Stars Accumulating Points, Rounding Into Form

Despite Saturday night’s overtime setback, the Dallas Stars are finding ways to pile up points and stay in contention for the NHL Central Division crown.

If there was ever any doubt that the NHL schedule makers have a perverse sense of humor, it was on display Saturday night. The Dallas Stars were set to play the St. Louis Blues on the second night of a back-to-back. This marked the fourth occasion this season that the Stars have had to play the Blues on short rest.

Further exacerbating the situation was the fact that the Stars were coming off their most complete win of the season in annihilating the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, 5-2. Playing hockey on consecutive nights is never easy, but when the Stars’ version of hockey kryptonite is on the docket, Saturday’s tilt had all the makings of a letdown. Though they lost in overtime, 5-4, the result isn’t indicative of the playoff-like effort they put forth.

In fact, the weekend series of games put the team’s strengths and weaknesses into sharp focus. The Blackhawks seem very content to let the game resemble a track meet. For whatever reason, this has tended to play into the Stars’ hands this year, as they have posted an impressive 3-1-0 record against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Blues, however, play a strong defensive game that is built to stymie teams like the offensive-minded Stars. Dallas has struggled to a 1-1-3 record against the Ken Hitchcock-led squad from St. Louis. Granted, three of the losses have come via overtime or shootout, but it would have been nice to see one of those games tilt the Stars’ way.

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As they say in boxing, styles make fights. The Stars have had their problems with the Blues this year. But even when all seemed lost on Saturday night, they managed to salvage a point on a dramatic late-game goal from captain Jamie Benn. This capped the comeback from a third period two-goal deficit, and displayed a grit the Stars had misplaced recently.

Finding a way to grind out points has been the Stars’ March calling card, in fact. Yes, their record for the month is a less-than-impressive 3-1-2, but that’s eight of twelve possible points, and those eight points have proven critical in keeping them in the NHL Central division race.

The other noteworthy aspect of their resiliency is that they’re doing this without some key cogs in their lineup. Defensemen John Klingberg, Jordie Benn, and Jason Demers have been out due to injury. While Klingberg and Benn could return as early as Tuesday, the injury to Demers is expected to cost him the remainder of the regular season.

In their stead, the team has had to rely on Jamie Oleksiak and rookie defenseman Stephen Johns to shore up the back end until the regulars re-enter the lineup. To their credit, they have played well. Johns, in particular, looked the part of NHL veteran despite having played his first game with the big club on Friday night. It will be interesting to see how the minutes get divvied up when everyone is healthy. What’s certain is that the Stars have the depth to weather the injury storm.

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This doesn’t even take into account the absence of injured left winger Patrick Sharp. He has been out of the lineup since March 1st with a lower body injury. His production had fallen off prior to that, but with his return also set for Tuesday versus the Los Angeles Kings, it only means more depth for a Stars team jockeying for playoff position and the possibility of home ice throughout the playoffs.