The Power of the Penalty

Last night, the Dallas Stars battled against the Anaheim Ducks for the third time this season. The game was up and down. First period, Stars barely got 5 shots on goal. Second Period, the Stars spun around and scored 3 goals, pulling into the lead at 3-2. Then in the third period, all bets were off and the Stars fell to the Ducks in a 3-6 game. We could all step back and erase this game from our memory, but instead let’s focus on something positive that came out of last night’s game.

The Power Play

Head coach Jim Montgomery and assistant coach Todd Nelson decided to change up the lines a bit during Tuesdays practice. Following the Stars’ loss to Vegas on Sunday night, Monty was looking for a way to get that spark and drive that the Stars have been missing the last few games.

Monty broke down the two power play units in place and rearranged them with a little special something on each line. Monty placed Tyler Seguin with Radek Faksa, Devin Shore, Alexander Radulov, and Gavin Bayreuther. Bayreuther was later swapped out for Taylor Fedun after Bayreuther got hit in the game and had a cut over his eye. The other unit consisted of Martin Hanzal, Jason Spezza, Jamie Benn, Esa Lindell, and rookie Miro Heiskanen.

Both units held up spectacular against the Ducks penalty kill. Both units scored in 2 of the 3 penalty plays: one from Miro Heiskanen and one from Alexander Radulov.

Currently, the Stars sit at 14th in the league for scoring on the power play. 21.2% of the time they’re scoring with the man advantage and it’s clear to see why after last night. This line change up could be the key to change in the Star’s road game performance. The Stars road record, after last night, is at 6-9-2.

The Penalty Kill

Another strong suit of the Dallas Stars is their penalty kill. And not just last night, because in the past 6 games the Stars have killed 18 of the 20 penalties they’ve been put on.

Currently the Stars are 5th in league for their penalty kill percentage. They’re able to kill 84% of their penalties, which is terrific for this team that’s heading into a tough stretch of games.

The Stars next game is against the San Jose Sharks, who the Stars have topped in their past two meetings. The Sharks are 3rd in the league when it comes to the penalty kill. With these new penalty play units, the Stars will be searching to pull the Sharks from their third place seating during tonight’s game.

Following tonight’s game, the next two will be against the Colorado Avalanche and the Calgary Flames. Both teams are picking up momentum and steam rolling their way through the league, pulling in 42 points (CGY) and 39 points (COL). The Stars have played each team once, earlier this season and both games were nail biters. These next ones will be no different.

Featured Image: CBS Boston