"Regardless of what the other teams do, we've got to help ourselves," said Stars coach Rick Bowness. "We've played better than our record, I'll stand by that, absolutely. So as long as we keep pushing and playing as well as we have, you hope it evens out."
Now, you're not wrong when you say the Stars should have had that in their heads for the first 28 games. They did, it just didn't work out so great. Too often, they lost in overtime or shootouts (2-8 in those games). Too often, they came up one goal short (3-4-8 in those games). Too often they found a way to lose.
Statistically speaking, Dallas is plus-5 in goal differential. Chicago is minus-11, Columbus is minus-17 and Nashville is minus-26. The Stars should have a better record. Statistically speaking, Dallas is 6th in goals against average at 2.41. Chicago is 25th (3.25), Columbus is 22nd (3.13) and Nashville is 21st (3.12). The Stars are better in net.
Scoring goals is a different matter, as the Blackhawks are 17th at 2.91, the Stars are 20th at 2.72 and the Blue Jackets 24th at 2.63, but goal-scoring sure seems like an area where the Stars can make up ground if they just get back to normal.
Jamie Benn has five goals in 24 games. Denis Gurianov has five in 28 games. Each is ready for a surge. Joe Pavelski is exceeding expectations and could have a slip, but there seems to be enough there.
"With the guys that we have, I think we should be a few points better," Bowness said. "We have played better than our record up to this point. We haven't been able to get the goals for when we need them, but in terms of how we've played up to this point, we have played as a team and we have played very, very well."
Returning health from injuries could play a role in pushing that winning percentage significantly above .500. Roope Hintz has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury and is being called a "game-time decision" for the remainder of the season. Alexander Radulov missed 15 games with a lower-body injury, returned for three, and missed the past two, He's being put in the same category as Hintz for the remainder of the season.