What Happened to the Dallas Stars DOMINANT Penalty Kill? | Can Depleted Stars Survive Against Caps?

What Happened to the Dallas Stars DOMINANT Penalty Kill? | Can Depleted Stars Survive Against Caps?

Under Lane Nazerdine, the Dallas Stars penalty kill has been a benchmark in the NHL. Last season, they were among the elite in penalty kill percentage. This season, the numbers have slipped. How can they rectify a dominant PK and rebuild the momentum moving forward? We’ll discuss next on Locked on Stars. Your Locked On Stars, your daily podcast on the Dallas Stars, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Howdy Stars fans. I’m Joey Ericson, former producer 105 Through the Fan. Please be sure to subscribe. We are free and 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 Tuesday edition of Locked On Stars, part of the Locked On 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. The Dallas Stars over the last couple of years, you could pretty much just pencil in a top 10 penalty kill. However, the start of this season has been a lot different and not much has really changed in terms of their system. in terms of their coaching, in terms of their personnel, even with all the injuries they’ve gone through early on this season. So, how can they resolve it? We’ll discuss that on today’s show and look at some of the numbers that can maybe tell us why they are struggling. We’ll also get into some lineup projections for tonight and we’ll preview the Washington Capitals as the Stars take on the Caps here on national television. 7:30 start on ESPN. By the way, I want to kick things off by saying, did you know, did y’all know it was the NHL Frozen frenzy today? All 32 teams are in action on ESPN. There is a trio of games tonight on national television. I had no clue it was the NHL Frozen frenzy. Remember a couple of years ago when they first launched that, the marketing was great. They really promoted it. And now over the last couple seasons, I was told last night around midnight the Frozen frenzy was happening today on a Tuesday. I had no clue, no idea this was happening. Leave it to to ESPN once again for really not caring about the the sport they hold and have TV rights to. Uh but that’s neither here nor there. Um I just thought that was really fascinating. It had no clue. All the teams are playing tonight and it wasn’t heavily promoted that much, but the Stars are playing the caps on national television, so we’ll be tuned in to that one for sure. Okay, now let’s get into the meat and potatoes of today’s show. The Stars penalty kill. What’s going wrong? Because Elaine Dazardine is still the defensive coach for the Dallas Stars. He has been carried over from the Pete Dbor administration and there hasn’t been a change in philosophy. Hasn’t been a change in system and they are really leaky to begin this season. It could be a combination of things. Injuries may play a part but the guys you asked to kill a lot of penalties last year are still in the lineup. Sam Steel, Col Blackwell, Essa Lindell, Elie Labouchkin, who hasn’t been used as much, which we’ll touch on. They’re also playing really good teams and teams with a lot of talent. Just think about who they’ve played. Winnipeg had one of the best power plays last year, if not the best, if I’m not mistaken. Colorado. We know what they can do. I know Vancouver coming in was not good, but they still have Quinn Hughes. They still have a lot of good talent, right? They have played a lot of good teams that have good special teams that may play a part, but also they did that last year and they have been top five, top 10 in the NHL over the last couple of years. Now, when you just look at the the minutes distribution at four on five for D. So Miro is killing a lot more penalties. He’s the second most used defenseman. Essa still by far and away the the most used bliner for Dallas, 35 minutes. Miro’s at 20. Then you have Blackwell and Steel. They’ve played exactly the same amount of minutes, 2006. Blackwell’s playing a bit more now this year. So, he’s going to be higher on this list than he was last season just because he wasn’t every day a year ago with the injuries. He is playing a bit more. I have I think part of it I think part of it now especially because Dallas does have some injuries and it’s injuries to their center iceman. I think faceoffs have been a big plague for them and we saw it the other night on the broadcast. Razer mentioned it a couple of times. Uh they don’t have a a guy on the the left side to take faceoffs right now because you know Rope’s out. Um Duchiey’s out. You know those are guys that sometimes they’re not going to stay out there to kill penalties. Uh Rope will. you know, Ropes had uh, you know, a good amount of time, but more importantly, he’s out there just to win the faceoff. And the stars, I think, have really struggled on the dots, especially lately. Um, that is something that I think has lent to some of their struggles because if you’re not winning draw, especially in your defensive zone, then you’re defending, right? You give teams the opportunity to spread out and set up. and think about why Dallas has been so good the last couple years. They just don’t allow teams to win those draws. Whether that was an Oscar Beck, whether that was a steel taking it, Rat Fox is getting some of those opportunities. But you can trot out a Duchain and and hence out there, they may not stay out there for 30 seconds. They may just be out there to win the faceoff. Um that is a big key. and Dallas’s faceoff percentage is not really near where you would expect. They’re about middle of the pack. Um, usually you see them comfortably sort of up in the, you know, top eight of that category, but, you know, they’re missing Jamie Ben. Um, Ben wins a lot of draws, right? Um, they’re missing guys that have made faceoffs like a specialty. Um, and usually veterans are specialty in it, right? when you you think about Duchine, the older you get, usually the the better you become. You can cheat a bit more. You learn how to cheat. Um and now the stars don’t have that. Um at least recently, but I I think that’s just been a department where they haven’t been as strong as they have been in years past. um their injuries, how they defend entries hasn’t uh been um as h as well handled I think as well. I mean some of that just may be a a change in sort of how they’re they’re playing. Um, obviously the the meat and potatoes of how they want to go about their business um h hasn’t changed, but we all know they’ve they’ve struggled with speed