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Dallas Stars Daily Links: The Stars Are 5-3-4, And Rick Bowness Is “Out Of Patience”

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

The Dallas Stars have not won a game since February 2. That win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the sole victory of the Stars’ road trip, was supposed to be a sign that the Victory Green Gang was poised to do better in their own barn.

But four games into a two-week home stand, the Stars have settled for three points, and only because they managed to take their losses to overtime. And like every Stars fan, head coach Rick Bowness is ready for something different, as Saad Yousuf reports from Saturday night’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes:

“We’re running out of patience, I’ll tell you that,” Bowness said. “We’re not getting outplayed. We’re not playing poorly. We’re not. We’re not capitalizing on chances we get, especially early in that game again tonight.”…

The Stars are not a bad hockey team. They aren’t even playing bad hockey, for the most part. Bad offense? Yes. Bad on the penalty kill? More on that in a second. But this is a team that simply isn’t playing winning hockey right now. That’s not a silver lining in a results-oriented league, but it’s the truth of where things stand. We’ve seen this team play bad hockey before. Remember the 1-7-1 start last season? Or the 0-4-2 finish before the COVID-19 pause? This stretch isn’t of those things, and that’s encouraging only in the sense that hope for a turnaround isn’t just wishful thinking.

And indeed, Yousuf points to the PK as a symptom of everything the Stars need to tighten up, right now:

The Stars’ penalty kill is stuck in the mud in a bad way. They have allowed a power-play goal in eight of the past nine games, while the Stars’ scorching power play to begin the season hasn’t been there to help neutralize things.

The Stars allowed essentially two power-play goals Saturday. The first one came at the end of the second period. Officially, it’s not a power-play goal, but as Bowness said after the game, it might as well count as one because Teuvo Teravainen scored two seconds after the power play expired.

“It’s dumb mistakes. It’s stupid mistakes. It is. It’s as simple as that,” Bowness said. “We’re running out to a point. We never do that.”

There’s more behind the paywall. [The Athletic DFW]

Stars Stuff

The Stars take on the Nashville Predators tonight as their home stand continues. Mike Heika has the details.

What to watch for: the debut of the Stars’ Stormtrooper look.

Around The Leagues

There was no music in the #Disco on Sunday, so let’s get right to the other stories….

Here’s a reminder that the Stars – especially Joe Pavelski and John Klingberg – really can play well, even if the results aren’t coming.

Steven Stamkos is excused from the COVID-19 protocol, but the Tampa Bay Lightning star is still questionable for return due to a lower-body injury. [NHL]

Speaking of the Bolts, their news comes with a happy update for Stars alumnus Gemel Smith, who picked up two assists in his first NHL game since October 6, 2019.

This piece about how the NHL is adapting its pandemic protocols on the fly is a good reminder that we’re all living in interesting times.

Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park

The Texas Stars earned a big 5-3 win over the San Jose Barracuda during Valentine’s weekend, so they celebrated holiday-style.

“Being confrontational with the event staff will not change the guidelines.” The organization issued a reminder – as did Stephen Meserve, who is covering games from home.

Finally

Because we all miss Tyler Seguin (and probably Jaromir Jagr) just this much. Enjoy.

Talking Points