First Shift 🏒
As the Stars have tried to navigate Glen Gulutzan’s first season behind the bench, they seem to keep returning to the same baseline.
When Gulutzan was hired to replace Pete DeBoer, the veteran assistant coach said he wanted to find a steady game that the team could replicate on a regular basis. Early in the season, they did that and found a winning streak. More recently, they haven’t, and slid a bit in the standings.
But in the past three games, the Lads in Victory Green have been pretty predictable, and that has resulted in a 2-1-0 record.
“We just want to make sure we’re sticking to our game,” Gulutzan said.
In beating the Boston Bruins last week, 6-2, the Stars played a near-perfect game, talking a 6-0 lead before slipping at the end. In a 1-0 loss at Columbus, Dallas was excellent in every phase except finishing its scoring chances. And in a 3-2 win over St. Louis on Friday, the Stars overcame fatigue, made the right play at the right time and won on a Robertson goal with a minute left in regulation.
“I think overall, the last three games have been a way better step in the right direction – some of the best games this team has played all year,” said forward Duchene. “The last three games have been more to our identity, and we need to stay with that.”
The Stars’ identity is strong defensively, opportunistic offensively, and tightly meshed overall. It is a strong team game, and that’s something the players should be able to control.
“We just have to find ways to win,” said captain Benn.
“It really doesn’t matter if we’re up or we’re down, we’re just trying to stay consistent and keep playing our game for 60 minutes. Sometimes, it might not work out, but we believe if we play a full 60 minutes of Stars hockey, we’ll be on the right end of it most nights.”
As easy as that sounds, it has been a challenge in today’s NHL. The bottom teams have pushed up, the top teams have slid back a little, and that makes every game up for grabs. But the Stars have grabbed enough of these to be 29-14-9, so they know they can find the formula again.
Dallas is heading out on a three-game road trip that will land in St. Louis, Las Vegas and Utah before heading home for two games before the Olympic Break. This will conclude one of the most road-heavy segments in team history, but the good side is when the Stars return from the Olympic break, they will play 15 of the final 25 games at home and could have a real advantage when chasing a better seed in the playoffs.
That, of course, is a long way off, and the Stars could have some serious roster changed before then. Lian Bichsel could be returning to play and the Stars could bolster their lineup before the March 6 trade deadline. But all they can do now is deal with the challenges that show up pretty much every single game.
“We just want to keep putting that game back on the table, back on the table, back on the table,” Gulutzan said. “That’s all you can do. You’re going into a storm or you’re coming out of one, but all of that stuff hardens you at the end of the day.”
