Glen Gulutzan’s Masterplan for the Dallas Stars: Nathan Bastian Contributes to Winning Formula!

Glen Gulutzan’s Masterplan for the Dallas Stars: Nathan Bastian Contributes to Winning Formula!

What has Dallas Stars head coach Glenn Gooson learned about his team through two games? Let’s find out. We’re also going to watch some tape because he said so and go through the numbers as we prepare for the home opener tomorrow night. Your Locked On Stars, your daily podcast on the Dallas Stars, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. Howdy Stars fans. I’m Joey Ericson, former producer of 105 Through the Fan. Please be sure to subscribe. We are fre available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. And as always, thank you so much for making us a part of your day and making us your first listen. Welcome to a Monday edition of Locked On Stars, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every single day. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. What has head coach Glenn Goldson learned about his team through two games? You’ve heard some of my reactions over the past couple of days, but let’s hear it from Glenn Gooson. Also, we’re going to watch some tape since Golden asked us to go back and watch a sequence from the second period against the Colorado Avalanche. I pulled a couple of the clips and we’re going to talk about them on today’s show. We’re going to go through the numbers and of course we have our home opener tomorrow night. Stars taking on the Minnesota Wild Central Division Gauntlet to begin this season. So, let’s jump right in. By the way, please be sure to subscribe for those of you that have not. If you’re new here, we’ve just hit 4500 subscribers. Big round of applause for you Locked On Stars listeners. Thank you so much for the love and support on each and every episode. and we are just beginning this season. So things off with what Glenn Gooson has learned about his I don’t know what you can uh I know I I am learning is that we don’t need much to score and so um we we have uh a bunch of guys that don’t need much to score. But what what what we need to do is keep pushing the territory battle into our favor because if you if you just counter punch like we did the other night, um it’s not a good recipe to take out the top guys. So the the the top top teams, um you can’t do that by counter punching your way. I think if we gain more territory uh with the players we have and win the territorial battle, it’ll even increase how good we can be. Love a lot of that from goalie there, especially about counter punching and how that is not a recipe for success. I I think a lot of the counter punching was what got Dallas through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring, especially against Colorado, especially against Winnipeg. But then the counter punching really reared its ugly head and the downfall of it when you took on a very good Edmonton Oilers side because Dallas was too busy reacting and getting punched in the face first. How many times did the Stars have to come from behind in a lot of their victories last spring instead of playing ahead which makes things much easier? But the Stars were playing from behind. So, he’s talked about this territorial advantage, this hand-to-hand combat, and there’s a lot of stuff circulating Twitter or X today about the Stars doing battle drills and Golitzson working them extremely hard for that 20 25 seconds to to get used to playing with that edge. And we’ve already seen the the physicality ramp up in the first couple of games. The Central Division aspect of it certainly helps. and two teams that the stars have seen recently. Uh I think increase some of the tension, the emotions of each of those first two games. It’s not going to look like that every single night, especially when some Eastern Conference opponents start uh coming to Dallas or the the Stars visit. Um, but I would suspect in the home opener tomorrow, it’s going to be very similar highintensity physical games playing a division opponent once again. But it’s all about winning that territorial battle. And there is a couple sequences in that second period that we’re going to touch on. But but first I I want you to hear Colton talk about Nathan Bastion specifically and really that fourth line and how they set up themselves for success and others. This goes back to a point I I made a couple of times coming into the season. How does that fourth line set the top guys up for success? And and Golden has a great answer here and we’re going to watch some clips from the other night as well. But first, here’s Gooson on Bastion and his presence so far early this year. We had um a couple sequences in that game. We didn’t have many that were our sequences, but just go back and watch. Um so the sequence right there at the second, we get a forch check, we get it stopped. One of the one of the ones we we got stopped and uh we get a Robo got a chance and then we ended up keeping them in the zone a bit and scored a big goal. And then we got another one stopped, the same group. and uh Burns iced the