Game 24 AfterThoughts: Road Sweet Road
The Stars have a lot to be thankful for
The Stars are now 9-1-3 on the road, which means they now have the best road record in the NHL.
I don’t really believe in analyzing home/road splits too much, given how they can fluctuate from year to year, and how unreliable they are in terms of carrying into the playoffs. Good hockey teams win the majority of their games, wherever they play.
But there are some exceptions, like the natural advantage of Colorado’s altitude or whatever dark magic the Saddledome used to hold over visiting teams. Winnipeg and Los Angeles were dynamite home teams last year too, but that didn’t really do much for them when things got important in the playoffs (other than help Connor Hellebuyck extend the Dallas series to a six-game loss).
In any case, it’s still good to show you can win on the road, just like it’s good to show you can win at home. But for a coach who explicitly preaches “road hockey” as part of his guiding philosophy, Glen Gulutzan has to be pleased with what his Stars have done away from American Airlines Center.
Overall, the Stars have managed to work through some stutter-steps early in the season, and their hockey is beginning to take shape, even with some key pieces missing. When you get to the point of a season where a team really begins to show who they are (a point Gulutzan said weeks ago starts around the 20-game mark), it’s fascinating to see the automatic decision-making and organic creativity that come from that identity.
And in the Stars’ case, they keep finding ways to create high-grade looks and convert them. Over the course of November, the Stars’ shooting percentage at 5-on-5 is the highest in the league, at 14.34%. Tampa Bay is the only other team to be above 13%.
While you’d expect some regression there, this system is pretty clearly designed to create the looks that are hardest for goalies to stop, and it’s done so with ruthless efficiency. It’s got a very clear quality-over-quantity nature to it, but not one that we’ve seen in more defensive systems like those under Rick Bowness, where the quantity was just too much to overcome. This team, as they’ve gotten rolling, has begun to create looks consistently, even against teams dead-set on preventing them. And when they start to break teams down, it’s not because they’re stringing together rush chances, like often happened in prior years. It’s because they’re simply not able to be contained in the other team’s defensive zone. That’s a terrifying reality to face if you’re an opposing goaltender.
After the penalty kill came up huge to start the game with four minutes of killed PK time, Alex Petrovic more than atoned for his double-minor for high sticking by assisting on Roope Hintz’s opening goal:
Here’s something fun: Hintz just did get a piece of that puck, but if Petrovic had shot it in himself, all five goals in this contest would have been scored by defensemen. As it was, Hintz ended up being a bit of stat spoiler, but I think he’ll be okay with that.
Seattle was packing the middle of the ice a fair bit, and that meant the defensemen were going to need to find ways to contribute on offense. I don’t know if that’s what the coaches specifically told the Dallas blueliners or not, but it sure worked out that way. And that’s something the team felt proud of.
“I think it’s an organizational depth win on defense,” Gulutzan said afterward. “They’ve done a really good job.”
Gulutzan also said that they knew Seattle was a very stingy hockey team going in, and they prepared for this exact sort of game this morning. It’s got to be immensely satisfying when the execution lines up with the preparation.
The second period was an even tighter affair, with both teams trying not to blink. And in the end, the Kraken would flutter their eyelids with a missed drop pass in the offensive zone, leading to a Dallas rush the other way that Esa Lindell would finally stuff home on a rebound scramble:
But despite Dallas’s clawing out a lead from the middle frame, Seattle would even things back up before seats were warm in the third, as Vince Dunn beat DeSmith with Jamie Benn back playing defense following a fizzled rush the other way:
I don’t know if the puck got a tiny piece of Benn’s stick or not. It’s hard to tell, but it’s possible.
DeSmith made some other saves to balance that one out in this game, and generally speaking, if you only allow two goals in the second game of a road back-to-back, I think you’re absolutely doing your job as a backup goaltender.
Still, that’s the sort of early goal that can swing momentum somethin’ fierce, and Dallas then took a too many men penalty to give the Kraken a golden chance to take the lead before the period had even warmed up.
But for the fourth straight time in the game, the Stars’ PK came up with the stop.
Speaking of the penalty kill, I really do think it’s worth pointing out just how much Alain Nasreddine has calmed things down after the early season struggles shorthanded. The Stars are suppressing chances like their old selves when shorthanded, and the goaltenders are once again holding the fort. The Stars’ PK is looking like itself again.
For you nerds out there, the red lines here show the PK. Each of the hashmarks on the bottom is a 10-game set, and Dallas’s penalty kill has not only reduced chances against by a good measure over the last 10 games, but the goals against are finally corresponding with that, too.
Trust the process, folks.
