Winning (and learning): Stars still learning, growing amid successful start to season

One of the old adages in hockey is that a great time to learn is when you’re collecting points.

The philosophy is that if you are playing below your pedigree, your team is clearly aware. And if you are still somehow winning games, then you have a motivated group for a number of reasons.

One, they know how lucky they are.

Two, they really want to listen and try to understand how they can get better.

And three, they know how good they can be.

That last one might be the most important for the lads in Victory Green right now. After squeaking past the Avalanche on the strength of Jake Oettinger’s spectacular goaltending on Saturday, Dallas is 2-0-0 with wins over conference rivals Winnipeg and Colorado. That’s a heck of a start on the road, and it gives the Stars a really nice bit of breathing room in the very early race for the Central Division title.

In today’s division-centric playoff system, that top seed is pretty important. With a real chance Dallas might have to see both the Jets and Avalanche in the postseason again, you take any positivity you can get on the road to the spring.

Dallas finished four points ahead of Colorado last season and was able to play Game 7 of the First Round in front of a raucous home crowd. Those four points can make a huge difference.

They also put the Stars in a good place right now. This is a new team under a new coaching staff, with some key questions. Had Dallas lost both or either of these games, the feeling could have been a little more panicked. There could have been questions about Glen Gulutzan and his decision-making at key junctures…or for assistant coach Neil Graham’s power play…or Oettinger’s .874 save percentage. There could have been plenty of finger-pointing.

Instead, the Stars are telling each other how much work they need to do to get better. While resting on a cushy four-point pillow, this team is grinding like they have proven nothing.

And in a way, they haven’t.

By allowing Colorado twice as many shot attempts, the Stars showed they have not yet mastered the style of puck possession that Gulutzan is seeking. On Monday, the new coach ran his team through some tough competition battles.

“The messaging today was when all talent becomes equal, it comes down to hand-to-hand combat,” Gulutzan said.

When asked about what he has learned from a team that has posted two 5-4 wins, he said: “We have a bunch of guys who don’t need much to score. But what we need to do is keep pushing the territory battle into our favor, because if we gain more territory with the players we have, it will increase how good we can be.”

And that might be the best lesson for everyone. By adding Mikko Rantanen last March to a stocked cupboard of talented players like Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Roope Hintz, Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene, the Stars really are one of the more talented squads in the NHL. By getting grit and compete from players like Radek Faksa, Nathan Bastian and Justin Hryckowian, Dallas has more of the balance Gulutzan is seeking.

By getting players like Oettinger, Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley who are on their way to the peak of their careers, this group really does have a legitimate chance to win it all.

We probably knew all of this before training camp even started, but we are learning new things every day. We are seeing how Gulutzan juggles lines and pushes buttons. We are watching as he and assistant coach Alaine Nasreddine bring out the best in Nils Lundkvist. We are getting a peek at “the process.”

And that’s fun.

There is a long, long way to go in this ride, so observations before our first pit stop are likely premature. But, knowing what they have in mind, watching the wheels of motion turn, that gives us some insight.

So we’ll take that for now and prepare for the next episode on Tuesday at home against Minnesota.

At the very least, we’ll see if these old NHL adages actually are true.

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 X @MikeHeika.