puck and we got a face off and we put out uh you know our our top guys for the faceoff and we got a we got a goal off a draw. So those two things were good sequences of stacking good play that that allowed us to get points out of that game. So uh I thought they played well. They forch checked well and you need that from your your your uh your bottom six to to make sure that they can try to change momentum of a game that’s not really going your way. Before we get into some of the clips from that second period, he talked about not living and dying by counter punching. And maybe the Stars did a bit of that too much a year ago, but he he also made the point the Stars are extremely talented and they can capitalize on their chances. When they get their opportunities, they can usually bury them. and we saw that uh against Colorado as well. So, it’s about wearing down teams and we saw some sequences of that. So, I want to bring up this Bastion goal because I think it’s obviously exactly what he’s talking about. But Dallas gets through this for check. They do turn the puck over here at at neutral ice, but then Landiskaw gets his pocket picked there by Blackwell. We’ll back it up. And this is just hard work by a fourth uh line player like Blackwell getting back and lifting the stick, not giving up on the play. He destroys this entry for Colorado. Johnson picks it up and then they flip it in right here. Bastion creates this goal for himself. He goes crashing in on the four. Check. He’s F1. Johnson comes out with it. Robo almost scored a beautiful backhand goal. And then of course they work it around the perimeter. Bastion who fell down in front gets back up. He’s right on top of the crease a and buries it. But this play all starts at the Stars blue line. They get through this forch check initially. Johnston turns over to Landiskog. Blackwell hustles back, lifts the stick. Johnson gets in and then then the forch check occurs. Boom. Bastion goes crashing in. Then you have your F2 and support there with Johnston. Robo flips it over the net. Keeps it alive. You see Bastion there battling for position. Look at the bodies in front there. You have Bastion and Johnston outnumbering the ABS. I’ll pause it right here. Sorry for those of you on audio only, but you have Bastion and Johnston outnumbering Colorado in front of their own net. And and Bastion, I mean, he’s all alone here. Uh, this looks like Cory Perry uh from last spring. Uh, right there. Boom. Lindell hits him and uh they bury it for Bastion’s first as a star. Uh, right there. a perfect perfect example of of of winning battles deep in the attack zone and then you create offensive out of it. Now, this is the the other play he’s talking about. In the grand scheme of things, it looks like an absolute nothing play, but look at this fourth line. They go to work on the forch check. They end up creating a scrum on the near side. He’ll go back. It starts with Bastion after Foxa dumps it in. Bastion goes hard after Brent Burns, finishes his check, forces the puck to the near wing, and then Foxa gets in there. Blackwell, it’s about 15 seconds of just a pure scrum. It’s a rugby scrum fighting per for possession. But again, deep in Colorado territory. And here’s the icing that Goldton was talking about by Burns. And then of course, Rantin, Robo, and Hins go out there. And then Robo scores that deflection goal in front of Wedgewood after this icing. These are winning plays. This goes back to the point I made a lot. I was really curious to see uh or one of the things I was wanting to count coming into this year. How many times the fourth line has a great shift leading to a topline goal or top six goal from your I guess your quote unquote goal scores on the Stars. Again, this is just a rim. Bastion finishes his check on Burns. Malinsky has trouble with it for Colorado that forces a scrum. Then it’s just 15 seconds. Really, it’s it’s nothing, but it is something. These are winning plays in the National Hockey League, which leads to the icing from Burns. And then the Stars come out um and of course make it 3 to2 at the time. Um and you go back to the Bastion goal. I think it shows it uh I think it shows in the uh in the in the clip. The Stars are being outshot. Yeah, you can see here in the top left corner. Stars are being outshot 21 to7 at the time. Um and this just comes after that Stars power play. They didn’t score. They had some looks, but they finally got a call and then they were finally starting to gain some momentum in the game after what was really 30 minutes or so. Uh they they didn’t have much. Um, but once again, we we’ll watch this clip one more time. It’s just really strong work. And I love Golson pointing that out. This sequence that got them into the game and yeah, they didn’t have a ton of it, but in a game where maybe you’re struggling on the road and they didn’t have their legs, um, they battled back and that was a big goal. Of course, they they earn a point and then they they finish it off um, in a shootout. But, uh, really wanted to highlight that since he he asked us to go watch it. I