Dallas Stars Defeat St. Louis Blues, Continue Addressing Various Issues

Tuesday night brought the Dallas Stars a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. The win propelled them back into a top-three divisional spot and added onto their recent hot stretch. That hot stretch is largely due to the efforts that the Stars have made to shore up certain parts of their game.

The Dallas Stars knocked off the St. Louis Blues by a final score of 3-1 at the Enterprise Center on Tuesday night. And while there were no fights, flashy goals, or shutouts, the game served as an uplifting two points for the visiting team.

In the second stop of a three-game road trip, Dallas found a way to scoop up two points against a divisional opponent. It wasn’t necessarily the prettiest win, with the Stars building an early 3-0 lead and then attempting to gut it out in the defensive end through the final 30 minutes. But, two points are two points, regardless of how a team goes about obtaining them.

The win propelled them back into third place in the Central division standings and has them within reach of the top spot. It also pushed the Stars to 5-1-1 since the NHL Holiday Break ended, and that’s where our story begins.

This is arguably the hottest streak that the team has boasted so far in the 2018-19 season, and that comes with a massive boost at the 44-game mark. The Stars are finding ways to win important games and have inserted themselves into the thick of the Western Conference playoff picture.

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So, what changed? What is it that the Dallas Stars are doing differently? Is their offense finally flaring? Are they simply shutting down opponents with solid defense and lights-out goaltending while on their way to gritty, low-scoring wins? Is it merely due to the fact that Dallas is playing low-end competition? Is there any luck involved?

Some of these might hold a certain level of truth and some might not. But, perhaps more than anything else, the Stars are winning because they are fixing certain problems that plagued them through the first half of the season.

Now, let’s not neglect to point out that Dallas had its fair share of problems through the first 41 games. There were injury problems, inconsistencies with team play from game to game, and the lack of a solid and formed identity. To add onto that, hockey is a game of ebbs and flows, so new problems will almost always arise as the season goes along.

For example, the Stars’ third periods are beginning to become a problem. Dallas has been outshot 358-498 in the final frame this season and owns a -11 goal differential. The third period is where good teams not only hold the line, but continue surging towards the finish line. The Stars are struggling to do that, and it showed against a tired and subpar Blues team.

There will always be something that the Stars can improve upon or shore up; it’s part of the game, after all. But, it’s hard to not acknowledge all of the strides they have taken in fixing their early-season issues over the past few weeks.

First off, they are picking up their play when away from home. In their last four road contests, the Dallas Stars are 3-1-0. This streak has boosted the Stars’ road record from 6-11-2 to 9-12-2 and is slowly turning an early struggle into less of a problem.

They are also winning against the Central division. At one point just before Christmas, the Stars were 1-4-1 against the division. Now, they are 4-5-1 in the division. They have won three of their past four contests and are ascending the divisional standings as a result.