Whatever problems the Dallas Stars had last season, a lack of power-play opportunities weren't one of them. Dallas had more power plays than the opposition both at home and on the road.

Advantage Margin: +40
Whatever problems the Stars had last season, a lack of power-play opportunities weren't one of them. Dallas had more power plays than the opposition both at home and on the road, and the Stars' 328 chances were tops in the West and second in the NHL.

Special Teams Goal Margin: -3
The Stars had an especially tough time killing penalties at home, finishing last with a 76.1 percent success rate. That pushed the Stars down to 27th (77.4 percent) overall, although the PK unit did score nine times.       

Goals by defensemen: 22
Stephane Robidas had 10 goals from the blue line, meaning that the rest of the Stars' defenders managed only a dozen in 82 games -- one big reason that Dallas missed the playoffs for the second year in a row. The 22 goals matched Dallas' total in '08-09, indicating that the Stars still haven't found a replacement for Sergei Zubov.

Overtime Record
Total: 9-4-10 • OT: 2-4 • SO: 7-10
The Stars, who dominated shootouts in the early years of the breakaway competition, were hurt badly by their inability to win them last season. Their struggles were largely due to an inability to score -- Dallas' 18.7 percent success rate was 29th in the League.
     
Times Scored First: 35 • Record: 23-5-7   
Only Toronto (30) and Edmonton (34) got the jump on the opposition less often than the Stars, who won less than two-thirds of the time when they did score first.        

Best 09-10 Number: 91
Points by center Brad Richards, who matched his career high. It was the most points by a Dallas player since Mike Modano put up 93 in 1993-94.

Worst 09-10 Number: 22
Margin by which the Stars were outscored in the first two periods -- a number that negated their plus-10 margin in the third period.
    
Scheduling
Franchise icon Modano, allowed to leave at age 40, comes to town in the home opener. The Stars also get an early six-game homestand and a seven-gamer in March. But they have only two home games after that and finish with seven of their last nine away from home.