First Shift 🏒
To paraphrase world-famous quarterback Shane Falco, quicksand is real.
The fictional leader of the Washington Sentinels in the film The Replacements, Falco was talking to his teammates about how failure can paralyze an athlete.
“You're playing and you think everything is going fine. Then one thing goes wrong. And then another, and another,” Falco says in the movie. “You try to fight back, but the harder you fight, the deeper you sink. Until you can't move... you can't breathe... because you're in over your head. Like quicksand.”
The Stars have lost two consecutive games in regulation for just the second time this season, so they’re not in quicksand yet, but it is something to be aware of. In a lot of ways, Casey DeSmith saved them in a 4-3 win over Winnipeg. And a 3-2 shootout victory against Pittsburgh wasn’t near as comfortable as they would have liked.
So when their 11-game point streak came to an end in a 5-2 loss at Minnesota and then Florida dominated in a 4-0 win at AAC on Saturday, there were some red flags.
“Two losses in a row, we didn’t know the feeling for so long, so it's hard,” said forward Radek Faksa after the loss to Florida. “But they are the two-time Stanley Cup Champions for a reason, and they showed us a lesson today, so maybe good we got a little slap because the last few games were a little sloppy. We need to start working again and play our game. We need to move forward and learn from this.”
The Stars had a nice practice at American Airlines Center on Sunday and coach Glen Gultzan said a lot of the same things. Instead of worrying about the problems, Dallas needs to react in a positive manner.
“The path isn’t linear, that’s for sure,” Gulutzan said. “You’ve just got to keep the energy up. Whenever I’ve seen teams get in these things, the energy has dropped considerably. We’re not there yet, we’re not close to there yet.”
That said, now is as good a time as any to snap out of it. Dallas plays against Los Angeles on Monday and then heads to San Jose and Anaheim later in the week, so getting back on the points parade would be welcome.
“You do want to nip this as quickly as you can,” Gulutzan said.
And the way to do that, ironically enough, is to follow the same path that has gotten the team to 21-7-5. By being “one degree better” in a lot of different areas, the team has found a formula. With balanced energy from the lines, impressive depth from everyone on the roster, and amazing special teams play, the team can make some changes.
“It's up to the guys in this room,” said forward Colin Blackwell after the Florida loss where Dallas had 15 shots on goal. “I think we need to do just a better job of generating some 5-on-5 across the board and getting into the dirty areas. They did a good job of keeping us outside of the blue paint tonight, and getting those second, third opportunities, I think that’s got to be a key for us moving forward.”
It will be. But the good thing is the Stars have built a cushion and now have the ability to fix problems without slipping into quicksand.
“The question you ask yourself is: What would you want to be? 21-7 and lost the last two, or would you rather be 15-12 and won the last three? I know which one I would take,” Gulutzan said. “So it’s not going to be a straight line, but these are the little moments that make you better.”
