Dallas Stars: Third Period Play Becoming Strength During Recent Surge
By Josh Clark
The last few weeks have shown a new side of the Dallas Stars. But within the 5-0-1 stretch, one common and new theme stands out: dominating in the third period. The Stars look poised and dominant in crunch time, and that’s a critical element to a winning formula.
Jan. 19, 2019 marked an important turning point in the story of the 2018-19 Dallas Stars.
There’s no certainty as to why it happened when it did or what the driving force was behind it, but it changed the Stars’ outlook in a significant way.
The Stars, fresh off of a loss to the last-place Los Angeles Kings that marked four straight, were on the playoff wall and close to slipping outside of the picture. But, behind a strong performance on offense, defense, special teams, and in net, Dallas rallied out of the skid with a 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets.
The win helped them enter their 10-day break in the schedule on a high note and gave the team a slight pulse to work with.
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That win seems like an eternity ago. And as the Dallas Stars prepare for a matchup with the Arizona Coyotes today, they are doing something much bigger. Instead of struggling to stay in the playoff picture and keep their record above .500, the Stars are 28-21-5 with 61 points. They sit third in the Central division and have a somewhat comfortable gap between them and the Western Conference playoff wall. Instead of hoping for their playoff lives, the Stars now find themselves in a battle in the top three of the division.
It’s all thanks to a recent surge made by the team. Starting with the win over Winnipeg, the Stars are 5-0-1 over the past three weeks. They have picked up 11 of a possible 12 points and gone 3-0-1 against divisional foes sitting above them in the standings.
Each win has been significant in its own way. The win against the Jets required speed and more aggression along with special teams help. The win over Buffalo and both contests against Nashville were defensive struggles. The victory against Minnesota was a back-and-forth affair. And finally, the win over Arizona involved a late offensive outburst.
As a result, there isn’t really one primary factor or blueprint that the Dallas Stars have used in every game during this points streak. But there has been one common thread that they have improved greatly upon over the past three weeks in general: their third period play.
Let’s jump backwards to the morning of Jan. 12 for a moment. The Stars are coming off of a stale 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers to close a three-game road trip and are back at the American Airlines Center for a six-game homestand. Dallas has been strong on home ice in the 2018-19 season, so it looks as though they are in good shape even after going 1-2-0 on the trip.
The stand starts off with a visit from the St. Louis Blues and is followed by visits from the Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, and Winnipeg Jets before an extended schedule break settles in.
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But, things start off far from a promising note. Instead, the Stars drop their first three contests, losing 3-1 to the Blues, 2-0 to the Lightning, and 2-1 to the Kings. The three losses push Dallas into the second wild card spot in the west and have them on the brink of falling out of the playoff picture for the first time in almost one month.
What went so terribly wrong during the skid? As we now know, the Dallas Stars broke out of the skid and have since won five of their last six.
But during that losing streak, there was one common element that needed fixing: third period play.
The Stars’ third period play hasn’t been a strength for much of the 2018-19 season. Whether it’s trying to hold a lead, rally from a deficit, or break a tie, the final 20 minutes have not been kind to Dallas. Going into Jan. 12, the Stars had been outscored 49-39 through 45 games played. That’s over one goal against per third period in the 2018-19 season.
And through the first three games of the homestand, things didn’t get much better. The Stars actually tied their opposition in terms of third period goals through the first three home games, with each side posting two. And yet, Dallas went 0-3-0. That’s partly due to slow starts against each opponent on the scoreboard, but it was also due to an inability to rally in crunch time.
Against St. Louis, the Stars were down 2-0 heading into the final period and cut the lead in half with an Erik Condra goal. Four minutes later, however, Vladimir Tarasenko scored to push the Blues lead back to two. Tampa held a 1-0 lead in the final frame and, while the Stars pushed to find an equalizer, the Lightning found another goal to make it a 2-0 final. And, besides an Esa Lindell goal scored during a last ditch 6-on-5 effort in the final minute, the Stars went cold in the third period in a 2-1 loss to the Kings.
Third periods are where the good hockey teams find a way. Whether it’s hunkering down in the defensive zone and protecting a lead or pushing the puck up the ice in an attempt to tie or take the lead, a good hockey team knows how to get the job done when it matters most. It’s not necessarily a skill that can be taught by any coaching staff, but is instead a mindset that must be accessed.
