The Dallas Stars are scoring goals in bunches, which is like saying trains run on railroad tracks.
For something entirely different, though, there is this: the Stars lead the Western Conference.
An early hot streak from coach Lindy Ruff’s team has piqued the interest of the league, which may have to take them seriously now. The Stars, finally, are giving up goals at a less generous pace.
“Last year, we thought we could outscore every team,” Tyler Seguin, the leader of Dallas’ points-scoring machine, told The Associated Press. “This year we’re focusing on D zone, how we’re competing in our own end.”
No one would describe the Stars defence as an impenetrable wall. They still surrender 2.6 goals per game, which is 17th in the league. But when you are putting a conference-leading average of 3.6 goals in the other team’s net, as well, good things happen.
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Dallas’s problem last year was as obvious as the numbers. They scored and gave up goals at an identical pace, 3.13 per game. That kind of game led them to 10th place in the 14-team West, and out of the play-offs for the sixth time in seven seasons.
But the team’s 41-31-10 record suggested that subtle fixes were the answer, not an overhaul.
First, goalie Antti Niemi was brought in to share the net with their veteran, Kari Lehtonen. The duo are not battling each other, or anyone else, for Vezina Trophy honours, at the moment, but they are getting the job done.
“We’ve been able to supply them with a little bit of comfort, knowing that we can score goals,” Ruff told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who said his goalies only need to “give us the big save at the right time”.
So far so good.
The Stars also brought in a pair of veterans from the Stanley Cup-champion Chicago Blackhawks. Defenceman Johnny Oduya has helped shore up the back end, and forward Patrick Sharp has taken some of the scoring pressure off the Stars’ primary snipers, Seguin and Jamie Benn.
The former Hawks also bring their Cup cool to a team that needed to mature a bit, according to defender Alex Goligoski. Last year, the Stars had four streaks in which they went winless for at least four games. Goligoski said the team now play with more urgency when the puck does not bounce in their favour. “Games go a certain way and when they haven’t gone great, we’ve responded the right way,” he said.
The Stars’ 12-3-0 start might be hard to sustain, but they look play-offs bound, to some.
NBC Sports analyst Mike Milbury called them a “100 per cent” play-off lock, noting, “The defence is getting better by the day and the offence is the best in the league.”
Dallas would not be Dallas, of course, if they were not lighting the lamp. Seguin is tied for the league lead in points with 23. Benn has 21.
Second-year blue-liner John Klingberg still has a nose for the offensive end, collecting 15 points, including 13 assists.
Sharp has added six goals and six assists, and Jason Spezza, who had a so-so year last season after coming over from the Ottawa Senators, has five goals and seven assists.
Same old Stars? Happily for them, that is only half right.
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