3/20/2023 0 Comments Stars beyond contactAs DeBoer said himself, that well drying up will get you an early summer vacation. That’s why they can acknowledge the overtime and shootout struggles but simultaneously shrug those things off.īut scoring, be it at five-on-five or the power play, isn’t going anywhere. Not only do the Stars have a cushion in the standings but, according to Tankathon, the Stars have the easiest remaining schedule in the NHL. Unlike years past when they’ve lived on the fringe, they have a playoff spot virtually locked up, though the seeding is obviously up in the air. The Stars are going to get into the dance. Here’s the big-picture reality for the Stars: Everything is about what happens in the playoffs. The Blue Jackets were without their best player Johnny Gaudreau and only avoid the distinction of the worst team in the NHL by virtue of the two points they collected in Dallas. None of that discounts the fact that the Stars are the top team in their conference that’s going through a rough stretch, so the sense of urgency is heightened. Sure, the Stars were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and yes, they’re hexed on weekend afternoon starts and yes, Columbus went to Winnipeg and beat the Jets on Thursday. The Stars’ loss to the Blue Jackets is inexcusable, no matter how you cut it up. I’ve seen enough of it to know it’s going to be good enough but the reality is we can’t just be a power-play team.”Ĭorrecting the scoring problem is going to be a collaborative effort between the coaching staff, players and whatever hockey gods the Stars have enraged. I’m confident our power play is going to be good enough. “For me, that’s where we’ve got to take a step. ![]() 10 in the league, we’ve got to have secondary scoring, five-on-five scoring,” DeBoer added. “Whether our power play is hot this week, cold this week, get to the playoffs (and) it’s No. ![]() 6 in the NHL in goals scored per game - the Stars are 28th. But since the new year, despite their power play woes, the Bruins are still No. As we covered Friday night, Boston has been in an identical power-play slump as the Stars, whether the sample size goes back a couple of weeks or to the start of 2023. The Stars clearly have a power-play problem right now but more than that, they have a scoring problem. Hindsight isn’t as simple as looking back at chances and adding them to the scoreboard because those things end up changing how the game is played but the point remains. But even if the Stars had scored on their power play, from a bottom-line standpoint, it wouldn’t have been enough to even earn a point. Each team only got one power-play opportunity and Dallas nearly scored on its chance. Right on cue, Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Blue Jackets illustrated DeBoer’s point. Teams find a way in the playoffs to shut down the best power plays so you have to find other ways to score.” You can have the best power play in the league - I think Toronto has been a good example of that. “But for me, the bigger thing is, if you’re a team that only wins, only scores when your power play is hot, you’re not winning come playoff time anyways. “We do a little bit of everything but I mean, this power play thing, I know until we score, we’re going to talk about it,” DeBoer said.
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