First Shift: Stars open homestand against Coyotes

The Stars entered the recent three-game road trip with some concerning statistics.

Dallas was 29th in power play success at 9.1 percent, 20th in faceoff winning percentage at 49.8 percent and was 31st in first period goals with five. But on the trip, the Stars played three of their most complete games, defeating Columbus, Winnipeg and Minnesota by a combined 16-7 score and fixed a good many of the team’s problems.

“Guys dug in,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Our game is getting better and better. I think 12 games in, we were a little sloppy early every night. But we seemed to be a little better.”

Dallas scored four first period goals in three games, connected on 6-of-14 power plays and won 60.2 percent of their draws. It was an example of just what they can do as a team. Maybe one of the best things was getting off to fast starts in three consecutive games.

“We focused on our start,” forward Tyler Seguin said about getting off fast in an 8-3 win against the Wild on Sunday. “Everyone is a pro here. We weren’t going to use that as an excuse.”

But after going 7-1-1 in a road-heavy schedule to start, they are hoping to bring that mentality home, where they are 3-2-0 so far.

“This is the first game we’ve had a lead going into the second period, so we’ve got to change that at home and try to get off to a good start at home games and try to keep this momentum going,” Jason Robertson said of the upcoming five-game homestand that starts on Tuesday against Arizona.

One of the good things about the recent problems is they came in areas where the Stars were strong last season. Dallas led the NHL in faceoff success at 54.8 percent, was fifth in power play success at 25.0 percent, and had a first intermission lead in 30 of 82 games, sixth best in the NHL. So getting back into a groove is definitely attainable.

Several players who have been behind their scoring pace caught up a little. Miro Heiskanen had three assists on Sunday and now has 10 points in 14 games. Robertson had two goals and an assist and now sits at 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists). And Matt Duchene had three goals and three assists on the trip and now is up to 11 points on the season.

Going 5-for-8 on the power play in Minnesota on Sunday was a big help.

“It’s been struggling all year, so it was great to get those goals and hopefully we can keep doing that,” Heiskanen said. “I think we shot a lot of pucks. We just simplified it a little bit. Shoot the puck and get traffic to the net. Just simple stuff, but I think we did that really well.”

Now, they have to do that for the home fans.

“It’s really important,” Heiskanen said. “We want to take care of business at home and it starts on Tuesday.”

Key Numbers

17-2-1
The Stars are 17-2-1 in their last 20 games against the Coyotes. That includes an active 5-game point streak (4-0-1).

28.1
Arizona is 30th in shots on goal per game at 28.1.

12.1
Dallas is 32nd in hits per game at 12.1.

He Said It

“I think it’s just the belief we have in each other and in ourselves there. We get an opportunity like that, you dream of those. A power play with a few minutes to go in the game, that’s a chance to step up. That’s a chance to get the team a ‘W,’ especially in this league. I think looking at that and finding a way to get one there, it’s only going to boost our confidence.”

- Arizona defenseman Sean Durzi after the team’s 7-5 win in Nashville on Saturday.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.