I can tell you with certainty that there has to be some frustration in the Stars' locker room right now. With the Stars in the middle of a mid-season rut, they look to get things going against the Boston Bruins tonight. One thing that really stands out about their last game against the Tampa Bay Lightning is that they had a hard time cracking Andrei Vasilevskiy. He's a goaltender who started the movement for teams to seek taller goaltenders. How do you think Jake Oettinger became a Dallas Star?
It's time for the Stars to be selfless about their stats and figure out a way to play as a team. In my personal opinion, what's going on with the Stars right now. They need to put their individual performances aside and find a way to string together some wins before the Olympic break. Can the Stars find a way to play as a team and beat the Bruins tonight? Here are the three keys to the game tonight against the Bruins.
Dallas Stars vs. Boston Bruins Preview: 4. Play as a team
As I mentioned above, I think the Stars' issue right now is players trying to pad their statlines. However, they need to play as a team if they want to take down a team like Boston. That means I hope to see people feed Mikko Rantanen the puck on the power play and try to get Jason Robertson open. When the Stars play as a cohesive team, there are no weaknesses. Just play as a team, and the stats will follow.
Dallas Stars vs. Boston Bruins Preview: 3. Ambush Boston's goaltender
I don't know why the Stars were so scared to be in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy after Oskar Back's goal. It's not like the Russian goaltender is a vicious animal. The Stars need to ambush Jeremy Swayman if they want to break their losing streak tonight. There's no need to be shooting from the blue line and hoping it goes in off someone's skate in front of the net. I want to see at least two players circling Swayman like a hawk tonight. That's how the Stars are going to get things done tonight.
Dallas Stars vs. Boston Bruins Preview: 2. No Pasta zone
I hope the American Airlines Center takes pasta off its menu tonight, with David Pastrnak coming to town. They can put it back on all the menus once tonight's game is over. He has 20 goals and 39 assists coming into tonight's game against the Stars. Miro Heiskanen and his teammates will definitely be covering him so he doesn't have a career night in Dallas. That's the last thing the Stars need to have happen if they want to snap their losing streak tonight.
Dallas Stars vs. Boston Bruins Preview: 1. Help your goaltender
The one thing that really irks me about the Stars' losing streak is that they're not helping Casey DeSmith and Jake Oettinger out at all. While we could talk about how some of the goals on Sunday were on Oettinger, the Stars aren't helping them on the other side of the ice. Goalies don't earn their team points for each save. The Stars need to help out their goaltenders by putting pucks in the back of the net. For the love of God, help out your goaltender tonight by scoring on the other side of the ice.