Stars Losing Confidence, Patience, or Both?

It’s still young in the season, six games in, but would we really be true Dallas fans if we didn't analyze every single game and every moment on the ice as if it was already playoff time?

Well, now that we are all in agreement, let’s dive in.

It’s not that the Stars are playing badly because they are not. They are simply being out-beaten by each goalie — and that’s frustrating. It’s frustrating not only for us, watching every game, but also for the players who should be expecting more goals to be crossing the line than are actually doing so right now.

Before the start of the Avs game last Saturday, they had scored just eight goals in four games: four on the power-play, three at full strength, and and a single empty netter. The same continued against the Avalanche. Tyler Seguin’s wrap around didn’t even want to go in. Jamie Benn made friends with the crossbar, and the puck didn’t ring in. The 5-on-3 power-play we saw wasn’t even able to score. *sigh*

The lack of offensive success thus far in the season has fans concerned. Even with a few wins and points on the board, we’re left wondering if the Stars can shake out of this funk and continue to play as they did against the Avs (where they played a complete game) while scoring more. Or, are they still trying to find their “mojo”?

After Tuesday night’s play against the Arizona Coyotes, I’m still not sure the Stars have found “it” yet.

Ben Bishop was the savior in that game, saving the Stars from a night where the scoreboard could have been flipped. The offense wasn’t able to maintain the puck, the defense looked sloppy at many times, and opportunities to put the puck past the goaltender were there again but just as elusive as the first five games.

Mattias Janmark coming off of a line change wrapped around and got a shot on net, but it would not go in until Radek Faksa cleaned up with the rebound and finally beat rookie goaltender Adin Hill. This is what the Stars need to do more that we aren’t seeing on a consistent basis: the ability to get the puck in the center and create chances for rebounds. They are getting the puck into the high danger zones, but have had an inability to make plays and finish with the puck so far this season.

I’m starting to think the puck doesn’t like the Stars as much as we do. (Or maybe the other teams in the league saw all of the Stars’ offseason moves and are putting a hex on the puck. Completely kidding of course...or am I?)

Everyone sees and talks about the potential within the offense and the forwards in Dallas, but so far they are not really producing at even-strength. The team’s shooting percentage is at an all-time low when compared to the last three seasons, at just 6.1% compared to 10.0% in 2014-15, 10.1% in 2015-16 and 8.9% in 2016-17. Through six games, they’ve generated 220 shots on goal and scored 14 goals: five on the power-play, six at full-strength, and now three coming as empty netters.

I’d like to ask you all to help me solve the puzzle of what is eating the Dallas Stars offense. Is it the lack of goals compared to how many shots they are taking, the defense not suppressing the right kinds of shots, are they lacking confidence, are goals more elusive because of the quality of shots the Stars are generating? Or is it a combination of some of these? Maybe it’s none and we are all worried about the offense for no reason.

But then again, would we be real fans if we didn’t want to win 24/7 and find somewhere to put the blame for not winning? No matter what it is, I want to see what y'all think, so go ahead and vote and drop your comments down below.