Through 40: The fault in our (Dallas) Stars

From Tyler and the Pitlicks to horse manure, we’re taking a look at the Dallas Stars through every 10 game stretch of the season. Now only a game off from halfway through the year, it’s time for the Jim Lites “no holds barred” edition.

It’s been a strange set of games for the Dallas Stars, which is putting the term quite mildly. After shutting down the struggling Nashville Predators 2-0 last Thursday — Anton Khudobin made like so many saves — Stars CEO Jim Lites went full Les Grossman on his top two players Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin (Comments can be found everywhere on Google).

Neither has been completely dominant this season. Lites called them bad names because of it. The NHL world gawked and rubbernecked at the car crash and then decided to capitalize and award them next year’s Winter Classic. Hey, something positive came from it!

We aren’t here to cast out a lengthy tangent on the issue — the topic has been beaten already — but it would be remiss not to comment on the subject as it does relate to present and future play.

First of all, Lites is in the wrong in how he went about his business. It was a misguided effort concocted by management that included both owner Tom Gaglardi and General Manager Jim Nill. To hear it play out from beginning to end sounds more like the plot of a silent film than anything that needs to be happening across the league.

Second, Lites is not wrong in the assessment that Benn and Seguin have been less than stellar. They have disappeared for long stretches and have been outmatched by the opponent’s top line too often. And yet while the goal production has been curtailed, mostly due to evil pipes, Seguin is still on pace for 70 points. Jamie Benn is on pace for 33 goals.

The Stars are two points back of third in the Central and six back of second. They drummed the Detroit Red Wings a day after Lites went nuclear, sure, but they’ve also picked up seven of a possible 10 points in the last five games. They have eight of the next 11 at home.

Odd time to swing at the wasp’s nest. We could argue that this needed to be doled out sometime last season when, you know, Dallas was losing five straight and six then seven and then eight to fall from the playoffs. But we digress.

Currently:

20-16-4

Home: 12-5-2

Road: 8-11-2

Last 10: 4-5-1

The last time we were here, I gave high praise to the defense and coaching staff. They were coming off of a four-game winning streak and looked to be in a groove. It was the ultimate jinx as they dropped four in a row and went win-loss-win-loss for a bit. Let’s not do that anymore. Instead, here are the next 10 and some notes on play:

Next 10:

New Jersey Devils

Washington Capitals

@ Winnipeg Jets

@ St. Louis Blues

@ Philadelphia Flyers

St.Louis Blues

Los Angeles Kings

Winnipeg Jets

Buffalo Sabres

Minnesota Wild

• Tyler Pitlick has a really nice game, there simply has to be more consistency. He had scored in three straight prior to missing the New Year’s contest, but only had three tallies in the 32 previous. The talent is there. He scored 14 last season and his wheels and aggression are assets, they just need to be harnessed.
• Speaking of, the Comeau/Faksa/Pitlick line has been dynamite. The group has real chemistry.
• I won’t live much longer having to go through these overtime tilts. 3-on-3 is pure magic and a hospital bill waiting to happen.
• It’s really nice to see Mattias Janmark pick his game back up after scoring 19 goals last year. He’d scored a point in four straight before the loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Let’s remember also this is only his third full season after he missed a year with a knee condition.
• There are rumors that Val Nichushkin might never score a goal again ever.
• What else can be said about the Stars goaltending? Both Ben Bishop and Khudobin continue to excel and keep the team in games. The fact that the tandem could vie for the Jennings Trophy is honestly quite insane. It’s been a long, long time since netminding in Texas was this stellar. If only the team consistently put up more than two goals for a game…
• We can’t tell you why it is exactly, but the Stars get raked on faceoffs when either killing penalties or when on the man advantage. We thought this was our eyes deceiving us but the numbers bear it out. Overall Dallas is seventh in faceoff win percentage at 51.8 percent. On the powerplay? The number drops to 49.4. It doesn’t seem like much of a dip, but that’s actually 25th in the league. For a team that has problems entering the zone, losing faceoffs to start the advantage is and has been a killer. The penalty kill is worse at 46.4 percent. The fact that the unit is still top ten says a lot, and the number makes some sense in regards to personnel. This still doesn’t explain how two of the best faceoff men in Jason Spezza and Seguin continue to lose draws on the powerplay.

So…how should I feel?

If you’re Jim Lites and you’re reading this, we already know how you feel so continue to do so if that’s your pleasure. For everyone else? It’s time to get on with the second half and make a serious push. We’ll say you should feel…jubilant, excited and hopeful with a touch of trepidation. John Klingberg is back and healthy, Connor Carrick is back and Stephen Johns has been skating, so the club is as close to healthy as they’ve been in some time. The powerplay is heating up and depth is (!) scoring. There are no more excuses.

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