The Dallas Stars are considered one of the least physical teams in the NHL, a point often made by fans, especially pre-trade deadline, as they sought more heft from their favorite team.
But on Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas was up to the task in matching the desperate VGK energy. The Stars racked up 26 hits in a mucky, grindy 2-1 win in a game that resembled just the type Dallas is likely to get into this postseason.
The Stars are largely considered a skill team. On both ends of the ice, even. Their 219 goals rank seventh in the league, and their 170 goals against rank second. And the latter comes despite ranking 25th in the NHL in hits, getting just 18.03 per game. Instead, Dallas' defense plays angles, uses poke checks, and blocks shots to keep the puck out of the net. The physical game is not the team's calling card. And when Adam Erne and Lian Bichsel are out of the lineup, the hits dry up.
Final team stats for tonight's game.
— Dallas Stars Game Bot (@DALGameBot) March 11, 2026
Leaders (Final):
TOI: 26:35 (M. Heiskanen)
SOG: 2 (M. Bourque +2) • Hits: 5 (A. Erne)
Blocks: 6 (E. Lindell) • Takeaways: 1 (J. Benn +1)#TexasHockey | #VGKvsDAL pic.twitter.com/CG1Oci470T
But the playoffs are a different animal. The most recent data readily available showed an average of 35.0 hits per game, per team, in the 2022-23 playoffs. Incidentally, Dallas ranked 16th out of the 16 playoff teams that year, averaging just 23.7, almost four hits less per game than the 15th-ranked team.
Not that the lack of physicality has hurt the Stars in recent seasons. Well, maybe it has. Dallas has made the Western Conference Finals each of the last three years, falling to the Edmonton Oilers in the last two and those Golden Knights back in 2022-23. Would a more physical defense have slowed the electrifying Oilers? Maybe, but it's impossible to know. A usual trade for physicality is slowness of foot. The fastest skaters usually aren't at the top of hitting rankings (though that isn't always the case - see: Nikita Zadorov, Beck Malenstyn, and Bobby McMann).
Most importantly, the Stars won a game in which they were outshot by nine and managed just 16 on-net themselves. Vegas pushed and pushed in the final seconds, looking for the game-tying goal that never came. And while it may have come in March and not May, the game had the feel of postseason, and Dallas proved it has what it takes to win in whatever way.