First Shift 🏒
The Stars have allowed the first goal in eight of the past nine games.
They have been down 2-0 in six different games this season.
And yet, they are finding ways to rally back like they did on Tuesday in a 4-3 shootout win against Edmonton. As a result, they are currently 7-3-3 on the season and riding a seven-game point streak.
So as fans, players and the coaching staff try to figure out why, coach Glen Gulutzan has a theory.
“I think there is still part of us that is tentative, and it’s working its way out of the system,” Gulutzan said. “I think we’ve got a great group of guys that want to do everything right, but what we’ve been talking about is we need to just play hockey. Within all of the structure, there has got to be hockey players, and I’m trying right now to free them up to play.”
Gulutzan said he has seen in the team that when it gets a little desperate and is down by two goals, the play improves. He credits that to simply trusting the style of play that these players have learned over the years.
“Half of the game is random, and in that random part of the game we need instinct and hockey guys,” he said. “I think it is going to get out of our system very soon, and when it does, I think the sky is the limit.”
Forward Seguin said he understands the theory.
“There are a lot of things, but we need to just find a way,” Seguin said. “It’s coming along.”
Part of the problem for the Stars is that Gulutzan has brought in a new way of playing, and there is some adjustment. Another part is the fact the team is missing several key bodies. Benn has been out since early in the preseason. Roope Hintz, Duchene, Radek Faksa and Nils Lundkvist have all missed recent games. That creates the need to adjust on the fly. Dallas has played with 11 forwards instead of 12 in multiple games, and that means a fair amount of line shuffling.
Gulutzan said he hopes that players are learning to survive in some tough situations.
“You can see the shackles are breaking off the group right now,” he said. “You need that structure to survive, but you need the instinct to thrive. We’re going to get that balance.”
One of the good things the team is taking advantage of is the fact the league is more uncertain. A few years back, a two-goal deficit would be an almost assured loss. This year, more teams are bouncing back.
“It’s so fast, the power plays have become so lethal, and the young players are so offensive, and there are so many of them. At any given moment, a spark can ignite,” Gulutzan said. “The parity in the league is so strong. You can’t dominate somebody for 60 minutes, so there is always going to be momentum going back and forth. You can get going one way, and it’s two goals, and you can get going the other way and it’s two goals.”
