First Shift 🏒
Before the Stars lost seven straight (0-5-2) at the end of last season, they were the most consistent team in the NHL in avoiding losing streaks.
Up until that point, Dallas had not lost three games in a row in regulation under head coach Pete DeBoer through three seasons. And there were good reasons for that streak.
“It has definitely been a point of emphasis,” said forward Johnston. “We have talked about it a lot.”
Former Stars forward and Johnston’s landlord Joe Pavelski was a key in talking up the consistency. He was a staunch believer in never letting things get too low, and it paid off for a team that had the best regular season record over the past three seasons.
“I think even just one loss, with the team we are, we really stress, ‘Let’s get that back,’” Johnston said. “It’s you’ve got to get the next one…and if you don’t get the next one, it’s you really got to get the next one. We expect to do well. That’s who we are.”
And while new coach Glen Gulutzan wasn’t a part of that run, he concurs with the philosophy.
“We’re in the same mindset heading into tomorrow,” Gulutzan said after his team lost consecutive games to Vancouver and St. Louis. “This thing needs to stop.”
The Stars (3-2-0) have been inconsistent during the early season, and that’s one of the concerns. They started out scoring a ton of goals, but in the past two have struggled a little. Now, the hope is a three game homestand against Columbus, Los Angeles and Carolina will help set things up right.
“It is an important week,” said goalie Jake Oettinger. “I don’t think we’ve played well yet, so we need to get into that groove. They always say you play a little bit over .500 on the road and then take care of business at home, and you end up in a good place. That’s always been our plan here.”
The Stars actually have been the best road team in hockey over the past three seasons at .647 points percentage and rank seventh at home (.680), but they clearly take a lot of pride in being good at American Airlines Center.
And, yeah, they don’t want a losing streak to continue.
“You don’t want bad games to carry over or get out of hand,” Oettinger said. “If something is wrong, you want to fix it right now.”
