Dallas Stars finding their road legs through 20 games

From kick saves to the operating room, we’re taking a look at the Dallas Stars through every 10 game stretch of the season. And at 20 in? Well, it ain’t so bad.

We’re just about a quarter of the way through this thing called

love

the NHL regular season, which is a tad scary, and while 20 games isn’t the most accurate measure of how skilled a club is at shaping the clay of their own campaign, it’s still a pretty decent indicator as to who’s set for glory and who’s building their parents a disappointing ashtray.

So what think we on the Dallas Stars right now? Let’s recap the first 10 for a second, yes?

Eh.

Yep, that’s pretty much it. Dallas was 5-5, including a rotten 0-3 on the road. It doesn’t get any more average than that, says math.

But hey, every block of games is a chance to start fresh. And though the Stars aren’t exactly shooting away from the pack like Charlie Bucket in the Wonkavator, there’s reason to be hopeful. Also, unfortunately, bad things have happened and we’ll try to skim them.

Currently:

11-7-2
Home: 7-3-1
Road: 4-4-1
Last 10: 6-2-2

If you’re any kind of astute observer, you may have noticed something particular in those home and road records.

Yeah, they’ve kept the Texas game strong, but they also did something magical since we last spoke and that is … the Stars went out hunting in foreign territory and came away with a few good-sized wins. They also just destroyed the New York Islanders on the road to even up the record.

After losing the start of a huge six-game road stretch to the Detroit Red Wings (ugh), Dallas reeled off three in a row against the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs (!) and Washington Capitals before stealing a point in an overtime loss to the Boston Bruins.

Taking seven out of a possible 12 points away from home ain’t bad for a team that couldn’t buy a victory elsewhere back in October.

Next 10:

@ New York Rangers
@ Pittsburgh Penguins
Ottawa Senators
@ Colorado Avalanche|
@ Edmonton Oilers
@ Calgary Flames
@ Vancouver Canucks
Edmonton Oilers
San Jose Sharks
@ Vegas Golden Knights

Deferring once again to math, it appears that seven of the next 10 are away. That could be a good thing though, with the idea being character-building.

The Stars seem to have some legs under them when they don’t get mom’s cooking, and it’s nice to push these big swings off earlier rather than later.

OK, so now for the bad.

Pretty much every defensive player Dallas has is

dead

injured, and it feels a bit like waiting for the other shoe to drop doesn’t it? Stephen Johns hasn’t played a lick yet this season as he battles post-concussion headaches and Marc Methot has only seen time in nine games.

Trade acquisition Connor Carrick has as well only played in nine games, and he’s still a few weeks away from returning.

The most damning of course is the injury to John Klingberg, who tried to punch a puck in the face and lost. He’s out for at least the next month, and likely longer after requiring surgery.

The absence of so many key guys (forward Devin Shore was recently hurt as well and will miss a few more games) has forced the Stars hand in calling up AHL prospects. Ben Gleason, Joel Hanley and Gavin Bayreuther have all seen time somewhere on the blue line.

It hasn’t been awful, which is pleasant to write, but there’s still the shoe. How long can Dallas hold on for with so many youngins patrolling the defensive zone? For now, the Stars will probably have to rely on goaltenders Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin continuing to make saves like this:

Really, we’re all for it because oh my gawd, what a stop. Let’s get on with a few quick notes and thoughts:

• The power play? Slightly shy of rancid (three goals in 10 games) and it’s concerning. A drop-off was to be expected without Klingberg, but Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov are fine and healthy so … get it together.
• Defenseman Roman Polak has been excellent through the first 20. He isn’t going to put up numbers, but his plus-minus of plus-six is second on the team and his ability on the penalty kill has been nothing short of critical for this club.
  We (myself included) wrote this signing off in the summer as a throwaway, but it’s turned into an intelligent bit of foresight on General Manager Jim Nill’s part — especially given the injuries.
  He deserves credit for this and Polak should get some praise for what he’s brought to Dallas.
• Julius Honka scares me when he has the pill. Calling it like I see it.
• Former Texas Ranger Ian Kinsler dropping the puck before the Stars/Bruins game in Dallas, after winning a World Series with the Red Sox and not the Rangers? Wow. We’re sure it was agonizing for him.
• Martin Hanzal (remember him?) is coming back perhaps in early-ish December, according to head coach Jim Montgomery. It will be interesting to see how he operates within this system, but also has us wondering what happens to Jason Dickinson because, well …
• Jason Dickinson continues to do Jason Dickinson things, notching another overtime winner at home against Boston. His maturation and progression has been something to see.

So … how should I feel?

Despite the bumps and the bruises, let’s say pretty damn good. The Stars have found ways to win or pick up points against quality opponents (Boston, Washington, Toronto, Winnipeg, Nashville and San Jose) despite being decimated by health concerns.

They also sit only a few points back of second in the crowded Central Division and have solved a couple of issues away from home.

The injuries could catch up to them eventually, sure. The big guns of Seguin and Benn are slowly coming back into hitting the net with regularity, though the reliance on depth might bite them as well, as could the heavy lean on starting goaltending.

But all this means in a nutshell is that if the Stars can in fact continue showing resiliency and stick around in the race, this club is going to be pretty tough to handle when it all comes back together.

Why? Well, the top line already showed signs of life in the win over the Isles, popping nine points combined in a 6-2 win, the powerplay has to come around eventually (we play the law of averages game) and the defense won’t be completely ravaged forever.

With all that’s going on and has gone on through 20, we haven’t yet seen this team with its full complement of players and we haven’t seen them at their peak. Yet here they are on pace for 98 points. That’s something to feel hopeful about.