Dallas Stars season snapshot

With the NHL pausing the 2019-20 regular season on March 12 due to the concerns surrounding the coronavirus, NHL.com is taking stock of each of the League's 31 teams.
Today, a snapshot of the Dallas Stars at the pause:

Dallas Stars

Record:37-24-8, 82 points
Playoff position:Third place in Central Division, two points ahead of Winnipeg Jets; 10 points behind Colorado Avalanche for second
The Stars season has been a roller coaster.
There was a lot of optimism about Dallas after it was eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in the second overtime of Game 7 of the 2019 Western Conference Second Round. However, the Stars started the season losing eight of their first nine games (1-7-1), and although they went 14-1-1 in their next 16, uncertainty again crept in when coach Jim Montgomery was fired Dec. 10 because of unprofessional conduct.
More Stars season snapshot coverage: Awards | Fantasy honors | Memorable moments
Rick Bowness replaced Montgomery and guided Dallas to a 2-0 win against the New Jersey Devils hours later. In Bowness' first 13 games as coach, the Stars were 9-3-1, including a 4-2 win against the Nashville Predators in the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Cotton Bowl Stadium on Jan. 1.
But the Stars lost their final six games before the pause (0-4-2), including being shut out twice by the Predators in a home-and-home, resulting in their lead over the Jets for third place shrinking to two points.
The Dallas offense has been boosted by the emergence of rookie forward Denis Gurianov; 20-year-old defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who has 35 points (eight goals, 27 assists) and a plus-14 rating in 68 games; and leading scorer Tyler Seguin (50 points; 17 goals, 33 assists), who shook off a stale January (no goals in 10 games) with 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in February.
The Stars defense has been strong, allowing 2.52 goals per game, 174 total and 110 at 5-on-5, each ranked second in the NHL behind the Boston Bruins (2.39, 167, 106). Strong goaltending has helped. Ben Bishop has a .920 save percentage in 44 games (tied for 10th in NHL, minimum 23 games), and Anton Khudobin leads the League with a .930 save percentage in 30 games.

Breakout player

Denis Gurianov: He was a healthy scratch for Texas of the American Hockey League during the 2018 Calder Cup Finals and was sent down to the AHL on Oct. 11 after playing in the first three Stars games this season. But the 22-year-old forward scored a hat trick for Texas that night and was recalled by Dallas three days later. With renewed confidence, Gurianov has scored 20 goals (seven on the power play) in 64 games, first on the Stars and tied with Buffalo Sabres forward Victor Olofsson for second among NHL rookies, behind Dominik Kubalik of the Chicago Blackhawks (30).

Statement win

Stars 6, Minnesota Wild 3, Oct. 29: It was early in the regular season, but fans in Dallas were getting restless. The Stars entered the game against the Wild 4-8-1, including being shut out by the Pittsburgh Penguins in their previous game, and were trailing 3-0 with less than a minute left in the second period. About to be booed off the ice, Alexander Radulov got Dallas on the board with 48 seconds remaining to cut it to 3-1, and Dallas went on to score five unanswered goals in third, with Radulov getting two to complete the hat trick. It was the first of a four-game winning streak for the Stars that would turn into a 23-9-3 run leading into the NHL All-Star break.

Most compelling game

Stars 4, Nashville Predators 2, Jan. 1: The Stars put on a show for a sellout crowd of 85,630 by scoring four straight goals, three in the third period, to defeat the Predators at the 2020 Winter Classic. It was the second-highest attendance for a game in NHL history behind the 2014 Winter Classic between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings at Michigan Stadium (105,491). Beyond the pageantry, it was the Stars' third straight win, all with third-period comebacks that gave them an NHL-high seven victories when trailing entering the third period.