Dallas Stars: Assessing Their Path To Close Out 2018

Only three games separate the Dallas Stars from the end of the 2018 calendar year. But what exactly are they up against, and is there a chance they finish the month on an undefeated note?

Three days away from the ice can do a lot of both good or bad for a hockey team. But what can it do for the 2018-19 Dallas Stars? We’ll find out on Thursday night.

The Stars did their morning skate routine in Dallas on Thursday morning before boarding a plane bound for Nashville. Later tonight, they will meet up with the Nashville Predators in a Central division matchup that could very well be deemed as critical to their season.

That’s because Dallas has spent the past two weeks digging themselves into a hole and undoing two months of consistent progress. After going 16-10-3 over their first two months of action, building a nice lead on the first wild card spot, and managing to get through various injuries while also adapting to a new coaching style and culture, the Stars hit a wall.

Starting on Dec. 9, the Dallas Stars posted a winless four-game road trip out to the west coast. An entire week with no points can be detrimental to a team in the loaded Western Conference, and it served up a hateful blow to the Stars.

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They returned home in hopes of turning things around and ended up doing so, but only for a brief moment. After defeating the Calgary Flames 2-0 last Tuesday, they dropped a 5-2 contest to the Chicago Blackhawks, who sit in the Central division cellar. And, after narrowly escaping with a 2-1 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, they collapsed in a 3-1 defeat to the New York Islanders to head into the NHL Holiday Break.

And now, the Dallas Stars sit 18-16-3 on the season. They are 2-6-0 in their last eight contests, are enduring the worst skid of their campaign so far, and cannot seem to get back on track. The offense hasn’t scored more than two even strength goals in a game since Dec. 7 against San Jose, the defense seems to have lost their consistency as a shutdown force (3.50 GA/game since Dec. 9), and everything seems out of sync. Jim Montgomery called the team “real bad” after the loss to New York and called today’s morning skate “f**king embarrassing.”

As the frustration continues to boil over for a team that seemed to hold so much promise just two weeks ago, a tough slate awaits them to close out December. With only three games separating the Dallas Stars from the beginning of the 2019 calendar year, the need for a quick turnaround is becoming more pressing. What better time to start than now so as to carry them into the 2019 year on a high note?

The Stars open up their post-holiday action in Nashville tonight with an important Central division matchup. The Predators currently sit in second place in the division standings after holding first place for the past two months. They were recently passed up by the surging Winnipeg Jets, and own a narrow two-point lead over the Colorado Avalanche. But even at 22-13-2, the Predators have their fair share of problems.

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While their defense still sits first in the NHL with a 2.54 GA/GP average, their offense has fallen to 15th. Their power play is fifth-worst in the NHL and their penalty kill has fallen out of the top 10. The Predators have not won a game since Dec. 15 (2-1 vs. New Jersey) and are 0-3-1 since. They are averaging just 2.33 goals per game in their current skid and looked to have needed the break just as much as the Stars.

Nashville defeated Dallas 5-4 in overtime in their first meeting of the season back in November. For the Stars, that game marked the first of 18 without star defenseman John Klingberg in the lineup and left Dallas running with a skeleton crew on the blue line. So, it was an important game for the Stars to at least get a point in, and they did so.

But now, they head to Bridgestone Arena, where they have not won since Oct. 18, 2016. It’s posed a baffling challenge for the Stars as the Predators have become arguably the most consistently dominant team in the Central over the past five seasons. Dallas needs a breakout game, and that could start tonight in an important divisional matchup against an opponent facing similar struggles in an arena that has had their number recently.

Following their duel with Nashville, the Dallas Stars will head back home to ring in the new year. Their first home contest comes against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night. The Red Wings pieced together a 4-2 comeback victory against Dallas when the teams first met back in late October, and have since leveled out in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference.

The Wings are 15-17-6 on the season, own the 23rd-best offense and eighth-worst defense in the NHL, and have lost six of their last seven contests. It will be their only trip to the American Airlines Center and will mark the final meeting between the two teams this season.