Heika's Take: 'It's a good spot to be in'

On one hand, the Stars lost for the third time in a row on Friday.
On the other hand, they head into a weeklong break in first place in the Western Conference.
Coach Pete DeBoer said after a 3-2 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils at American Airlines Center he wanted to look at the good side of the dilemma.

"I'm happy where we're at. I like how we're playing," DeBoer said of a 28-13-10 record. "We didn't give them much. I thought we defended well and we had a lot of quality looks. That's a game you normally win. We didn't tonight."

Dallas has had a few of those during this three-game stretch with OT losses to Buffalo, Carolina and New Jersey. On Friday, the Stars had a 35-29 advantage in shots on goal and a 69-47 edge in shot attempts. They were all over Devils goalie Vitek Vanecek, but he came up with several miraculous saves. It was just another frustrating evening for a Stars team who has been great at creating chances.
"It's frustrating, but we played a good game," DeBoer said. "We created enough chances to win that game, but you've got to give their goalie credit. He got them to overtime, but then that obviously reared its head."
Dallas scored first on an odd shot from Ty Dellandrea from below the goal line that bounced off a New Jersey player and in. Then the Stars made it 2-0 when Roope Hintz scored the 100th goal of his career on a two-man power play in the first period. New Jersey fought back with two goals in the second period and then neither team scored in the third. In addition to big saves from Vanecek, the Devils also got a heads-up play from defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who practically tackled Tyler Seguin while he was open on the doorstep and could have scored had he not been harassed in the process.
"Those are penalties you're going to want to take," Seguin said. "I wish I had better position."

Seguin also had a hand in the game-winning goal. Jack Hughes was flying up ice in the 3-on-3 overtime and Seguin stuck his stick out to try to defend the shot. However, the puck deflected off of Seguin's stick and past Jake Oettinger and Dallas is now 3-10 in games that have gone past regulation. It's one of the few frustrating things about the first 51 games.
"What are you going to do?" said Jamie Benn, who finished with seven shots on goal. "We just need to get some rest here. We'll figure out the OT stuff when we come back."

DeBoer was even light-hearted about the three consecutive losses for the first time this season.
"Those aren't real losses, those are overtime losses," he joked. "It is a big difference. We could have easily won all three of those game. I would say we were the better team in two of the three."
DeBoer will head off to coach the Central Division during the All-Star weekend in Florida, which is ironically 3-on-3 hockey.
"I'll go sit in a dark corner somewhere in Florida at the All-Star Game and try to figure out this overtime thing and come back making sure in the second half that we're better in that area," DeBoer said.
The new coaching staff is in a good place right now. Dallas not only has the best record in the Western Conference, but it is also tied for second in goal differential at plus-40, ranks second in goals against, eighth in scoring, second in penalty kill success, and sixth in power play success. That's a good place to be.
DeBoer said he sent his players off with a positive message and the challenge to rest up for a strong run in the second half. Players are on their own until practice on Feb. 5. Dallas will then play another four games at home when they return.
"I want them to go and enjoy it. They should enjoy it," DeBoer said. "We've been playing a lot of good hockey. We've made a lot of good strides in our game. We still have another level that we have to get to when we get back, but there are a lot of good things that have happened so far and they've worked hard to have us where we are right now in the standings. It's a good spot to be in."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.