Dallas clearly ran into a buzzsaw on Friday and played poorly in a 7-1 loss at Florida, but there's an explanation for that. The Panthers are the hottest team in the league and went out and crushed Columbus, 9-2, on Saturday. That's not great news, but it's a reasonable explanation for what happened.
On Saturday, it's my opinion that the Stars definitely were aware of time and score. They were playing the second night of a back-to-back, they were missing several key players, and they were giving Anton Khudobin his first start since November. So it sure seemed like a conservative game plan might be in order. Is it disappointing they had a season low in shot attempts at 34? Yes. Did they look like they were kind of scared to engage in the second period? For sure. Was it a terrible strategy? I don't think so.
This is a team that's struggled on the road, struggled in second periods and struggled to play a good team game with puck support and patience. They did that Saturday. They still lost 3-1, but they had a very good chance of pulling a point out of the game, and that was probably the best-case scenario for that night.
Many of you will say that's a defeatist attitude. Many of you are simply frustrated with the lack of scoring on the road. I get that. But you have to understand that every game is different. Saturday was a game where the Stars had to be good defensively to have a chance to win, and it was a game where they simply couldn't take another blowout in a run-and-gun game that's probably out of character.
That's why Saturday's result wasn't that bad. Yes, the Stars fell to 18-15-2 and even on points percentage, they're three teams back of being the second wildcard, but there are losses you can absorb. That only works, though, if you learn from those losses and get better.
The Stars have a chance to do that. They were able to reset defensively on Saturday and find their team game. Coach Rick Bowness pointed out how much better John Klingberg was in the second game because he focused on doing things the right way.
"John responded well tonight," Bowness said after the game on Saturday. "That's probably one of the best games he's played in a while."
Asked earlier what he wants from Klingberg, Bowness emphasized playing with smarts. "Take care of the defensive side of the puck, get the puck up to the forwards, join the rush," he said. "We want him up in the play, but we don't want him leading the play. There's just a fine line to balance that we're trying to get to. It can't be all offense. It can't be because that doesn't work unless you're Bobby Orr."
Of course, they also need offense, and Bowness is well aware of that. So, how do they get it? Well, they have to play the right way and create offense from good defensive play, and they have to take advantage of opportunity.
Montreal comes to American Airlines Center on Tuesday and sits 32nd in record and 30th in goals against average. Dallas then travels to Buffalo, Detroit, Philadelphia and New Jersey. None of those teams are currently in the playoffs and all four are in the bottom ten in goals-against average.
That's where the Stars need to start repairing the road record.
Being aware of time and score is important because it allows you to measure your level of risk vs. reward. It allows you to play smart. The Stars did that in Tampa. As much as you might not have liked it, it was the right approach to that game.
But now, they have an opportunity to cash in some points and score some goals, and that'll require a different strategy. We'll see if they adjust their game accordingly.
