Stars enter All-star break with momentum, room to grow before playoffs

DALLAS — Saturday night’s finish at the American Airlines Center was déjà vu for the Stars.

With two minutes remaining in regulation in the Stars’ eventual 5-4 overtime victory, Washington’s Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal off a shot from the point before Dylan Strome scored the game-tying goal with 43 seconds left on a scramble in front of the net.

Many of the players on the ice thought the whistle blew, but it was ruled a good goal, sending the game to overtime where Stars defenseman Thomas Harley scored the game-winner in extra time for the second game in a row.

The Stars’ strengths and weaknesses were on full display in their last outing before the All-star break. The last 5:27 of game action showcased them best.

Dallas enters the All-star break after what has been a largely successful month of play, especially considering the circumstances. The Stars were without their two best defensive players — goalie Jake Oettinger and Miro Heiskanen — for three weeks each due to injury. Nevertheless, they have gone 8-2-1 after losing their first three games of 2024 and have collected points in their last five outings.

“It’s good for the team morale,” Stars forward Mason Marchment said. “Ended on a positive note, enjoy the break, recoup a little bit, rest up and come back with the same energy. We’re in a great spot. We’re right there in a whole bunch of different standards.”

They’ve also now returned all of their players to full strength and saved up enough salary cap space should injuries arise down the line.

The Stars are in the position they want to be before returning for a heated playoff race in the Central Division. They’re winning games, resolving past mistakes but still showing room for improvement. Their peak could still be ahead.

The team’s greatest challenge as of late has been winning in regulation. It was a struggle early in the season, but in early January, Dallas went eight straight games without an overtime finish.

Since, three of the last four games have been decided in overtime.

The Stars have improved in overtime from last season where they finished among the worst in the NHL in overtime with an 8-14 record in the regular season and 1-4 in the playoffs. They’re 9-6 so far this year and won back-to-back entering the break on the overtime goals from Harley, which ties him for the league lead in OT goals this season.

Dallas’ linescores haven’t been ideal either, as the team has sacrificed three or more goals a night to teams out of the playoff picture. Four goals against Washington, three against Anaheim and three against the Islanders aren’t the results you’d expect from a team with Stanley Cup aspirations. Against playoff contenders Nashville and Philadelphia, the Stars gave up six and five goals, respectively.

Goals against only matter so much when teams are winning, as the Stars have been. They’ve also been adjusting to Oettinger’s return from a long-term injury and Heiskanen’s absence as a key defensive cog. But overall defense will be a focus for the team when they return from break and one ahead of the trade deadline.

“We can score. That’s not an issue,” Stars head coach Pete Deboer said Friday. “Defending is critical down the stretch and in the playoffs. I think we can get better in that area.”

At the same time, the Stars have also taken defensive strides in some areas with defensemen like Heiskanen and Harley contributing both ways at key times. Since his return from injury, Heiskanen has three points in two games. Harley has 10 in the last eight games, including two goals in the last three.

“He’s hot right now,” Deboer said of Harley. “I’m not sure of the bonus structure in his contract, but I think he’s starting to worry Jim and our capologists up top there because he keeps putting pucks in the back of the net.”

The two together make up the league’s most dangerous defensive pairing with an expected goals percentage of 70.5%.

Offensively, the Stars enter the break ranked third in the league in goals per game at 3.67. That’s a product of the depth they’ve demonstrated with all four lines contributing.

Their top two lines have been the most effective lately, as the new-look top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston has 10 goals and 14 assists in just seven games played together.

The second line of Marchment, Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin has shown no signs of slowing down all season and added two goals in Saturday’s 5-4 win over Washington.

“If you look back after Game 5, I think that’s when it started clicking, and I think it’s gotten a lot better since then,” Marchment said. “But I still think there’s room to grow. There’s a lot of upside to our line. Even on some nights where we don’t have it, we try to keep it simple and make those little plays and support each other.”

The team’s efforts as of late leave it comfortably in the top seven of the league’s standings but still battling for the Central Division — the NHL’S most top-heavy division this season. Just a single point separates Dallas from first place heading into the break. Meanwhile, the Stars are over 10 points away from the fourth-place Predators.

For some teams in the NHL, the break couldn’t come at a better time, but for Dallas, it’s more of a luxury. The team will use the time off to reset on the areas it can grow and hope it can maintain its winning ways when it returns in February.

If it can — and become a winner at the trade deadline — it’ll be a dangerous team when the postseason rolls arrives.

“We’re right where we want to be,” Deboer said. “We’re in the mix for the division and the conference with some really good teams. I think we’re starting to play some really good hockey. Despite the scores and the goals we’ve given up, I think our game has been fairly solid and trending in the right direction.”