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And since Jan. 19, the Dallas Stars have been a good hockey team. They’ve been picking up valuable points in the standings and outdoing potential playoff challengers.
A large part of their recent success has come in the third period.
Against Winnipeg, the Stars entered the final frame with a 3-0 lead. The Jets quickly countered out of the gate with back-to-back goals to make it a 3-2 game. But, through a strong defensive stand mixed with an explosive counterattack, an impressive showing from Ben Bishop in net, and a Tyler Seguin power play goal, Dallas won the final frame and claimed the 4-2 win.
Upon returning from their break, the Stars were back at home against the Buffalo Sabres. After building an early 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from Jamie Benn, Dallas faced an offensive assault by Buffalo, a team trying to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race, in the final frame. And, although the Sabres outshot the Stars 14-7 in the final 20 minutes, Dallas walked away with a 1-0 win. They battened down the hatches when the game called for it and protected a narrow lead.
The Minnesota Wild offered an intriguing challenge as the Dallas Stars wrapped up their homestand two days later. The Stars had outplayed the Wild for a majority of the contest as the two teams entered the third period, but still found themselves stuck in a 1-1 tie. In the final frame, however, Tyler Seguin scored two goals and Dallas shut the door in the defensive end to wrap up a 3-1 win.
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They did something similar in Nashville 24 hours later. After trading goals in the opening period and going scoreless in the second, the Stars dug in for the third period. And with less than five minutes to go, Blake Comeau scored on a rebound chance to put the Stars in front for the first time in the game. 43 seconds later, Mattias Janmark scored to wrap up the game. Anton Khudobin stood tall against the Predators’ final attack and helped Dallas claim a fourth straight win.
Two days later, Dallas found themselves in a 2-1 hole against Arizona going into the final period. But, instead of crumbling under the pressure put on by the Coyotes, the Stars exploded for four goals in the final 20 minutes. That included John Klingberg, Janmark, and Radek Faksa scoring to give Dallas the 4-2 lead, Arizona clawing back to even with two goals of their own, and Tyler Seguin finishing the game off with a tally that bumped the Stars to a 5-4 advantage.
That leaves us with Thursday night’s contest against the Predators. Though it eventually turned into an overtime loss, the Dallas Stars once again saw their third period woes turn into heroics. Upon entering the final 20 minutes in a 1-0 hole, the Stars made a hard push to tie. And just 4:05 into the frame, Miro Heiskanen scored to get Dallas on the board. The Predators tallied a few minutes later to regain the lead, but Taylor Fedun scored 1:05 later to tie it up again and eventually force overtime.
Back-to-back equalizers in one of the toughest buildings in the NHL against one of the league’s best defensive teams kind of sums up the past few weeks for the Dallas Stars. It also says a lot about what they are accomplishing. The Stars’ current surge is due in large part to their third period success.
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When they need to dig in and defend a small lead, they can do it. When they need to break a tie, they can do it. And when they need to recover from a not-so-great start and still find a way to get points, they can do that as well.
As a result, the Stars are now being outscored the third period 56-52. That’s a six-goal swing in six games.
Playing well in the third period is a strength that few teams possess on a consistent basis. It almost seems that the final period always works against a hockey team. If they are leading, the other team brings an all-out assault that usually works. If they are trailing, it can be a difficult and sometimes insurmountable hill to climb.
The third period is an enemy to most hockey teams. Right now, the Dallas Stars seem to view it as an ally and a new challenge to overcome on a nightly basis. That’s not something that can be taught or embodied. Instead, it simply comes with focus and the proper mindset.
One thing is for sure, though: it’s a key ingredient in a winning formula in today’s NHL. If a team can succeed in the third period, there’s no telling where it could take them.
“Just trust it. Individually and as a team, we just stuck with the process all game. We found a way.”
Tyler Seguin said that following the Stars’ win over the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 1. But, in all reality, the quote could be applied to every game during this surge. That all starts with their third period efforts.
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The belief is there that this team can win in any situation or setting. The third period is no longer a weakness for the Dallas Stars, but instead a strength.
And, as another important road trip continues on Saturday afternoon in Arizona, that’s a belief that any team would love to have in their locker room.