Something is Seriously Wrong with The Dallas Stars

With over a third of their season gone, the Dallas Stars look nothing the young and dangerous contender they resembled a year ago.

First off, in every attempt to be fair, the Dallas Stars are fifth in the National Hockey League in man games lost. Only Detroit, Edmonton, Buffalo, and Boston have been bitten by the injury bug this badly. In fact, of that bunch, only the Oilers and Bruins currently hold a playoff position. A spate of injuries can kill a season before it has a chance to build any momentum.

While it is easy to attribute the slow start to a rash of assorted traumas, it is also a convenient excuse as well. Players like Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are healthy. Seguin is on a point-per-game pace. Benn is not far behind, in terms of points. So while the offensive production remains, there is the nagging aspect that both are woeful in plus/minus.

In other words, they are getting scored on–a lot–when they are on the ice. Currently, they have combined to go -16, and this was before last night’s game against the Blackhawks. Given this statistic, the Stars’ 11-12-6 record is not that much of a surprise.

Now, is it fair to place all the blame at their feet? Of course not. This malaise reaches far beyond Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Truth be told, it probably reaches back to the offseason. Defenseman Jason Demers is gone, signed away to the Florida Panthers via free agency. Oft criticized defenseman Alex Goligoski was traded away to Arizona. And do not forget the contributions of glue guys like forward Vernon Fiddler, either. The fan favorite signed a free agent deal with the Devils in the offseason.

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What it amounts to is something of a perfect storm, in terms of the lack of chemistry the Stars currently display on a night-to-night basis. To be sure, they led the league in goals-for last year at 3.23 a game.

Conversely, this year’s pace is a paltry 2.55 goals per, good for 17th in the league. Most alarming, though, is their drop on the defensive end. No one considered the Stars an elite defensive team at any point, but they were lower middle of the pack last year.

As of today, they’re 29th in the league, giving up a whopping 3.21 goals every night they touch the ice.

The simple fact of the matter is the Stars are unable to outscore their problems.

They are a mix of ill-fitting parts. For every night they put up a 5-2 shellacking of the Predators, they answer with a lackluster 4-2 setback in Philadelphia. This team isn’t even middling at this point, they’re bad.

Finally, the decision that is hurting them the most was choosing to stand pat between the pipes. Goaltending was never this team’s strong suit, and it has been exposed even more now that they aren’t scoring at the clip everyone is used to seeing. Offseason attempts to land a premier netminder never developed, and the Stars’ brass decided to go with the status quo. While the defensive play in front of the backstops leaves much to be desired, the performances in the crease aren’t providing the difference making margin in tight games.

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If there is a silver lining, it is that there is almost two-thirds of the season left to find the right mix. The Dallas Stars are only two points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. As bad as it has been, they still control their fate if they can find the discipline and composure on the ice. But for a team that was widely considered a nascent Stanley Cup contender, they have certainly played well below expectations.

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