The good news about this little break in the Stars’ season is the fact the team is sitting pretty good at 10-5-2, the ninth best points percentage in the league.
The even better news is they haven’t really hit their stride when it comes to the vision of what this team can be.
When the Stars’ scoring struggles at even strength became quite obvious in the playoffs last season against Minnesota, head coach Glen Gulutzan came up with some ideas to attack the problem this year. There were tweaks to the forecheck, to the breakouts from the defensive zone and to play in the neutral zone all designed to up the offense.
So far, those changes haven’t really worked in the clearest of analytical terms. But, at the same time, Dallas is playing some of its best defensive hockey and finding ways to win games.
“The intended effect of what we changed this summer was to create a little more offense and what it’s helped us do is be a little more defensive,” Gulutzan said. “We haven’t lost any offense because of it, but we haven’t gained any.”
After 17 games, the Stars sit 25th in scoring at 2.87 goals per game. They were ninth last season at 3.33. They are third in GAA at 2.29 right now. Last year, they were second at 2.71.
The sample size is small, but it’s pretty clear the things this team is good at doing. They have great goaltending from Jake Oettinger and Casey DeSmith, they have great defensemen in Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley, and they have a great amount of defensive forwards.
In addition to players like Sam Steel, Radek Faksa, Arttu Hyry, Colin Blackwell, Justin Hyrckowian and Oskar Bäck, many of the scoring forwards are strong defensively. Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston rose through the ranks as highly-regarded two-way centers and veterans like Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin have bought into the Stars’ way of life for several years now.
And Gulutzan said he has enjoyed that aspect in coaching this team.
“Usually, as a coach, you’re harping on the defensive details and we’re actually harping on the offensive side of things,” Gulutzan said. “This practice today: Can we free our guys up to create a little bit?”
The Stars have played some low-event games this season. After finishing seventh in shots on goal against last season at 26.2 per game, they are choking out opponents this year to the tune of 22.9 – second best in the NHL. Offensively, they are taking 26.1 shots on goal (21st in the league) and that is up from 30th (25.3) last season.
But, of course, there is always room for improvement.
“There is a balance,” Seguin said. “We obviously would like some more 5-on-5 offense. We’ve seen some glimpses of it. You can feel it coming, but it hasn’t been there at the level we would like to see.”
As they say, it is a process.
“I think part of that is our execution,” Gulutzan said. “We haven’t executed at a high level offensively yet. We’ve certainly defended at an extremely high level. But we’re mirroring last year, it took us a while to get our offensive footing.”
The Stars were 10-4-3 after 17 games last season and found their stride in a 14-0-1 run from late January to early March. They averaged 4.2 goals per game in that run.
And with the power play starting to click and top scorers like Mikko Rantanen and Jason Robertson already in their respective grooves, the coach is optimistic.
“I think that’s coming, I absolutely do,” Gulutzan said. “When your polish and your offensive execution meet up with your defensive game during the season, that’s when you see these runs, and I think we’re capable of some long runs. Are we there yet? No. We’re kind of sitting in the same spot we were last year and I think the best days are going to come.”
