It's still early, but Stars need wins to keep pace in tight division

DALLAS -- Yes, it's early in the season, but it sure looks like there is a battle for the final playoff spot in the Central Division heating up.
And the Stars might be right in the middle of it.
Tampa Bay is off to an 9-1-1 start. Florida is 7-1-2. Carolina is 7-3-0 and Dallas now is 5-2-3 after a 2-1 overtime loss to Chicago Tuesday.

Yes, that same Blackhawks team that has pushed to 6-4-4 with a pair of overtime wins against the Stars. To be fair, Chicago and Columbus have played four more games than the Stars (who had four games postponed because of COVID), but Dallas also grabbed just one win in its past six games (1-2-3) and has yet to record a victory in the first two games of an eight-game homestand.
So, yeah, it's early -- but not too early to be concerned.
"I saw a lot of good things tonight, but there are no moral victories and we're out of a playoff spot," said Stars coach Rick Bowness. "We've got to keep fighting and pushing until we get back in that spot."

Dallas was much better on Tuesday than it was on Sunday against Chicago. The Stars had a 39-25 advantage in shots on goal, a 72-52 edge in shot attempts (on goal, missed and blocked), they won 60 percent of their faceoffs and out-hit the Blackhawks, 25-11. They were the better team in a lot of ways, but they couldn't solve goalie Kevin Lankinen -- just like they couldn't solve goalie Malcolm Subban on Sunday.
"We had three breakaways and their goalie made some huge saves," Bowness said. "We played well enough to win this game and we certainly created enough offense to win the game. Give their goalie credit. When you have three breakaways you hope you hit one, but he made some big saves. We missed a couple of open nets and that's the difference right there."
So what was good about Tuesday? Well, rookie goalie Jake Oettinger started his second consecutive game and looked great. He stopped 27 shots and was beaten on two very nice goals. Former Stars forward Mattias Janmark redirected a power-play shot through a crowd and then Pius Suter stickhandled through the Stars' defense in 3-on-3 overtime.
It was both encouraging and deflating for Oettinger, who lost consecutive games in the extra period.
The encouraging part of Oettinger's play is that he is looking like a very good NHL goalie at age 22. With Anton Khudobin still the No. 1 goalie for now, and Ben Bishop expected to be ready to return from off-season knee surgery in late March or early April, the Stars have three very good candidates to man the net. That is a good problem for any organization to have.
"He's been great," said forward Andrew Cogliano. "I'm very happy for him, he's a hard-working kid. He has a very calm demeanor and he's a goalie you enjoy playing in front of because you can tell he works hard and is dialed in and he's a professional. I'm very impressed at how he acts around the room and how he prepares."

Khudobin
missed Sunday's game as discipline for being late for practice
Saturday. He served as backup on Tuesday and is expected to return to the lineup for at least one of the two games against Carolina coming up, so Dallas has one of the most important aspects of the league in a good place right now.
But with five goals in the past three games, they need to get the offense going again. The Stars had several breakaways and great scoring chances, but just couldn't finish. Jamie Benn had a goal disallowed for goaltender interference, and Denis Gurianov, Roope Hintz and Cogliano couldn't convert golden scoring chances. Gurianov had nine shot attempts, Miro Heiskanen and Blake Comeau seven apiece.
The lines also looked like they might stick for a few games. Joel Kiviranta returned after missing eight games with a lower body injury and played 17:33 on a line with Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn. Jason Robertson logged time with Hintz and Gurianov. While Alexander Radulov (lower body) and Andrej Sekera (COVID protocol) still are out, the lineup is nearing full strength.
"It's encouraging but with how this season goes, there's no time to take moral victories," Cogliano said. "I know it's cliché, but you see the teams that win every night in our division and you have to find a way to get points. They (Chicago) played two good games, I thought they played really well, but we need to look at some good things and (also) figure out what we did negatively in the third period."
With an eight-game homestand rolling forward with two games against Carolina Thursday and Saturday, things need to change quickly.
"You have eight games at home, and we have to take advantage of it," Cogliano said. "I think it's an advantage for us to play at home with our fans and the energy in the building … and these last two games were just not good enough. At the end of the day, we need to figure out where we are here. We have six games left on this homestand and it's a big part of our season, you can't lie to yourself about that."

Up next

vs. Hurricanes, Thursday 7:30 p.m. CT
American Airlines Center
TV:FOX Sports Southwest
Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.