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Dallas Stars: Looking at division and numbers at the quarter-season mark

By Avery Klatsky

DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 24: Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche is congratulated by his teammates after scoring what would be the winning goal against the Dallas Stars in the third period at the Pepsi Center on November 24, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 24: Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche is congratulated by his teammates after scoring what would be the winning goal against the Dallas Stars in the third period at the Pepsi Center on November 24, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
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With the 2018-19 NHL season more than a quarter over, here is an analysis of the Dallas Stars’ season so far, in comparison to the rest of the Central Division and the NHL as a whole.

The Dallas Stars sit at fourth place in the Central Division just 27 games into the regular season—and, to be honest, that’s not great, but not bad. To put it the way that my fellow Sport DFW contributor Ben Davila put it, the Stars are the epitome of mediocrity.

And truer words have never been spoken. Their team stats are almost identical to the league average stats in a given category.

For example, the Stars’ have 31 points so far this season; the league average is 29. They have scored 74 goals and have given up 71; the league average is 80 for both goals for and goals against. Dallas has scored 13 power-play goals this season; the league average is 17. They’ve allowed two short-handed goals so far; the league average is three. You get the gist.

The Stars are certainly not a statistic powerhouse like the Nashville Predators or the Tampa Bay Lightning. But, they are fighting tooth and nail every night for those two points, and things are (sort of) paying off for them, whether that be by effort or by luck.

One can only be somewhat satisfied with how the Stars are doing at this point in the season, especially with so many negative factors that serve as disadvantages. For one, John Klingberg, the Stars’ best defenseman, has been out since Nov. 8 with a hand injury that required surgery.

Related Story. Lindell, Heiskanen have stepped up big for the Stars. light

Is certainly doesn’t help that several other players on the roster have been kept out of the lineup due to injuries (i.e. Martin Hanzal, Stephen Johns, etc.).

Couple that with the fact that head coach Jim Montgomery is just a quarter of a season into his first season coaching in the NHL, and it takes time not only for him to adjust to the players in the locker room, but for the players to adjust to Monty’s style of coaching.

That said, here are the Central Division standings (as of Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018):

  1. Nashville Predators – 18W – 8L – 1 OTL = 37 PTS
  2. Colorado Avalanche – 16W – 6L – 5 OTL = 37 PTS
  3. Winnipeg Jets – 16W –  8L – 2 OTL = 34 PTS
  4. Dallas Stars – 14W – 10L – 3 OTL = 31 PTS
  5. Minnesota Wild – 14W – 10L – 2 OTL = 30 PTS
  6. Chicago Blackhawks – 9W – 14L – 5 OTL = 23 PTS
  7. St. Louis Blues – 9W – 13L – 3 OTL = 21 PTS

Here are the top five teams that are dominating the Western Conference:

  1. Nashville Predators – Central Division – 37 PTS
  2. Colorado Avalanche – Central Division – 37 PTS
  3. Winnipeg Jets – Central Division – 34 PTS
  4. Calgary Flames – Pacific Division – 34 PTS
  5. Anaheim Ducks – Pacific Division – 33 PTS

The sixth team, you ask? The Dallas Stars, who sit just one win away from replacing Anaheim as the fifth best team in the division. If the Stars, for some obscure reason, were to be in the Eastern Conference, things would be worse for them, as they would be ranked 7th behind the Boston Bruins, who have 32 points on the season.

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If the Stars—again, for a miraculous reason—were to be placed in the Pacific Division, they would rank third in the Western Conference. But, since they are in the Central, they are fourth in their division.

Here are the top four leaders for their respective categories among players in the Western Conference. A * represents a player who ranks first in the league in the category. An underlined stat is a goalie-specific statistic.

Points

  1. Mikko Rantanen, RW* – Colorado Avalanche – 45
  2. Nathan MacKinnon, C – Colorado Avalanche – 43
  3. Connor McDavid, C – Edmonton Oilers – 35
  4. Blake Wheeler, RW – Winnipeg Jets – 34

Goals

  1. Patrik Laine, RW* – Winnipeg Jets – 21
  2. Nathan MacKinnon, C – Colorado Avalanche – 19
  3. Joe Pavelski, C – San Jose Sharks – 17
  4. Mark Scheifele, C – Winnipeg Jets – 16

Assists

  1. Mikko Rantanen, RW* – Colorado Avalanche – 34
  2. Blake Wheeler, RW – Winnipeg Jets – 30
  3. Brent Burns, D – San Jose Sharks – 25
  4. Nathan MacKinnon, C – Colorado Avalanche – 24

Goals Against Average (GAA)

  1. Pekka Rinne* – Nashville Predators – 1.86
  2. Mikko Koskinen – Edmonton Oilers – 2.15
  3. David Rittich – Calgary Flames – 2.21
  4. Semyon Varlamov – Colorado Avalanche – 2.23

Save Percentage

  1. Pekka Rinne – Nashville Predators – .934
  2. Semyon Varlamov – Colorado Avalanche – .930
  3. Calvin Petersen – Los Angeles Kings – .929
  4. Ryan Miller – Anaheim Ducks – .929

Wins

  1. Pekka Rinne – Nashville Predators – 11
  2. Connor Hellebuyck – Winnipeg Jets – 11
  3. Semyon Varlamov – Colorado Avalanche – 10
  4. John Gibson – Anaheim Ducks – 10

Shutouts

  1. Pekka Rinne – Nashville Predators – 2
  2. Ben Bishop – Dallas Stars – 2
  3. Mikko Koskinen – Edmonton Oilers – 2
  4. Aaron Dell – San Jose Sharks – 2

Next. Dallas Stars: Two Dark Horses and two Underperformers. dark

How do you think Dallas has done this year, Stars fans? Make sure to leave a comment below!

  • Published on 12/03/2018 at 17:01 PM
  • Last updated at 12/03/2018 at 13:02 PM
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