, the complete opposite occurred. The Stars couldn’t start the trip off on a high note and fell 3-1 to the Penguins; two days later, they were downed 4-2 by Antti Niemi and the Montreal Canadiens; the Maple Leafs rallied to beat them the following night in a 6-5 shootout and the Senators closed out their week with a 3-2 overtime win. In their final stops, a 4-2 loss to the Jets and 3-2 defeat to the Capitals wrapped up an abysmal and gruesome road trip for Dallas.
And, almost as if it happened overnight in a ruthless and twisted dream, the Stars went from the wild card picture to outside of the playoff picture entirely. Two more losses at home to the Bruins and Canucks put an ugly bow on an eight-game dud that killed any chance the Stars had at putting together a magical playoff run with Ken Hitchcock. By April 1, they had been mathematically eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoff race.
It was a learning experience for the entire locker room. From the players, to the coaching staff, and even up to management, the infamous losing skid of March 2018 will forever live in infamy in the Dallas Stars history books. It’s still a sore subject to talk about around members of last year’s squad.
“Oh yeah,” Esa Lindell said with a deflated tone after being asked about last season’s skid.
It just goes to show what kind of an effect a losing skid can have on a hockey team. Even for a team that looks to be a shoo-in for the postseason, one small stretch of losses can not only extinguish playoff hopes, but also damage the internal confidence of the group. It’s a fact of the game.
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But, after a long summer of adjusting and reflection, the Dallas Stars returned to the ice looking for a shot at redemption. With a new head coach in Jim Montgomery, new pieces to the lineup, and a refreshed outlook, everything seemed lined up for another run.
And through the first 29 games of this current 2018-19 campaign, everything was going right. The Stars were 16-10-3 with 35 points and held sole control of the first wild card spot. They had been dealt some early obstacles with a mass of injuries to key players and a daunting schedule against the ever-challenging road. But somehow, Dallas was finding ways to overcome their issues.
That rebellious spirit disappeared on Dec. 9 and has not been seen since; that’s contributed in large part to the Stars’ current struggle.
Over the last nine days, the Dallas Stars are 0-4-0. After winning in a row to close out November and kick off December, the Stars hit the road for a four-game road trip to the west coast. It tacked onto a mass of road games that Dallas had played through in the previous month, ringing the tally up to 17 of their last 24 being played away from home.
But while the Stars had shown positive signs of rebounding from their road woes of previous years, this trip exposed their flaws. Dallas dropped a 4-2 decision to Vegas to kick off the trip and followed it up with a 6-3 loss to Anaheim, 3-2 loss to San Jose, and 6-4 loss at Colorado. And just like that, a four-game skid has moved the Stars outside of the playoff picture for the first time in over a month.
There might be something eerily familiar about this current skid when thinking about last season’s turmoil. Sure, they are taking place at different times in the regular season schedule (and that plays a bigger role than you may think), but the elements are strangely similar.
And that begs an answer to the question: what all goes into a losing skid? And on top of that, how does a team go about breaking one?
"“I think those things may creep in. We’re human, so they may want to creep in. But, as professionals, it’s on us to not panic and focus on what we have to do to get better. I’m not going to say don’t worry about it because that obviously happened for a reason and we really need to fix it. But, at the same time, just remembering what makes us successful and in the sport of hockey and in this league especially, confidence is huge. You have to make sure to go out and be confident as a team and as an individual. The only way you can get that is through your work in practice and just believing in your abilities as a team.” –Devin Shore"
Sure, you can dream up your own scenarios of what losing skids do to teams. Those scenarios can include players losing sleep, coaches getting desperate in their game planning, or management considering shortsighted trades. But, in all reality, it’s more a mind game than anything.
“Obviously when you have a losing streak, it’s never great for the group and never great for the confidence,” said Martin Hanzal. “You have to make sure we play desperate hockey and do the basic stuff like going hard to the net. Like a simple play; don’t try and make cute plays. Just basic stuff and outwork the other team. That’s the bottom line.”
“You become more desperate,” Seguin added. “You try to simplify and obviously change things you’re doing that aren’t working. So, just simplify and get some more desperation.”
A losing streak can sometimes involve a team shifting towards panic mode. The leaders have to know when to speak out, the depth players have to know when to step up, and the entire team must work to get over the hump. If one group falters, the hump becomes bigger. And, like when digging a hole, the further in you go, the farther you seem to get from being able to exit. The turnaround seems to always start with the leaders. As of right now, the Stars’ leaders are doing just that.
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“I think, right now, I like what our leadership group has done,” said Devin Shore. “Beyond that, I think that the depth of our team, everyone is saying the right things and our mentality is in the right spot. I think, right now, it’s just a matter of execution. We still believe in this group, obviously. It was a tough patch, but by no means should we hit the panic button. Our mindset is in the right spot; we just have to go out there and get the job done.”
The Dallas Stars are riding their longest losing streak of the year right now, and that brings a sign of caution with it. Is this streak going to turn into another playoff killer? Does this skid feel the same as last year’s March skid? The locker room seems to have a unanimous answer.
“No, it doesn’t feel similar and I think mostly just because of the timing of it,” said Shore. “Last year, our backs were against the wall in the playoff push and we didn’t get the job done. But those points that we just gave up on that road trip are just as valuable as those ones we gave up last year, regardless of the timing of the season. So, we’re going to have to find a way to bunker down and get those back.”
“No, this is game 34,” Seguin added. It’s different, for sure.”
“I don’t think so,” said Lindell. “That one last year felt so different when we lost all of those on the road trip. At the end of the games, we’re more tighter and that’s why we were close, but not good enough.”
So, what does all of this boil down to? Well, it’s simply a matter of moving on and looking ahead. That can be easier said than done at times, but the Dallas Stars seem ready to make it happen.
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“Not for myself,” Lindell said in regards to if the skid affects his mentality or style. “I’m just trying to do the same thing as always. Maybe work a bit harder than usually. It was a tough road trip like you said, and it’s something that we have to step up today.”
“Obviously, no one likes losing and when there’s a losing skid, you have to snap out of it at some point,” said Seguin. “So, we’re looking forward to doing that.”
As a result, the Stars will now endure an extensive slate of home games as they try and rebound from this unfriendly slump. Of their next 18 games, 13 will be played at the American Airlines Center, where Dallas owns a dominant 10-3-1 mark. The road has been an unfriendly beast, but now the Stars shift to home-ice advantage. It seems to have come not a moment too soon.
“Being at home will help a lot, too, “Seguin said. “We’ve been on the road for the last, it feels like three months. It was a lot on the road and I think everyone is happy to be back home and hopefully get this win tonight.”
And so, attempt no. 5 at breaking the losing trend will commence at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night against a good Calgary Flames group.
A skid is never enjoyable, whether it comes at game five or game 75. But, regardless of when it happens, it’s up to the team to dig their way out. That’s what the Dallas Stars are tasked with tonight.
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“It starts with one game,” Shore said. “You can’t get eight points in one night, so you just have to focus on the Calgary Flames tonight and start to rebuild.”
Here’s to a promising step one.