As for this game, it would fittingly be yet another defenseman to score the next goal, as Vladislav Kolyachonok went post-and-in from distance with more of a hopeful shot than anything after some beautiful overlapping passing from Robertson, Hintz, and Seguin:
Tyler Seguin has been dishing the puck with wizardry lately, and yet another multi-assist game from him feels almost standard at this point. But this was all about Adam Larsson, who appeared to hamper Daccord’s retinal scan abilities after the Stars’ passing got Daccord just a bit out of sorts.
With that said, don’t undersell the quick shot by Kolyachonok here to take advantage of the defensive movement necessitated by all the passing beforehand. That’s a wise shot, even if it’s a low-percentage one. Goalies and defensive movement are mortal enemies.
That late goal put Seattle into instant desperation mode—or at least, I thought it would—and that led to Seattle drawing one more penalty when Alex Petrovic got his stick into the skate of Matty Beniers behind the Stars’ net, resulting in a tripping penalty.
Despite the fact that penalties were 5-1 in Seattle’s favor, it felt like a pretty well-called game. Seattle was cagey, and Dallas didn’t really force them to take too many possible penalties with their play. And besides, the Stars had Esa Lindell, who was on the ice for eight of the ten shorthanded minutes Dallas faced tonight. So of course they killed the fifth and final penalty, and of course they went 3-0-1 on the road trip.
This team is doing special things, and that confidence is starting to show up in a lot of good ways. I’d say this team has earned whatever turkey is left over by the time they land back in Dallas on Thursday.
ESotG
Lineups
Dallas did this:
Benn-Johnston-Rantanen
Robertson-Hintz-Seguin
Bäck-Hryckowian-Bourque
Steel-Faksa-Bastian
Lindell-Heiskanen
Bichsel-Petrovic
Capobianco-Kolyachonok
DeSmith
Seattle lines were:
Marchment-Beniers-Eberle
Schwartz-Stephenson-Tolvanen
McCann-Catton-Wright
Kartye-Gaudreau-Winterton
Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Montour
Evans-Oleksiak
Daccord
AfterThoughts
This play by Rantanen to set up Johnston in the second was every bit as good as the save by Joey Daccord:
Jamie Benn’s holding the stick penalty in the second period was, uh, not particularly subtle. It might be the least subtle holding the stick penalty I have seen in some time, actually.
Mason Marchment is also not particularly subtle when he is Involved In Things, as Justin Hryckowian discovered.
Brandon Montour’s goal was, as you can see, a bit of a wild one, where DeSmith got back to his post after the puck bounced around and through the crease, but he didn’t quite find it in time to be ready for a low-angle shot, which bounced in.
Jaden Schwartz left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury, and he did not return.
The only player on the Stars to have a -2 tonight? Miro Heiskanen, who was also one of just two defensemen (along with Bichsel) not to record a point. But when you play 29:09 in a victory (Lindell played over 28 minutes as well), you don’t mind those minuses so much, I think.
Kyle Capobianco nearly scored right after the penalty kill early in the third period, but he got denied by Daccord as well, because apparently at least one defenseman had to not score tonight.
I like Capobianco’s instincts, such as they are. He’s been an underrated stalwart after Harley went down with an injury, and he looks comfortable joining offensive rushes and plays when it’s the right call. He’s wound up being a crucial signing for Dallas this year.
Victory+ had a pretty good graphic about Robertson’s month so far:
Not bad, I’d say.
Jason Robertson was also on the ice for the last minute and change of the game, with the Kraken net empty. That is mostly a testament to his defensive acumen on that line with Seguin and Hintz, but it was also perhaps his best chance to extend his goal-scoring streak to eight games. At one point, Seguin had it at the far side and chose prudence over generosity, firing the puck himself rather than risk a turnover in the middle of the ice by forcing a cross to Robertson. I suspect Robertson will be okay.
I really couldn’t believe Lane Lambert didn’t pull the goaltender when Seattle got a power play with about 3:30 to go, down by one. I just don’t think you’re getting a better look at the game than that one, right there. I’d love to know how players felt about that one in the Seattle room, but I suppose we never will, unless Mason Marchment is reading this right now and sends me a quick e-mail. Probably that will not happen though.
Dallas is now 15-5-4, second in the NHL. Colorado have won 10 straight and shut out their last three opponents. It’s a good time atop the NHL right now.
But, imagine you’re the Minnesota Wild.
You’ve gone 8-1-1 to completely erase a poor start to the season, and that red-hot streak has resulted in you gaining exactly…zero ground on either of the top teams in your division during that time.
Playing in the Central Division is something else, man.
Also, just really quickly, Pumpkin Pie is the best, Pecan Pie is cloying, syrupy nonsense, and marshmallow sauce on sweet potatoes is utter heresy. Happy Thanksgiving.
You know the one - if you play really well on the road the reward is - home ice advantage….
Thank you, Robert,
Happy Thanksgiving!