First Shift 🏒
The Stars have not registered more than two consecutive regulation losses in nearly three seasons under head coach Pete DeBoer.
There’s a good reason for that.
In putting together the third best record in the NHL this season, Dallas has found a way to be incredibly consistent despite all manners of adversity. This week is a great example. The Stars returned from the 4 Nations Face-Off break to play three games in four nights in three different cities. Several of the players who participated in the tournament didn’t get any practice time, and that showed as the team was scrambly and disjointed while still finding a way to win two of the three games.
But after a day of practice on Thursday, the lads in Victory Green were much more connected on Friday in a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. It made complete sense.
“More connected, more in sync with each other, puck movement was better,” DeBoer said. “I think that’s practice. You’re off for a couple of weeks, it’s hard not to lose some of that. The more we’re together, the more practice time we get, we start to get some of that back.”
Clearly, any team improves with more repetition and more time together, but the Stars seem to fall back into their routine as well as anyone in the league. They have a style of play, and it helps create winning.
“We have that standard that every player has to follow,” said forward Robertson. “It’s important to embrace that.”
Robertson has been on a heater since Jan. 1, scoring 36 points in 23 games (second best in the NHL in that span), but said the key to winning isn’t outscoring opponents, but playing a good defensive game and staying on the same page.
“Getting back to home ice, you get back to your identity,” Robertson said of the team’s four-game homestand. “It’s always nice to get back home, especially when you’ve been on the road for whatever it’s been.”
Dallas last played at American Airlines Center on Feb. 2 before Friday’s home win, so there are a lot of factors in getting its rhythm back. They have been able to do it on the road as well, and the key is playing smart hockey where individuals win battles and every line plays well together.
“We want to play in the other team’s end as much as we can, and that starts out with defending well,” said forward Wyatt Johnston. “When we play the way we’re supposed to, it ends up working out well for us. It’s having that detail in your game.”
There is a lot to having the detail, but the Stars have done a good job of creating habits that are easy to remember. They have done that in all three seasons under DeBoer and his coaching staff, and it starts every season in training camp.
“We talked in training camp about having that foundation to your game,” DeBoer said. “I think that foundation is something you always fall back on, so you don’t lose multiple games in a row, so you’re not at the mercy of being hot on the power play or being hot scoring. You can still win 1 or 2-0, that’s all part of the foundation.”
That said, the Stars are winning by much bigger margins these days. Dallas leads the NHL in scoring since Jan. 1 with 83 goals. The Stars also have the best record over the span at 16-6-1. Bottom line, they are finding their game, despite missing Miro Heiskanen and Seguin.
“The coaching staff does an amazing job of making that easy for us,” Johnston said. “We know what we’re supposed to be doing and that makes it predictable for us. Part of that success is how much we work on it.”
