The Dallas Stars are coming off an impressive stretch of games that has them now sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
Despite a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, the Stars still have an impressive record of 28-15 and are only one point behind the Minnesota Wild for fourth place in the conference.
Dallas coach Peter Deboer was seemingly unphased by the loss to Montreal, noting that the team “had more than enough chances to score a couple goals” and just failed to capitalize.
“Coming off a road trip with a quick turnaround, I liked our effort. I thought the first ten minutes we came out a little slow considering the situation, but I liked our game. At the end of two, we should have been up. We did a lot of things right tonight,” he said, per NHL.com.
The Stars recently had their best road trip of the year with a record of 4-1 and have a record of 8-2 in their last 10 games, which is tied for the second-best record in the NHL during that timeframe.
Stars forward Matt Duchene said the next step for many players on the team is to learn the small aspects of the NHL, explaining that young players often have to “learn to do it different ways.”
“You’ve got to learn to do it ugly and you’ve got to learn to do it nice, with good shots and moves. It can take a little while. It will click for these guys, they’ve just got to keep with it,” he said, per NHL.com.
These comments come following an injury suffered by center Roope Hintz that could keep him sidelined for a significant amount of time, meaning younger players could be asked to play important roles moving forward.
Stars forward Logan Stankoven said the team must play with a “next man up mentality” and keep finding ways to win games without one of their key players.
“Everyone kind of buys into the system and the structure, and when you play with details, that’s the biggest thing,” he added, per NHL.com.
Dallas will have the chance to get back on a winning track with a road matchup against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday at 3 p.m., followed by three straight home games next week.