NHL
Edmonton will host all the Stars' playoff games without fans.
The disconnect between regular season performance and postseason results can sometimes be because of the inherent randomness that follows hockey, especially in the shortened sample sizes of seven-game series.
Still, just one of the last six President's Trophy winners has reached the Conference Finals. On the other hand, the two teams that went deepest in last year's playoffs (St. Louis and Boston) finished the 2019-20 regular season with the game's best two records.
“We talk about that internally,” Nill said. “You've got to be good enough to get in the playoffs. The difference between being in the playoffs and being out is two to four wins. That's not a lot. You've got to be good enough to get through the highs and the lows and the travel and everything else. But anybody that follows hockey a lot, that follows the NHL playoffs, it's a grind. It's a physical grind, it's a mental grind and you've got to have the right kind of team.”
The Stars are hoping last year's playoff experience of losing to the Blues in Game 7 can push them forward this season.
But how is this team different from last year and can it avoid the same fate?
Dallas' bid to beat the Blues last year fell apart in Games 6 and 7, when it scored just two total goals as St. Louis erased a 3-2 series deficit. One of those goals was Tyler Seguin's power play goal in Game 6. The other was Mats Zuccarello's goal aided by a deflection off an official's skate in Game 7. Otherwise, the Stars offense went dry.
This season, the Stars are only slightly better offensively, ranking 26th (2.58 goals per game) instead of 29th (2.55 goals per game) like in 2018-19. Their best players like Seguin, Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov didn't score like they did in the past, but the Stars have added offensive depth up front with the emergence of Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz. Plus, Nill and the Stars are counting on offseason additions Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry (even at this stage of their careers) to produce in the postseason.
Among active players, Pavelski is tied for sixth with 48 career playoff goals. Perry is tied for 13th with 36. The next closest Star is Radulov with 13 career playoff goals.
“Some of these guys are just wired for this time of year,” Nill said. “They live for it. They love it. They want to win. Those are the guys that make the difference for you.”
Based on the regular season statistics, it's tough to know if the Stars will score enough to make a deep postseason push.
If they don't, they'll look where they did last season: at the goaltending.
Ben Bishop was the Stars' best player in the postseason last year and posted a .920 save percentage this season. Backup Anton Khudobin led the NHL with a .930 save percentage, behind a defense that limited opposing slot chances.
The Stars have shown at times how good they can be. Between their 1-7-1 start and their six-game losing streak at the end of the season, the Stars were the best team in the league. Their .713 points percentage in 54 games was the only one in the NHL over .700 during that time period. (Of course, when you take away any team's worst quarter of the season, the rest of their season looks better.)
“We know we're a good team,” Nill said. “We have very good structure, we're not an easy team to play against. That's playoff hockey. Now it's time to get ready, let's get to that level and see where we're at. I think we have more to give. I don't think we've played our best hockey yet.”
Polak officially opts out: Stars defenseman Roman Polak officially opted out of the NHL'S return to play, his agent Allan Walsh tweeted Sunday evening. Polak's decision was expected by the Stars and general manager Jim Nill after previously saying that he would prefer to stay in the Czech Republic.
Polak was not on the Stars' training camp roster the team released on Saturday. Technically, he had until Monday to render his decision on opting out. Polak is the only Stars player who chose not to play in the conclusion of the 2019-20 season.