When every day brings another round of postponements on the NHL slate, it’s easy to feel as though this pandemic — in big and small ways — is once again permeating every corner of life. And from there, it’s a short trip to that mental headspace that leaves you thinking little else besides, “Man, things are really, really hard right now.”
Relatively speaking, I wouldn’t blame any one of the 32 NHL teams for having a little self-pity at this moment. And while it goes without saying cancelled hockey games and nostril swabs for millionaires are at the bottom of the list in terms of actual hardships brought on by the COVID-19 virus, the team I tend to think about when contemplating the ups and downs that seem endless at this point is the Dallas Stars.
In terms of pandemic-linked storylines, the Stars were our Western Conference champs in 2020’s Bubble Playoffs, and — almost one year ago, just as the shortened 2021 campaign was kicking off — they were the first club we were told was going on an extended hiatus thanks to a COVID outbreak. Overall, the Stars are living a dizzying existence, from going all the way to the 2020 Cup Final to missing the playoffs completely the following year.
And the extremes have carried over to this season. On Saturday, Dallas claimed a 4-3 extra-time victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. That win halted a five-game losing streak, which had swollen to that number thanks to a 4-1 defeat on Friday at the hands of the St. Louis Blues. Prior to their losing skid, the Stars had actually won seven straight and gone 9-1-0 between mid-November and early December. The first ‘W’ of that run, mind you, represented Dallas’s first regulation-time win of the season in its 13th attempt.
Every roll seems to be either a strike or gutter ball for this squad.
Look past the wins and losses and Dallas has also served as a touch point for the human side of this sport. On Saturday, Stars centre Tanner Kero was taken off the American Airlines Center ice on a stretcher after being knocked flat by Chicago left winger Brett Connolly. The former is resting and recovering at home now, while the latter was handed a four-game suspension on Sunday.
After the game, Stars veteran Joe Pavelski was extremely emotional talking about Kero, referencing his own frightening injury in the 2019 playoffs and recalling how his teammates were there for him then, just as the Stars are for Kero now. “I’ve been there before,” Pavelski said while trying to suppress sobs.
It was the second time in just five days we witnessed a member of the Stars break down in front of the cameras, as Ben Bishop was reduced to tears on Tuesday explaining how he’s trying to embrace the reality that a right knee injury is going to prevent him from ever manning an NHL crease again.
All this from a team that, last season, not only had games moved because of COVID, but also due to the fact a deadly winter storm wreaked havoc on Texas.
On-ice results will always take a backseat to the health of players and the people in the communities who support these teams. When things aren’t going well, though, the totality of it all is a lot to bear. Whatever your personal journey has been the past 21 months, we’re all more than a little weary right now. And in terms of NHL squads, I’m not sure any have had a more harrowing ride than the Stars.
[radioclip id=5260809]Other Takeaways
• The Pittsburgh Penguins’ 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night didn’t just extend the Pens’ current victory run to seven games, it gave the Steeltowners a 12-1-2 mark since Nov. 18. In that one-month stretch, Pittsburgh has the best points percentage in the league (.833), the top goals-against mark (a microscopic 1.60) and the premier penalty-killing unit, wiping away a hilarious 97.1 per cent of their penalties.
Yes, Tristan Jarry is a goalie god right now, leading all puckstoppers in basically every category during that span. But Mike Sullivan’s crew has also been air-tight on this streak, allowing just 27.7 shots-per-game, better than all but two teams in the NHL. The Pens are also the fourth-best squad in terms of high-danger Corsi. Now add in the fact Evgeni Malkin is creeping closer to a return and you can see why Black and Yellow backers are amped for 2022.
Jack Hughes since returning from the shoulder injury:
11 GP
3 goals
2 assists
5 points
-11The #NJDevils have dropped 6 in a row & 10 of 11.
— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) December 20, 2021
• As for the other team that’s on a seven-game heater, the more you dig in, the more impressed with the Nashville Predators you become.
Tanner Jeannot scored the overtime winner on Friday night versus Chicago and has seven points during Nashville’s seven-game streak. The only rookie with more tallies than Jeannot’s eight is Detroit’s Lucas Raymond (10). Roman “Bobby Orr” Josi has nine points during these seven wins, but the real story is the fact the Preds keep grinding out victories despite offensive catalysts Mikael Granlund, Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene all missing between two and four of these contests.
• We usually do a Red and White Power Ranking each week, but since four of the Canadian teams haven’t played since at least Thursday, it would basically be a bunch of “incompletes” at this point. Instead, we’ll hone in on the Jets, whose weekend started with the shocking news on Friday that Paul Maurice was resigning his post as head coach.
That night, the Jets fired 42 shots at Washington Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek, but lost 5-2 on home ice. On Sunday, they got interim coach Dave Lowry his first win with a 4-2 triumph over the visiting Blues. While part of Maurice’s explanation for departing included the pandemic sapping him of some love for the game, he obviously looked at a the talent on this team and determined it shouldn’t be on the outside of the playoff picture. It’s hard to disagree. We’ll see now what Lowry can coax out of the group.
One player whose contributions are easy to overlook is Paul Stastny. The veteran picked up his 500th career assist against the Blues and has quietly been playing at a 56-point pace this year, with his 36th birthday due one week from today.
• By the way, you can probably stump a friend or three by noting that, in the aftermath of Maurice stepping away, the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind Jon Cooper is…Detroit native Jeff Blashill, who happens to have his hometown Red Wings in the playoffs just now.
Weekend Warrior
Speaking of Detroit, captain Dylan Larkin picked up his first NHL hat trick on Saturday during the Wings’ 5-2 dismantling of New Jersey.
What. A. Night.
Sweet dreams, Hockeytown. pic.twitter.com/dnjmfJvbpx
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 19, 2021
The Week Ahead
• Boy, I wish I knew. We know for sure there will be no games beginning Friday, as the NHL’s pauses for happy reasons — a holiday break — from Dec. 24 through Dec. 26. Deep breathes and season’s greetings to everyone.
Editor’s Note: The COVID-19 situation, in the NHL and around the world, is constantly evolving. Readers in Canada can consult the country’s public health website for the latest.
