Dallas Stars: Challenging Homestand Offers Opportunity To Rebound

After almost two weeks on the road, the Dallas Stars are back home for a challenging three-game homestand against some of the league’s hottest teams. But if they play their cards right, they just might find a way to reestablish their momentum and even jump around the standings.

15 days. That’s how long it has been since the Dallas Stars last played a game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. And while that was only two weeks ago, it feels like a lifetime.

The last time the Stars played a game on home ice, they were flying high in their 2018-19 campaign. They had just defeated the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 4 to boost their win streak to five games and owned sole possession of third place in the Central division. The hot streak had taken the once-struggling Stars and molded them into a potential playoff threat.

But then came a five-game road trip, and all of that progress fell apart at the seams. In a swing that spanned from Glendale, Arizona to Raleigh, North Carolina over 10 days, the Dallas Stars struggled with finding consistency in their play.

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Against Nashville, Miro Heiskanen and Taylor Fedun kept a struggling Dallas offense in the game with goals and earned the Stars a point in an overtime loss. In Arizona, the Stars would have been shut out by the Coyotes had it not been for quick goals by Brett Ritchie and Alexander Radulov. Even so, they lost due to a slow start in a 3-2 final.

After a short trip back home to Texas, the Stars headed east for a three-game slate against the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Carolina Hurricanes.

Things started out on a solid note as Dallas wore down the Panthers and did enough to claim a 3-0 win. But that positive note was quickly wiped out on Thursday night in a 6-0 shellacking at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning. 48 hours later, the Stars wrapped the trip up by being shut out for the second consecutive game, this time in a 3-0 defeat against Carolina.

And so, the 1-3-1 road trip finished up on a sobering and revealing note. As the Stars saw their internal problems enter the spotlight, they also saw their position in the standings shift.

Dallas slipped back into the midst of the wild card race as the St. Louis Blues (who have won 10 consecutive games) forced their way into third place in the Central ranks. That’s a tough burden to bear after two weeks of sitting in prosperous territory, but it’s one that the Stars will have to meet head-on.

So, as the standings race gets tighter, the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline braces for impact, and the final push to the postseason ensues, the Stars find themselves with yet another uphill battle.

Now, things aren’t as bad as they could be. After all, the Dallas Stars are 6-3-1 in their past ten games and sit four points away from the Western Conference postseason cutoff. On top of that, they have 1-2 games in hand on each of the five teams within striking distance of the first wild card spot.

While that isn’t a good enough reason to get complacent, it is very much a reason to stay hopeful. When this team clicks, they know how good they can be. And when they don’t, the areas where they need to get better are obvious. The latter portion comes into play over the next week as GM Jim Nill will potentially look to make a move in the trade market in an effort to make his team better.

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But for now, the team has a familiar challenge set in front of them. It’s a challenge not only to stay ahead of a competitive pack in the Western Conference wild card race, but also to catch up to a surging juggernaut in St. Louis, reclaim their status among the Central division elites, and regain their momentum from the beginning of the month to use in the homestretch.

That can be much easier said than done and sometimes requires the perfect opportunity to present itself. Fortunately for the Dallas Stars, that opportunity will be plopped in front of them over the next five days.

It’s been a tale of two hockey teams with the Stars this season, depending upon where they play. When playing on the road, Dallas struggles to pick up points on a regular basis. They are 11-16-3 when competing away from home this season and never seem able to generate momentum.

At the American Airlines Center, however, it’s a different story. The Stars are an impressive 18-8-2 when playing at home this season, which includes a current four-game win streak. Maybe it’s the fan support, maybe it’s the comfort of simply being at home, or maybe it’s a little bit of a handful of factors. Regardless of the reasoning, Dallas has a knack for playing well at the AAC.

That’s good news, considering their next three games will be played at home. They kick off the three-game homestand on Tuesday night with a matchup against the Nashville Predators, follow it up with a Thursday night showdown against the Blues, and wrap things up on Saturday afternoon against the Hurricanes. Following that game, the Stars will head to Chicago to kick off a four-game trip on Sunday afternoon.

But the current focus rests on this homestand for a few different reasons. For one, the competitors are among some of the best teams in the NHL.