Firstly, let's congratulate coach Ken Hitchcock, who earned his 800th NHL victory on Thursday, becoming only the third coach to do that. He joins Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville (868) and Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman (1,244). There is no question Hitchcock has made Dallas a better team, but even so, they are still an inconsistent team. The Stars rank are in the middle of the pack in the League in goals for, goals against, power-play percentage and penalty-killing percentage.
Dallas looked great at Madison Square Garden last week in a win against the Rangers and followed that up with a nice win against the Islanders. However, they followed those to strong efforts with a poor game against the Devils and lost three straight before a 4-0 shutout against the Blackhawks on Thursday. Alexander Radulov has been a good addition for them; he's tied with Tyler Seguin for second on the team in scoring (29 points), one behind captain Jamie Benn. Ben Bishop shut out the Blackhawks but hasn't played nearly as well as he can, which is why Dallas is 19-14-3 and clinging to a wild-card spot after being thought of by many as a preseason Stanley Cup contender.
HONORABLE MENTION
Congratulations to the New York Islanders getting their new rink at Belmont Park approved. That franchise definitely needed this, and coming home to Long Island, where they belong, is great news for the team, Long Island and the League. I know it will take a couple of years to build, but not having to worry about the uncertainty of where they will be playing in the future is a great thing for the Islanders and their fans.