Stars playoff hopes sunk by road woes, secondary scoring struggles

The Dallas Stars (40-31-8) were eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention Sunday when the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in overtime.
Expectations were high after Dallas acquired goaltender Ben Bishop and signed forward Alexander Radulov during the offseason. However, the Stars, who have three wins in their past 14 games (3-8-3), will miss the playoffs for the second straight season and eighth time in 10 seasons.
Here is a look at what went wrong for the Stars in 2017-18 and why things could be better in 2018-19.

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The skinny

Potential UFAs: Antoine Roussel, LW; Curtis McKenzie, LW; Dan Hamhuis, D; Greg Pateryn, D; Kari Lehtonen, G; Mike McKenna, G
Potential RFAs: Jason Dickenson, C; Devin Shore, C; Mattias Janmark, C; Remi Elie, LW; Gemel Smith, C; Dillon Heatherington, D, Stephen Johns, D
Potential 2018 Draft picks: 8

What went wrong

Road woes: Dallas is 14-19-5 on the road and went 0-4-2 on a recent six-game trip. Without being able to earn points on the road -- Dallas earned four of a possible 22 points in its past 11 road games -- they dug too deep of a hole to overcome.
Jason Spezza: The 34-year-old forwardhas had a difficult season. He's averaged 13:03 of ice time per game, more than three minutes less than last season, and has seen his power-play usage decline as well. Spezza has 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists), including 11 on the power play in 75 games and despite missing two games with a back injury, has managed to stay healthy. He had at least 50 points and 19 power-play points in each of the previous four seasons.

Lack of secondary scoring: Tyler Seguin (40), Jamie Benn (29) and Radulov (27) have combined for 96 of the Stars' 220 goals, or 44 percent. Only four other players (Mattias Janmark, 19; Radek Faksa, 16; Tyler Pitlick, 14, Devin Shore; 10) have at least 10 goals. The seven players with double-digit goals is tied for second-fewest in the League (Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks); only the Buffalo Sabres (six) have fewer.

Reasons for optimism

Seguin a stud: The 26-year-old forward reached 40 goals for the first time in his NHL career and has had at least 72 points in each of his five seasons in Dallas. Seguin has 173 goals, tying Mike Modano (1989-94) for the most by a player in his first five seasons in Dallas/Minnesota North Stars history.
John Klingberg: With 64 points, Klingberg is two behind John Carlson of the Washington Capitals for the League lead among defenseman. His 56 assists rank first among defensemen, and he has 23 power-play points. Klingberg also leads the Stars in ice time per game (24:03) and has become one of the best offensive defensemen in the League.
Captain clutch: Benn, who's been captain since 2013-14, is one goal from his fourth 30-goal season in the past five, and he's has been the driving force on the Stars for the better part of the past decade. Although the 71 points aren't quite the 87 he had when he won the Art Ross Trophy as the scoring champion in 2014-15 or the 89 he had the following season, Benn has been clutch with five game-winners this season,and he has six goals in his past 10 games. He's also under contract through the 2024-25 season.