Tag: Knights

First Shift

The Stars had a few issues to start this season.

With Joe Pavelski retiring and both Robertson and Johnston navigating injuries in training camp, Dallas got off to a slow start on the power play, hanging near the bottom of the league at 16 percent. The lads in Victory Green also were struggling on the road with a 6-8-0 mark away from home shortly after Thanksgiving.

It was a confusing time for a team that had the best road record in franchise history (26-10-5) the year before and ranked sixth in power play success at 24.2 percent.

But starting on December 23, things started to change – and now a lot of early problems seem to be in the rearview mirror. As the Stars roll into Vegas for a big showdown on Tuesday, they are 7-2-0 in their past nine road games. They also have pushed the power play success rate to 25.5 percent over the past month.

It’s a nice reminder of just what this team can be when everything is clicking.

“That’s what good teams do,” coach Pete DeBoer said when asked about addressing problems and finding solutions.

The Stars have proven they are a good team. They have made it to the Western Conference Final two years in a row. They finished with the best record in the West last season. They have adjusted not only the recovery time needed by Johnston and Robertson, but also to losing Tyler Seguin (hip surgery) and Mason Marchment (face surgery) midseason. And they are battling once again for a top spot in the West.

Dallas sits fourth in the Western Conference at 31-17-1 with 63 points (.643 points percentage). It beat Vegas (31-15-4, 66 points) at home last week, so it will get to test out its road legs on Tuesday.

DeBoer said the coaching staff is always trying to resolve issues, and the start to the year was a challenge. But the group effort between coaches and players has been a satisfying one so far.

“That’s what we do,” DeBoer said. “We come in every morning and look at areas that are in a good place, you want to keep them in a good place. And areas that aren’t, you have to improve. That’s daily. This won’t be the last time something creeps in and part of that is recognizing it before it gets too far down the road.”

Both Robertson and Johnston have learned quite a bit already. Pavelski played on a line with Robertson and served as the billet family for Johnston. So while both players were dealing with a lack of preparation because of physical limitations, they also had to find a way to step up with one of their leaders gone. In the past 17 games, Robertson has 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) and Johnston has 20 points (5 goals, 15 assists).

That’s a big reason for the power play success, and also a big reason Dallas is tops in the league in that span at 12-4-1.

“We knew that eventually we would break out of it,” Robertson said. “We talk about it, but you have to put the work in. There is confidence there. I think the new year helped. Everyone turned the page, and we have been better. I’m sure we’re going to have another tough moment, but we know we can recover from it.”

DeBoer said the mental aspect is real, and that individuals can help each other.

“Confidence is such a big part of the game, particularly in some of those areas,” DeBoer said. “Those are things we manage on a daily basis.”

And while urgency is a real part of the human condition, so is calm.

“I think patience is a big part of it…and knowing the group,” DeBoer said of how the coaches handle adversity. “It’s not my first year with the group, so I know what they’re capable of. I know the personnel. I think that allows you to have a little more patience.”

That said, there are a lot of new faces, and a lot of new issues. In recent games, rookie Lian Bichsel has been paired with veteran Dumba on defense, while veteran defenseman Brendan Smith has been moved to forward. All three are new additions to the roster.

That’s part of the new guys learning from the old guys.

“With key personnel out, the fact we haven’t lost three in a row, the fact we’ve been able to stop the bleeding…a big part of that is leadership,” DeBoer said.

Losing Pavelski hurts in that area too, but captain Benn has stepped up, and so have players like Esa Lindell, Heiskanen, Duchene and Hintz.

“What I’ve been really impressed with is our leadership,” DeBoer said. “What we’ve been through in the first three months, there’s been a lot of adversity with our road record and power play, those things could have easily gone off the rails if you don’t have great leadership to stay the course and keep messaging what the coaches are messaging.”

First Shift

The Vegas Golden Knights are probably the Stars’ most intense rival right now.

Dallas lost in six games to Vegas in the 2023 Western Conference Final, and the Golden Knights went on to win the Stanley Cup. Last season, Dallas drew Vegas in the First Round and rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Golden Knights in seven games. So, as the lads in Victory Green prepare for two games against Vegas sandwiched around one game at St. Louis over the next five days, it’s easy to think about the history of these two teams.

“They’re a really good rival, a really good team,” said Stars head coach Pete DeBoer, who used to coach the Golden Knights, along with assistant coaches Steve Spott and Misha Donskov. “There’s not a lot of separation between the two teams over the years. They got us the first time around, we got them last year. It’s great hockey when we get together with them.”

Dallas is 4-2-2 in the past eight regular-season games against Vegas, including a 3-0-0 sweep in 2022-23 and an 0-1-2 run last season. There’s also a chance the two teams could collide in the playoffs once again. Vegas sits second in the West at 29-14-4 (.660). Dallas is 29-17-1 (.628). Dallas is second in the West in goal differential at plus-32. Vegas is third at plus-28. Vegas is fourth overall in scoring at 3.38. Dallas is fourth in goals against at 2.49.

It has all the makings of a great matchup.

“We know them really well,” said center Hintz. “They don’t give much.”

Hintz returned from an upper body injury last game and played 19 minutes in a 2-1 loss to Carolina. His return allows DeBoer to shuffle his lines and try some new combinations on Friday. The Stars also called up defenseman Lian Bichsel, one of the team’s largest players at 6-7, 231. Bichsel, 20, has played eight NHL games this season and has two goals and 26 hits. He has 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 28 AHL games, and said he feels he is learning a lot in his rookie year.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said of being called up. “When I was going back, I knew what I needed to work on and I think I did a good job in the three or four weeks I was down there. I had a lot of ice time and a good role with the team and now I’m happy to be back.”

DeBoer said the organization has been impressed with Bichsel, who was taken 18th overall in 2022.

“When you look at his path, he had a great camp. We sent him down, he handled that the right way, and when we brought him back, I thought he played really well and showed he can play here. When he went back down, I think we all talked and said this guy is really close, and the next opportunity we get, we want to have him experiencing this to see how quickly he can develop and maybe help us sooner than later.”

The fact Bichsel is playing against Vegas is part of the challenges of becoming a full-time NHL player.

“You’re jumping into the deep end of the pool when you come in and play a game like this, but that’s the test,” DeBoer said. “Let’s be honest, come playoff time, those are the types of teams you’re going to be getting starting in Round One.”