2020-21 Dallas Stars season: A look at what went wrong

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The Dallas Stars were 2 games from winning the Stanley Cup in the 2019-20 season. The Stars followed up with a 5th place Central division finish and did not qualify for the playoffs. These results beg the question: What went wrong with the 2020-21 Dallas Stars?

DALLAS, TEXAS – MARCH 25: Jake Oettinger #29 of the Dallas Stars blocks a shot on goal against Yanni Gourde #37 of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first period at American Airlines Center on March 25, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Site Expert note: Please excuse Blackout Dallas (BOD) while we play catch up with a new writing team. BOD’s last article was posted in March and much has transpired since. Our new team does not wish to rub salt on old wounds or beat dead horses. However, there are topics worth covering that we will be catching up on. With that said, lets get down to some fan business.

1. The Stars were badly bit by COVID-19

The Dallas Stars opened the 2020-21 season with 17 players and staff testing positive for COVID-19. The infections stalled an already-abbreviated training camp and delayed the Stars start to the season. Dallas opened the doors to training camp late and played their first game 9 days after the season started.

Dallas Stars to start season late after Covid-19 positives w six players, two staffers. First game for them no earlier than January 19.
— Eric Fisher (@AEricFisher) January 8, 2021

After 4 postponements, the Stars smashed the Nashville Predators in a 7-0 rout to finally begin the season. Dallas won their first 4 contests before a 1-7 skid as the calendar flipped to February. It became clear the team’s lack of a qualitative preseason resulted in a slow start. The situation worsened as a winter storm added 4 more postponed games to the Stars schedule.

Our friends at Pucks and Pitchforks were quick to realize the oddities caused by COVID:

So... the Dallas Stars went 4-0 after coming back from the rescheduled early part of their season. Since then, they are 2-7-4. The Devils came back from their COVID pause 2-0 and are now 1-6-0 since. The Sabres are also the Sabres. Maybe a team can't rebound from an outbreak.
— Pucks and Pitchforks (@pitchforkedpuck) March 5, 2021

The Stars closed the 2020-21 regular season with 6 games in 10 days, all of which were on the road. Dallas went 2-2-2 during the stretch.

2. Too many injuries

It is without a doubt that the Dallas Stars compressed schedule contributed to their numerous injuries. Alexander Radulov missed most of the 2020-21 campaign after and posting 11 points in the Stars first 8 games. 2020’s bubble hero, Joel Kiviranta, also missed time last season due to nagging injuries and was unable to settle into the lineup. Defenseman Roope Hintz was also not himself this season, choosing to play through an avulsed adductor muscle injury, rather than immediate surgery.

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – SEPTEMBER 28: Tyler Seguin #91 of the Dallas Stars collides with Erik Cernak #81 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period in Game Six of the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on September 28, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Speaking of surgery, forward Tyler Seguin and goalie Ben Bishop were non-factors for 2020-21 due to pre- and post-operation timetables. Seguin’s hip surgery was delayed following a recovery period that was longer than the Stars initial four-month estimate. The 28-year-old ultimately returned to the ice for the Stars final 3 games of the season. Bishop did not return to the ice after his slower-than-expected recovery from knee surgery.

3. Lack of scoring

The 2020-21 Dallas Stars suffered from a scoring deficiency that plagued them to their final game. Dallas dropped 14 games in overtime, 5 of which were to Nashville. The pile-on of one-goal losses was to blame for Dallas losing the Central’s final playoff spot to the Predators.

ALL of those overtime losses came back to haunt the Dallas Stars. They finished 4 points away from the playoffs. Fittingly, they won their last game of the season in OT #GoStars
— Rodrigo Chiquini (@rochiquini) May 11, 2021

The Stars struggled to find offensive consistency without the likes of Seguin and Radulov on the ice. Dallas finished the season with 156 goals in 56 games, which ranked them 16th in the league. The Stars were especially bad in the first period, scoring only 39 goals and posting a 6-15-9 record when their opponent scored first.

The Dallas Stars will look to put COVID-19 and offseason surgeries behind them as they prepare for the 2021-22 season. Fans will have every reason to expect Rick Bowness to put the Stars back on the cup chase. Seguin, Radulov, and Hintz will be back to a clean bill of health, in addition to Ben Bishop. Bishop remains in Dallas and will compete with free agent signee Braden Holtby for the starting job. The Stars will also project some machismo from Miro Heiskanen’s new contract, in addition to Ryan Suter’s addition to the blue line. -JG

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