Stars’ struggles stun the experts
Rise of Predators, Canucks and Flames among positive surprises
Tyler Seguin thought the Dallas Stars could have been a contender. They still might be, but it’ll take some work.
More than a quarter of the way through the regular season, the Stars are 11th in the Western Conference and five points back of a playoff spot. Along with the successes of the Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens, the Stars’ struggles have been among the biggest surprises in the NHL so far. “We’ve lost games we probably should’ve won,” general manager Jim Nill said recently. “But it’s that old analogy: When you dig a hole, it takes more dirt to fill it in. We’re finding more dirt right now.”
Starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen (. 905 save percentage) hasn’t played well, and backup Anders Lindback — whose struggles in replacing Ben Bishop for the Tampa Bay Lightning last spring all but handed a first-round victory to the Canadiens — has been worse with a goals-against average of 4.63 and save percentage of .861.
The opposite is true for the Predators, whose 34 points through 23 games were tied for tops in the league. Nashville has got superb goaltending from Pekka Rinne, who leads all starters with a 1.82 GAA and .933 save percentage.
Goaltending has been crucial to the early success of three Canadian teams: Ryan Miller’s Canucks, Jonas Hiller’s Flames and Carey Price’s Canadiens.
Miller (2.42, .911) has stabilized the position in Vancouver.
So is Hiller, signed to be the Flames’ starter after getting pushed out by younger depth in Anaheim. He and Karri Ramo have been excellent in Calgary, and defensive scoring has got GM Brad Treliving’s team into a playoff spot in the early going.