figured I’d pull the clips and we go over it here on Locked on Star. So, really enjoyed that and hopefully you did as well. Maybe we’ll do that a bit more throughout this uh year. Just pull some clips uh throughout the the season instead of just constantly talking about it. I think it’s good to have a visual component as well. Now, let’s go through the numbers of the first two games. Some of the analytics, uh, some of the time on ice numbers, also where Dallas is trying to improve in the defensive zone, and, um, how they’re looking through the first couple of games this season, and we’ll do that in just a moment. Today’s episode of Locked on Stars is brought to you by Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there’s Monarch Money. It’s an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. If you put off organizing your finances, Monarch is for you. It does the heavy lifting. You can link all your accounts in minutes. See clear data visuals. Get smart categorization of your spending. And finally, feel in control of your money without ever touching a spreadsheet. You can maximize your investments, increase your savings, easily review your finances with your partner, financial advisors. It just gives you a clear view of everything. That way you have financial health. Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use codelock.nhl NHL at modermmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at modermoney.com with the code locked on NHL. Let’s go through the numbers for the Dallas Stars through the first two games of this season, picking up a couple of 54 victories. One in regulation, which was a buck clincher in Winnipeg, and then a shootout victory over Colorado. a couple of days ago. Did want to highlight some of these numbers from the defensive pairings and how strong some of the pairings have looked here in the early going. Bishel and Labouchkin have been uh a nice pairing that physical bruising pair and I I think is a really strong fifth and sixth defenseman. uh much stronger than the stars have maybe trotted out there in in in recent years. I think Bishel will continue to grow. That’s the exciting thing about him. He’s still so young. He’s only going to to get better. Uh Petrovic may check in tomorrow night. I wouldn’t be surprised if Petrovic comes in. Leouchkin uh gets a rest, but I really like Labouchkin’s game. He actually graded out really strongly uh against Colorado. One of the few stars um to do so uh the other night. We all know he’s really good on the penalty kill. They can throw out him and Lindell and uh they’re just going to be a perfect pairing. But you you go to some of these advanced numbers. Harley Lungquist, their goals, four per 60, 7.59. That’s the highest of any other pairing. That’s not very surprising either or or shocking. Uh Harley with four points. Lungquist has a goal and a couple of assists. Now, they still have some room to grow defensively. We saw that against Colorado. Lungquist was on the ice, I think, for three of the goals for for Colorado. Harley and him had some issues off the the rush and slowing down Colorado’s uh speed. Uh wasn’t just them, trust me, stores had all kinds of issues. It wasn’t just this pairing in particular, but uh the the three cross the crease passes that Otter had to deal with. Lungquist or Harley um had some problems shutting that down which led to to multiple highgrade chances for Colorado which they capitalized on a few times. But um Harley Lungquist have been on the ice for three goals um four um uh and Harley or excuse me Hastin and Lindell have been on the ice uh for for two goals four uh but Harley Lquist have surrendered a couple as well as some others. Uh but you go to the Hastin and Lindell line uh or pairing goals against per 60 2.48 really really stinking low and that’s sort of what you would expect out of those two. they are just going to be shut down. Um, and it gives Lindell now a partner like Miro. This is something we’ve been clamoring for the last couple seasons. Putting Lindell with someone that’s actually going to enhance his strengths and not with a suitor and not with uh, Labouchkin or a Dumba, whoever, right? Mero will compliment Lindell. Lindell is that stay-at-home defenseman. just shut down top four guy. Mero we know world class really in all three zones can do it all. They complement each other so well. They’re going to give teams fits. You can trot them out there against some of the best lines in hockey and they’re going to hold their own and I think we’ve seen that through the the first couple uh of games. Really the stability on defense has been just extremely refreshing. Really refreshing. And it’s still a work in progress. Look, the Stars have given up what, eight goals the the last uh or the first two games. Um it’s not great. And Otter was just phenomenal. The only reason he picked up a point. So uh it’s not all sunshine in rainbows as they still get to learn this new system. You can tell there’s still some thinking about what’s going on, how they want to cover certain things, especially in their own zone. And well, they