Installment number two of the review of the Stars scoring chances recorded throughout the year is now at your fingertips. This collection is focused solely on special teams play. I've taken the recorded scoring chances for the significant contributors to both special teams units, and displayed them after the jump.

Significant is a pretty loose term in this case. Anyone that either played more than ten minutes on either unit and was with the team for the full season is listed.So, when you don't see Michael Ryder listed on the penalty killing totals you will know why. As always there are a few surprises regarding where players graded out.

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Over the course of the season I've collected a sizable amount of data about the Stars. It could be more, and next year it will be (we'll get into that when it becomes more topical), but with the season still fresh on our collective minds now is a good time to look back at how events transpired over the season. This is a lot of information so it's going to be broken up appropriately.

The recaps will be broken into a TBD amount of separate posts. It's TBD because any number of different approaches could be taken to the data to learn any number of things. Three are definitely in the pipeline though. First we'll knock out all Even Strength chances in this post. The next post is going to be all Special Teams chances. The third post in the pipeline is going to be splits. What that fully consists of is anyone's guess right now, but at the bare minimum it will be team by team breakdowns, period by period, and home vs. road.

Without further ado, follow the jump to see how your favorite Dallas Stars fared in the 2011-12 campaign at even strength.

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The Stars season is finally in the books. In the final game of the season the Stars dropped a 3-2 decision to the St. Louis Blues with several kids in the lineup. Reilly Smith, Jordie Benn, Brendan Dillon, Tomas Vincour, and Scott Glennie were given prominent roles in the final given decent minutes to close out the season. They did well all things considered. The Stars were able to outchance the Blues 15-13.

The Stars played the Blues straight up in each period even though they should have been all over them in the first with three early powerplays. At even strength the Stars outchanced the Blues 14-11 with a large amount of rookies in the lineup. In a game that didn't matter in the least bit the kids played well. After the jump you can see how well.

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The Stars picked a terrible time to go into a slump. With the season winding down and their fate in their own hands the Stars couldn't cross the finish line to make the playoffs. The Nashville Predators officially pulled the plug on the Stars playoff chances Thusday night with a 2-0 win. The same issues that have plagued the Stars all season continued to plague them against the Predators as they were outchanced 18-12.

The Stars powerplay was once again mediocre. The penalty killing was once again really good. The Stars "checking" line was run over, and the Stars struggled once again to score goals. It's a common formula we've come to expect this past year, and the result of that formula is a fourth straight year without playoff hockey.

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The Dallas Stars took the ice against the San Jose Sharks knowing what they had to do. They took the ice with a few subtle changes attempting to fix the problems which arose on Saturday in San Jose. They were healthier after two days off. All of those positives added up to a 5-2 loss at the hands of a team, while not playing particularly well, is better than the Stars right now. The Stars outchanced the Sharks 11-10 (Fear The Fin had it 12-10 Sharks).

The Stars didn't play poorly. The powerplay wasn't good for sure, and it's been an issue all season. They didn't take many penalties, and at least one of the ones they were charged with was questionable. The Stars problem, as it has been for four years, was defensive zone coverage. The Stars forwards blew coverage for all three even strength goals. Last night their mistakes happened to all go in the net, but the mistakes are worth looking at to show the biggest issue plaguing the Stars in full, gory, graphic detail. After the jump we'll have Fathead-sized images of the three even strength goals the Sharks scored plus the player reports.

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The Stars final real road trip of the season ended Saturday night in San Jose. (Yes, they still have one road game, but a quick trip to Nashville isn't much of a road trip.) The final two games of that trip (Vancouver and San Jose) are the subjects of today's scoring chances. Overall the Stars weren't that bad over the past two games. The combined chances for the two games are below:

The Stars had a few defensive lapses against the Canucks and average at best goaltending while Cory Schneider stole the show for Vancouver. San Jose beat the Stars up and down the ice in the second game of the back to back, but what else is new? The Stars have very few points to show for the second games in back to back sets all season, and possession teams like the Sharks have had their way with the Stars all season.

The Stars biggest issues in the two games were on special teams. They were shorthanded too often, when they were shorthanded they gave up too many chances, and the powerplay stunk. In the two games the Stars generated one chance on the powerplay. They generated 4 chances while shorthanded. That isn't a recipe for success. After the jump we'll take a look at each game on it's own.

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The Dallas Stars are back in first place. With the Stars 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers they jumped back ahead of the San Jose Sharks to, at least for today, reclaim the division lead. It was a much more difficult task than it initially appeared it would be. The Oilers currently sit in 14th place in the Western Conference, and 29th overall. They gave the Stars a fight. The Stars only outchanced the Oilers 17-16.

The Stars outchanced the Oilers 13-9 at even strength, but they were outchanced on special teams 7-4. They gave the Oilers two shorthanded chances. One was to Jordan Eberle. The other was to defensive defenseman Nick Schultz. Needless to say, that was a little unexpected. The special teams have been an issue as much as any other problem lately. We'll take a lot at them and the player chart after the jump.

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The Calgary Flames are still breathing this morning after blitzing the Dallas Stars in the second period last night with a four goal uprising en route to a 5-4 victory. Most of the Flames scoring damage came on the powerplay. The penalty killing run the Stars were on couldn't last forever, and last night it came to an abrupt end seemingly out of nowhere. The Flames were good at even strength too though. For the game they outchanced the Stars 24-20 including 17-16 at even strength.

The first and third periods were relatively close. The Stars outchanced the Flames by one in the combined frames, but their second period issues crept up once again. The Flames outchanced the Stars 11-6 in the period with the entire chance differential coming from the Flames powerplay. The Stars biggest issue against the Flames has been Jarome Iginla. On the road they have very little control over the match ups. The Flames have a pretty obvious plan of attack that revolves around how best to deploy their franchise anchor. After the jump we'll look at that plan and the player reports from the game.

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