The snowball effect: How the Stars are growing their own success in current win streak

It seems only fitting that the DFW metroplex was greeted by a winter storm on Thursday. As the snow blanketed North Texas and kids and adults alike enjoyed a day at home, the Dallas Stars were 1,500 miles northeast diving into their second game of a season-long five-game road trip.

And much like the silent majesty of a winter’s morn, there was a great deal of good energy concocted in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Dallas took control with an early goal, dominated possession and generated a multitude of chances for the majority of the game, and shut the door when necessary on its way to a dominant finish on the scoreboard.

The victory pushes the team’s point streak to eight games (7-0-1). That ties the longest of Pete DeBoer’s tenure as the Stars head coach, sitting side-by-side with the franchise record eight-game win streak that the team posted at the end of last season. Speaking of streaks, Dallas is now up to six straight wins dating back to December 29 in Chicago.

“We played great tonight in every end of the ice,” Stars goalie Casey DeSmith said after the win against the Flyers. “We dictated play and played offensively without selling the farm for offense. We’re just doing a great job of finding that balance night in and night out.”

Both the point streak and win streak are the longest active in the NHL right now. Intertwined are some impressive individual and team feats that have helped the team jump into the NHL’s top five in terms of points percentage.

Simply put, the Stars are surging. But where did this come from? After all, they were sitting outside of the playoff picture on the morning of December 23 and couldn’t seem to get on a roll. Mix in losing two top players in Tyler Seguin and Mason Marchment to injuries last month and it looked to be a steep uphill climb. And yet, they’ve managed it all with expertise.

Sticking with the wintry themes, the Stars are ski-deep in a snowball effect of sorts right now. Every snowball begins with a single flake, just as every win streak begins with a single victory. And both can turn into something much grander, so long as they have the right environment and tools to do so.

Let’s rewind to December 23 where this all began. The Stars were in Salt Lake City to face a Utah Hockey Club on an 8-game tear of their own at 6-0-2. On the flip side, Dallas was in a 3-5-0 mini slump. They had just wrapped a medial six-game homestand on a 3-3-0 note and needed a win to stay in the playoff picture before the NHL Holiday Break.

They got it. DeSmith was once again brilliant in stifling Utah while Roope Hintz, Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson tacked on another strong effort to escape with a 3-2 victory. Was it a big win in the big picture? Perhaps not. But it gave Dallas something to build on coming out of the Christmas hiatus.

That game feels like a lifetime ago now. And the way they’ve gone about crafting this most recent run is fascinating.

After struggling to score for most of December, they are up to 3.75 goals per game over the point streak. Not only that, but they have kept a stern commitment to defensive details, allowing just 14 goals at 5-on-5. They’ve also held the opposition to just 24.3 shots against per game during the run.

They Stars have managed this despite losing two of their top two-way forwards in Marchment and Seguin. Both were on pace for career years before getting sidelined and leaving a massive hole on the Stars’ second line. It was fair to wonder just how they planned to go about filling the voids. Was a trade necessary? Would shuffling the lines cause chaos elsewhere?

“We lost a couple of key players in Seguin and Marchment, and I think our team has galvanized around that and really paid attention to the details of the game,” DeBoer said on Friday. “We haven’t beat ourselves. I think that’s because losing two good players like that, it’s made us more detailed in trying to win games.”

On the other end of the ice, a full-time renaissance has unfolded for the team’s top players.

Robertson has 3 goals and 11 points in the past six games. That includes five multi-point games, the most by any player in the NHL since Christmas. After a disappointing start to the year (due in large part to an offseason spent recovering from surgery), the 25-year-old has 26 points in the past 23 games and looks to have his swagger back.

Same goes for linemate Hintz. The 28-year-old has eight goals in the last 11 games and is quickly closing in on 20 for the year. He’s currently pacing for just under 40, which would mark a new career-high.

After leading the team in goals last season, Johnston had just two goals with seven points in the first 17 games this year. Since then, he’s got 23 points in the past 23 games. That includes four goals and 11 points during the current point streak.

And then there’s the Benaissance. Benn got off to a bit of a middling start this season, posting one goal and two points in the first seven games. But he’s once again found a midseason spark and hopped in the driver’s seat on a new line. The Stars captain has 18 points in 19 games since Thanksgiving. That includes a robust five goals, nine points and plus-9 during the current team point streak.

“We’ve had two long playoff runs to the Conference Finals the last two years, so I think all of our big minute players started slow,” DeBoer said. “I think there was some fatigue and hangover from those long runs. They’re starting to get their legs now. Our best players are playing at a really good level again after starting slowly.”

The Stars’ top players are once again playing like top players, and it’s trickling throughout the lineup. A new quad of rookies in Logan Stankoven, Oskar Bäck, Mavrik Bourque and Arttu Hyry are making contributions throughout the lineup, while the Dallas defensive corps is once again finding an offensive groove.

Mix it all together, and you have a team that is brimming with confidence and charisma.

“When you win six games in a row, it’s pretty indicative that the guys are playing well,” DeSmith said. “I think our group is doing a great job. When somebody has an off night, someone picks them up. That’s how you string together wins.”

The recent surge comes at a critical time, too. The Stars are currently in the midst of playing 11 games in 19 days and are trying to pocket as many points over the next four weeks before the 4 Nations Face-off break.

The Central Division is incredibly top-heavy as well, with the top four teams all sitting in the NHL’s top 10. Making a strong footprint now could prove critical down the stretch.

“It’s been tough, but we’re climbing back in,” DeBoer said. “We didn’t have a great start to the season. We’re just starting to hit our stride and rhythm now. We’re trying to make up ground and we’re closing the gap. But at one point, we were 12 to 14 points behind some of the leaders. Now we’re at least within striking distance of some of the teams at the top of the conference.”

And if the snow keeps falling, the ball keeps growing larger, right?

“I think there’s a good feeling around our team,” DeBoer added. “We’ve got to be careful, though. We’ve talked about how winning streaks usually end because you get a little comfortable and start to lose some detail in your game. We want to make sure we keep that.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Josh Clark is a writer for DallasStars.com. Follow him on X @Josh_Clark02.