First Shift 🏒
The challenges for new Stars coach Glen Gulutzan and his coaching staff have been unrelenting this season.
Sure, Dallas is 34-14-9 on the year, fifth best in the NHL coming out of the Olympic Break. But the lads in Victory Green endured a hard road after Christmas, struggling through a 2-6-4 run and losing both confidence and consistency.
So when the team won six straight games heading into the Olympic Break, something was different. After struggling with puck possession all season (getting outshot 27.8-25.2 on a nightly basis), Dallas outshot the opposition 27.9-21.0 during the run. The Stars lowered their goals against from 2.78 to 2.63 and raised their scoring from 3.27 to 3.63.
All in all, the team showed the “one percent” difference that Gulutzan has been preaching, and it was obvious to those involved.
“I think it was evident to everybody who watched it, but it had to be most evident to the players because they’re the ones who live it,” Gulutzan said. “So now you have to make it a habit.”
The Stars have seen some individual sparks, as well. Matt Duchene has been playing on a line with Jamie Benn and those two are scoring at their best rates this season. Duchene has 6 goals and 3 assists in the past six games, while Benn has 2 goals and 6 assists in that span. With Rantanen sidelined by a lower body injury he suffered during Olympic play, that could mean even more pressure for Duchene and Benn, who each missed significant time with injuries earlier in the season.
“When he talks about the one percent, I think we’re really starting to get an idea of what that really means,” Duchene said. “We see what it looks like with it and we see what it looks like without it. It’s just little habits and it makes the game easier. We won some tight games because of it.”
Now, with a continually compressed schedule, the trade deadline on March 6, and a lot of jockeying for position between three teams in the Central Division, the Stars are hoping that they are in a good place. Looking in the mirror after their slump was hard. Looking in the mirror after this winning stretch is more hopeful.
“That whole thing after Christmas was actually a good thing,” Gulutzan said. “It made you dig in and it made you find solutions and really find that one degree. You can’t have true growth without it.”
And that can be huge if this team has to go through Minnesota and Colorado in the playoffs.
“For me in this last little run, it’s laying down the foundation of what a playoff game looks like,” Gulutzan said. “It’s about some of the macro stuff and then the mentality stuff. Nothing guarantees winning in this league, but if you want to give yourself the best chance, you have to carry a certain mentality and you have to carry it for a long time.”
