Who Are the Real Dallas Stars in 2024-25? – The Hockey Writers Dallas Stars Latest News, Analysis & More

It may be a little too soon to call division games in January “must win”, but whatever the closest phrase to that is, that’s what Saturday’s game was for the Dallas Stars against the Colorado Avalanche. The Stars fell 6-3 in a game that really unraveled in the second period. The Stars jumped out to the early lead and never had the lead again, which is a familiar trend in a lot of their losses this season.

Then came Sunday. On the second night of a back-to-back, the Stars hosted the Detroit Red Wings. After scoring three goals in the first period, the Stars were able to withstand a strong final two periods from the Red Wings and leave the ice with a 4-1 win. It wasn’t overly impressive, but they scored on the power play, had big saves, and did what they needed to do to get the win.

Related: NHL Projected Lineups, Starting Goalies, Injuries, Updates

Dallas’ season was very lackluster heading into the Christmas break, despite being in a playoff spot, having a flawless penalty kill, and a terrific home record. Their road game was mediocre at best, the power play was dreadful, and scoring with regularity was a real issue. Since then, the Stars seemed to have turned things around, but the game they played in Colorado was eerily similar to what we saw in the first half of the season. Was that a one-off? Have the Stars really turned things around?

With the Carolina Hurricanes coming to town on Tuesday, and the Vegas Golden Knights on the schedule for two of the next three games after that, this will be a real test to see where the Stars rank when it comes to the crème de la crème of the NHL.

Jason Robertson Is Back

After an incredibly slow start to the season, there is no question that the Jason Robertson we all know and love is back and making a massive impact.

Through the first 22 games of the season, Robertson had only five goals and 13 points. The Stars were getting offense from other places, but if they were going to be the championship-caliber team that they had been in the past, he was going to have to produce at the level he was expected to.

Robertson’s turnaround started in December when he had 15 points in 14 games. Only four of those points were goals, but it was a start. He must have made some deep-hearted New Year’s resolutions because since the calendar turned, he has been on an absolute tear.

The Stars have played 10 games in January. In those 10 games, Robertson has six goals and 14 points, including five power-play points. His shot count has been trending upward as well, something that was way lower than normal to start the season. Through the first two months and 22 games of the season, Robertson had 51 shots. In the 24 games since, he has 69.

This may seem obvious, but when he produces, the Stars win. It really is that simple. In their 16 losses, Robertson has 10 points. In their 29 wins, he has 32 points. The Stars have other top-notch point producers on their team, no question. But in order for them to restore their status as one of the best teams in the Western Conference, it has to go through Robertson, and since Dec. 1, it certainly has.

Stars Getting Production by Committee

As much as Robertson is pulling his weight and then some, he is not doing it alone. After getting only six points in December, Matt Duchene has four goals and 12 points in January and two goals in seven points in his last four games. The lack of production in December was largely due to Tyler Seguin’s injury and Mason Marchment’s injury a few weeks later. Over the last 10 games, Duchene’s become more comfortable with his new linemates and the stat sheet shows just that.

Rookies Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque have also had turnarounds this month. Stankoven’s production hasn’t been spectacular this season, with six goals and 23 points, but his play has been exceptional since opening night. Even when pucks weren’t going in, you could see he was playing the right way. He just couldn’t buy a goal to save his life.

Bourque, on the other hand, has had a hard time finding his groove. However, head coach Pete DeBoer and the coaching staff gave him just that. Time. January has easily been his best month of the season, not just on the score sheet, but in his overall play. He’s chipping in on the defensive end, creating turnovers, and turning them into offensive opportunities. When it comes to the score sheet, he has three goals and five points in January, compared to the two goals and seven points he had in the first three months of the season.

Captain Jamie Benn has been steady all season long, just like he has been for the majority of his career. However, his scoring touch bounced back a little bit in January. He has 12 goals on the season, and four of those have been in the last 10 games.

The aforementioned players’ production is what has made this team so good for so long. When certain players are not firing, other plays step up, and sometimes, they are all firing at once. With all of the winning, star players like Roope Hintz have kind of gone under the radar. He has 19 goals and 27 points on the season, which doesn’t seem overly impressive (the goal total is, but the point total is not so much.) That being said, he has three goals and five points in the last seven games. No matter his assist production, he always seems to be scoring goals. Much like Robertson, when the Stars win, he produces. When they lose, he doesn’t. He has 17 goals and 23 points in the 28 wins he has played in. In the 13 losses he has played in, he has only four points. Yet, with everybody pulling their weight at this point in the season, Hintz’s lack of production at times hasn’t been as glaring as when Robertson was going through his slump.

…And Now for the Bad

If you’ve been following the Stars this season, or at least The Hockey Writers’ coverage of them, there are certain concerning trends we have covered in depth. The struggling power play, the mediocre road record that has since been turned, and so on and so forth. The one thing that has been a problem, and is rearing its ugly head, is their ability to hold a lead.

In their last two losses, 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens and 6-3 to the Avalanche, the Stars scored the first goal of the game within the first four minutes. In both games, the lead was short-lived, and in both games, they never got the lead back again. This has happened multiple times this season, and after a seven-game winning streak, this popped up yet again, causing the Stars to lose two in a row before beating the Red Wings on Sunday.

We are also going to go over the power play very quickly. The Stars play four of their next six games at home. They have a phenomenal 17-6-1 home record, so overall, that’s good news. The bad news is that they play the Hurricanes and Golden Knights in three of the next four games, two of the best teams in the NHL.

The Hurricanes have the second-best penalty kill in the NHL, 84.9%. The Stars have the best, just to throw that in there. The problem with playing a great penalty kill at the American Airlines Center is the fact Dallas has the worst home power play in the NHL. Heading into Sunday’s game, the Stars had a 9.9% power play at home and were one-for-20 in the last six home games. The Golden Knights’ penalty kill is at 77% after Monday, so perhaps the Stars can gain some momentum with the man advantage.

Important Week Ahead

Yes, those two losses to end the week were concerning, but the Stars are still in a very good spot. They are currently in third place in the Central Division, and with a win on Tuesday, they would leapfrog the Minnesota Wild to take over second place. They have mostly home games to close out the month, and they are very good at home. Still, there are parts of their game that need to be ironed out, and as we discussed, these next few games are against tough opponents and should give us a better idea of where exactly the Stars are at.