The Dallas Stars put together an eventful and intriguing 2018-19 campaign that included highs, lows, adversity, and both a playoff berth and series win by the time it was all said and done. A large part of their success had to do with their impressive year within the division.
An achilles’ heel is defined as a critical weakness in spite of strength that can lead to a person or group’s overall downfall. And for the past few seasons, the Dallas Stars have had no shortage of achilles’ heels.
Terrible defensive units. Unbalanced and shaky goaltending. A historically bad penalty kill. Injuries galore. A constant trend of coming up just short in the playoff race. The list seems to go on and on.
But in different parts of the past six seasons, there’s been one primary achilles’ heel that has plagued the team: their play within the Central division.
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When the NHL realigned and switched from a six-division format to a four-division look, it clumped the Stars with some of the brightest and best talents in the NHL. And in the past few years, the Central division has not disappointed.
It’s the only division in the NHL where every team has qualified for the playoffs at least one time since 2013-14. Not only that, but each team has already qualified at least twice.
The Chicago Blackhawks have won a Stanley Cup. The Nashville Predators own a President’s Trophy and have made a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. The Winnipeg Jets are on the come-up with some of the brightest young talent in the league. The Minnesota Wild have qualified for the playoffs in every season except the most recent one. The St. Louis Blues are currently three wins away from a trip to the Stanley Cup. The Colorado Avalanche, who owned the worst record in the NHL in 2016-17, have made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.
And then there’s the Dallas Stars. They’ve been stuck on a rollercoaster of inconsistency since 2013-14, though they may be finally be finding their way off of it.
Blackhawk Up
In 2013-14, they put a five-year playoff drought to rest and secured the final wild card spot in the Western Conference before being ousted in six games by the Anaheim Ducks in round one. Still, the franchise seemed to finally be moving forward. Then came 2014-15, and a bad defensive structure mixed with a rotating goalie carousel led to the Stars missing the playoffs.
2015-16 saw the Stars win the Central division and Western Conference regular season titles behind 50 wins and 109 points in the regular season. It also saw them win their first playoff series since 2008 and go the distance with the Blues in round two before falling in Game 7. 2016-17 was one of the worst seasons in franchise history as Dallas crumbled at the hands of injury and inconsistency throughout the defensive zone. They missed the playoffs by 15 points and that prompted a wave of change within the organization.
The change didn’t end up working as the Stars once again missed the postseason in 2017-18 after an 0-6-2 skid in the month of March all but buried their once-lofty playoff hopes.
And in 2018-19, the Dallas Stars took on a mountain of adversity and found a way to conquer it. They worked their way back into the postseason as a wild card squad and downed the Nashville Predators in round one before falling to the Blues in the second round in double overtime of Game 7.
But still, the 2018-19 season looks like a promising step forward. Young players stepped up and took on big roles. Rookie head coach Jim Montgomery and his staff found a game plan that worked and preached it consistently throughout the season, making timely changes and alterations when necessary. Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin formed arguably the most dominant goaltending duo in the NHL. The defensive group put up some of the best numbers across the league.
And by the end of it, the Stars came up one goal short of a trip to the Western Conference Final. That’s a positive step forward for any team that missed the playoffs in each of the previous two seasons.
Oh, and they turned in an impressive year against the Central division. That cannot be forgotten, either.
But what does that have to do with anything? Well, a lot actually.
The thing about playing well against your division in hockey is that it does more than just increase your playoff odds. Sure, it helps boost your standing and gets you closer to the top three spots (which automatically qualify teams for the postseason), but it can also help build further success.
"“I think so. Looking at how tight things are, it’s kind of just a great indication of how tight and how tough things are in our division.” – Jason Dickinson on if the division is as tough as its been in years past, March 9, 2019"
This season, the Dallas Stars turned in an impressive 14-10-2 mark against the Central. That’s a nice step up from their 12-14-0 record within the division in 2017-18 and is a massive leap ahead of their 9-15-5 mark in 2016-17.
Their 2018-19 mark is impressive for a few different reasons. For one, it’s only the third time that they have posted a positive mark against the division (they qualified for the playoffs in each of the three instances). On another note, the Stars started the season on a 1-4-1 note against the Central and looked to be doomed yet again by their divisional foes.
But then, a turnaround occurred. Dallas righted the ship within the division and ended the year on a 7-3-0 note that helped them solidify a spot in the playoffs and beat out teams like Colorado and Minnesota.
Most importantly, though, they proved in the regular season that they could go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the division. In 2017-18, the Stars went a combined 1-7-0 against the top two teams in the division (Nashville and Winnipeg) with their only win coming in a shootout against the Predators.
This season, the Stars went a combined 8-3-2 against the top three teams in the division (Nashville, Winnipeg, and St. Louis). In many of those games, Dallas was the faster and more aggressive team and broke down their opponents piece-by-piece. They used their strengths to their advantage and set themselves up for a strong foundation in the playoff race because of it. To make the playoffs, you have to beat the teams at the top at some point.
Their success ended up carrying over into the postseason as Dallas knocked the Nashville Predators out in six games during the first round. The Predators entered the series as the top team in the Central, but were arguably outdone by the Stars in five of the six opening round contests. They played their game, executed their style perfectly, and found a way to wear down an unsuspecting Predators team.
And, as we already know, they took the St. Louis Blues to a Game 7 and fell just one tally short of another series win. It was a painful way to go, but brought plenty of hope and inspiration for the future.
That’s what strong play against the division can do for a team. Not only can it get them into the postseason, but it can provide encouragement and an unshakeable belief.
The Dallas Stars found that using their divisional play in 2018-19. And if that can carry over into the 2019-20 season and beyond, there’s no telling where this team might go.