got a lot of time to work on it the other night against Colorado with the ABS just uh wrecking havoc um in in in the Stars zone. But all in all, decent stability and I think the the stars as they improve throughout the year, you’re going to see them really grow in their defensive zone and hopefully cut down some of those looks had to face here in the early going. Um, now just some of the time on Ice numbers because this has been interesting. Ro hints leads all forwards with 41 minutes. Johnston is behind him closely and then Mo is at 40 as well. I would not expect Roe to stay there very long. Special teams has had a bit of a factor in that. Uh, and Rope uh has has spent some time on the PK since the the Stars have already faced nine power plays. They’re eight for nine on the year on the PK. So, they’re picking up right where they left off last year. The power play is is one for seven. They’re still uh a work in progress on that side of things. Special teams, but I would suspect Ro’s going to fall a bit. Robo is going to increase. Robo doesn’t kill penalties. You don’t see Rantin uh do that um as as well. But again, the Stars best players are are playing a lot. And that’s why I’ve touched on not worrying about where Robo is on the depth chart or in the line combinations just because the Stars best players are going to play and and Johnson’s a a a great example of that. Although he does compete on all sides of uh of the game, right? power play, penalty kill, five on five, four on four, three on three, you name it, he’s he’s gonna uh play uh a lot. And uh Johnson has 56 shifts. Rope’s taken 60. Uh Ranton in 51. So those are some of the distributions of time on ice through the first couple games. Those aren’t all situations. By the way, Bastian’s played the least. You know, Bour hasn’t played a ton, but also I think that is due to the special teams. uh kind of situation like that’s just been in the box quite a bit. So I don’t think that’s helped Bourc. I would suspect he’s gonna increase his playing time if um they can stay out of the box a bit more. They want to be more balanced. I would suspect especially early on. Um you don’t want to ride guys too early. Um although they they do have their legs and they’re the freshest, but uh they would like to be in the box a bit less. Uh, of course every team would um and and that way they can play a little bit more balanced of attack. And that being said, sort of back to the the Robertson point with Johnson and Bourke, we haven’t seen that line a ton. I know they’ve kind of they they’ve started together and they play a couple of shifts, but Goldson has shuffled a lot. We we saw ranting in hints and Robo for I think seven and a half minutes in that game against Colorado was the the most amount of uh time they had in the game. Uh they just kind of immediately went away from that trio and they moved Robo around. Steel’s been moved around a bit. Uh Steel again in practice has been playing with Rantin and uh Hence, but that has been shifted around. We’ve seen a lot. Steel has been dropped down to play with Bourc some. Um, Steel has played with Sean and and Duchain. So, there’s there’s been a lot of shuffling. Um, which is is to be expected. Uh, but that that top line for Dallas with Robo, Hint, and Ranton, three goals for, no goals against. So, yeah, they’ve they’ve looked really good. Uh, which is no no surprise. So, they’re they’re they’re creating chances and um they’re they’re going to make teams uh pay. Uh and uh they uh I think will continue to be put together. Um that was a line I I thought coming into the year they they were just going to kind of put together and see how um it plays out. Um and they’ve sort of done that at at points in the first uh two games. We’ll see if they become exclusive with one another. Uh but again, the Stars have a lot of versatility. That’s what’s nice uh about Dallas right now. And even with the Ben injury, like they got guys filling in to roles that they may have not been able to play in the past or have maybe never played and so far they’ve looked really good. So, um that’s a look through the numbers here through the first uh two games. Um if you want to look at the overall numbers at even strength, the expected goals for 3.86 86 and 4.16 expected goals against. So, they still have some things to tie up defensively, of course, but goalending is a great equalizer and we saw that against Colorado. Now, the home opener for the Stars against Minnesota. We’ll tell you some of the schedules that the Stars have planned. Of course, the the green carpet they always do. Not going to get into the wild too much today. We’ll talk a little bit, but that’s going to be more of a tomorrow thing. And uh break down uh Capri Saab, the $17 million man, what the Stars have to face uh against the Wild tomorrow night. But let’s just get ready for this home opener for the Stars, and we’ll do that in just a moment. Today’s episode of Locked on Stars is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is here. FanDuel has an offer you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get 300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. 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Did want to share some information about the Dallas Stars home opener in case any of you are making your way out to the American Airlines Center tomorrow. Prior to the game, there will be a Victory Green carpet walk presented by Toyota on PNC Plaza located to the south of the American Airlines Center. The carpet will get rolling at about 5:30 p.m. Fans will have the opportunity to welcome them into the arena. The pregame event is free and open to the public. Fans can start lining up to watch the carpet walk beginning at 4:00 p.m. So if you want to get out there early, have some fun. Uh you can get out to PNC Plaza opening at 4. The green carpet walk, victory green carpet walk will kick off at uh 5:30. and of course be in your seats at 8 o’clock. This is a nationally televised game 8:30 um against the Wild. There is a magnet schedule giveaway uh as well which will be uh very very cool. So it it will be on ESPN uh but of course you can always listen to to Josh and and Razer on the call on the uh the ticket if you would like. So looking forward to to that. Minnesota. They come in with uh a couple of big wins. They lost pretty big to Columbus, but we we sort of know the usual cast of characters. You got Capri Soft, Baldi, Gustoson, really strong net minder. I’m uh I’m suspecting a a pretty highly contested lowcoring contest. 2-1 32 probably the the the final score. Uh although uh early on you just you never know with some teams. Sometimes the scores can be a bit inflated just since both sides are are kind of figuring it out. Um the Stars are are certainly in that uh category. But uh can’t wait to to kick things off at home. The Stars feel like they’re almost ahead of schedule. Like you got four points against two really good teams. Man, if you can take this one, you’ll be rocking and rolling to to kick off uh the year. Um, a few housekeeping details I forgot to to bring up the other night. I did want to uh congratulate Jake Goter on his 150th career win against Winnipeg, the fastest US born goalie to reach that milestone. 150 career wins. I believe it’s in what 260 something uh starts. Uh so did want to to praise Jake because the stars have a good one, man. And uh it’s nice to have a franchise goalender like him. 253 games. So um even better than I originally thought. Uh Blackwell played in his 300th game uh the other night uh as well. So the the milestones already rolling. Um Jamie Ben is trying to get that elusive 400th career goal that he he had a couple times, but it got uh taken away a couple of times as well. So, um, he’s in search of that. Of course, we’re not going to see that for maybe, uh, about a month or so. Still, uh, no further update on him from the the last time we, uh, uh, we we got one. He, of course, was at practice. He’s back home now, which is good. Um, and rehabbing and that, uh, good stuff. But, can’t wait for the home opener. Going to be a fun one. Uh tomorrow we’ll really kind of dive into the the wild and uh discuss them a bit more in depth and what to expect for that contest. Uh but I did want to share some of the information if you are making your way out to the AC. If you are, have fun, be safe, enjoy it, and hopefully start to pick up a win for y’all uh in uh in uh in the opener. So that’s going to do it for today’s episode of Locked Done. Stars went through a lot. I was a bit all over the place. Um, but do a little bit something new with uh some of the clips. Uh, maybe we’ll do that a bit more consistently throughout this season because it is fun. Um, and it’s easier to kind of explain and describe when you get to watch it. Visual aids are nice. We’re going to watch the tape. Put on the tape, baby. Right. That’s what it’s all about. All right, Stars fans. Uh, have a great rest of your Monday. There’s hockey all day long. So, I’m sure many of you are enjoying um your your day at work watching uh watching some hockey. Uh, Stars hockey returns tomorrow. Of course, we’ll be back to break that down, preview in the wild, and uh kick off the home opener and uh continue a great week of Locked on Stars. So, have a great rest of your day, and we’ll see you on the next episode. So long, Stars fans.

Dallas Stars stun with impressive start. Can they maintain momentum in crucial home opener against Minnesota Wild? Coach Glenn Gulutzan breaks down the Stars’ scoring prowess and territorial control strategy. Host Joey Erickson analyzes key plays, including Nathan Bastion’s goal and the fourth line’s impact. The discussion covers defensive pairings’ performance, balanced ice time distribution, and special teams effectiveness. Erickson previews the home opener, highlighting pre-game events and team milestones. Jake Oettinger’s 150th career win and Jamie Benn’s pursuit of his 400th goal add excitement to the matchup. Tune in for expert insights on the Stars’ evolving dynamics and strategies as they face off against the Wild in a pivotal early-season clash.

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