and rushes here of the uh over the first uh you know, handful of weeks of the season defensively. But, you know, you still have Lindell out there. You know, Leouchkin is a guy hasn’t been used very much. Um Labushkin, if you go down, has been used less than Bishell. Um, and Labooki last year had the second most amount of minutes. They basically just trotted out him and Lindell. Um, so that is something that has changed that I I’ve noticed. Um, and was a bit surprised to see as well. Maybe Labushka needs to be used a bit more. Um, and I don’t mind me playing on the PK. I have been calling for him to play on the hill last couple years just because he is so good. Um, but maybe you could give some more minutes um to Labouchkin there. um and allow him to to play a bit more with Lindell. We know they’re comfortable together and that was uh a a shutdown pairing for Dallas on the PK. Um I also looked at maybe total penalty minutes. You know, the Dallas Stars aren’t taking more penalty minutes than the average team. They’re about middle of the pack. Um 82 penalty minutes. You know, Rantin’s taking seven minor penalties. that’s sort of up near the the league leaders, but it’s not like the Stars as a team are are taking a ton of penalties. Um, so it it’s not like, you know, uh, they’ve been short-handed more than than other sides and that has led to some of their issues. I think it’s just a combination. I think faceoffs are a big one. They are missing some key center icemen and they’re not using the really usual crew. um they have them available but like a labouchkin hasn’t played that much. Um he’s one of the least used defenseman I think when you really look at uh uh you know the numbers the time on ice numbers it’s Lindell Miro Harley Bishell top four which you know in the grand scheme of things you look at those four guys those are probably your four best defenseman outside you know if Neil’s is healthy and playing but Labushkin is a good a good penalty killer um he probably needs to be used more um if if I looked at just the numbers Now on on paper um I would say Leouchkin probably needs to be used more. You look at the expected goals against numbers. This is money puck. You know the Stars are sixth which is sixth worst. Um 8003 um you know last year um they were top five in that category. So they are giving up higher danger quality chances um against opposition power plays and at home especially they’re awful. Um, currently, um, as a whole, they ranked 27th at 67%. At home, they’re they’re 31st. Um, it’s really bad for whatever reason. Um, I think the the number is 52%. Um, they’re 53%. The only team that’s worse is Minnesota by a good margin. U, but 53% at home is astonishing. So, they have to obviously rectify it. Um, and I think some of it, um, to some degree, which I think is a positive, like it is in-house. The Stars can find answers. You know, they have had injuries, of course. Some of that is probably a problem, but I don’t think that is the main issue with the Stars, BK, because we all know it can really change momentum in a game. Um, look at the last couple of games where Dallas has has been pretty good. They’ve won the special teams battle essentially. They got the big power play goal the other night. They go two for three on it against Carolina. They go three for three on the PK. It can change games. And right now, I touched on it last episode. Special teams is even a a bigger bigger bigger deal for Dallas right now with all the injuries. They just have to capitalize on it. They have to to win that battle. Otherwise, they’re not going to win a ton of games right now with their current makeup. Um it has to be a difference for them. So, we’ll see if they can change the momentum and, uh, you know, take out a team, uh, has, you know, good special teams tonight. Um, they’re not off to flying starts, but we all know the the problems they can pose. Let’s talk about some of the lineup projections. We do have some updates from Morning Skates, on Duchain Hints, and more. We’ll do that in just a moment. Today’s episode of Locked On Stars is brought to you by Monarch. Let’s be honest, most of us can’t even name all our financial accounts, let alone what they’re worth. between 401ks, savings, and investments. It’s easy to lose track, and that can mean leaving money on the table. That’s why you have to use Monarch. 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. It helps you organize your accounts, track your spending, get a better handle on your investments without ever having to touch a spreadsheet. You can review everything with your partner. You can see your shared goals, make better financial decisions together. They have visual dashboards and smart tools to make it much easier for you to understand. Sometimes spreadsheets can be really confusing. Trust me, I know that’s where Monarch can come in. It does heavy lifting. It makes it easy. So don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use codelock.nhl and monarch.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarch.com. Codelock.nhl for half off your first year. Updates from Morning Skate here on a Tuesday. No Thomas Harley, no Matthew Duchain, Oscar Beck or Ropee Hence are at morning skate ahead of Washington. We’re still awaiting an update on why Thomas Harley isn’t skating. That is a very very new development which is just another blow to Dallas. I know a week ago or so he was dealing with an illness. Maybe that’s still lingering. Um, but my goodness, that is a massive blow. Um, we’ll have to continue to keep an eye on that. Follow us at Locked on Stars. I’ll be sending out information, retweeting and stuff. Uh, you know, Robert Tiffen is is always on the hunt. Um, these were the lines today. Sean, Ranton, and Steel, Johnston, Bourke, Robertson, Ritscovian, Ernie Blackwell, Fax of Bastion. there was nobody else on the fourth line. I would imagine it’s Oscar Beck. Um maybe they can call somebody up at this time. I would think that would already have happened if so. On the blue line it was Lindel Hastin, Kyle Capabeno and Labouchkin and then Bishell and Patraic. So that is just a bit of a shocker that that Harley isn’t skating. He was stick handling on the ice. Maybe he’s just not joining the team for morning skate. Who knows? just to to get him some rest. But, uh, ew. Um, to say the least, that is not good. Um, you know, Hint and Duchain were to be expected. Um, I I was not uh under the impression they were going to play. Uh, Beck is a bit of a new one. Of course, he just played his first game against Nashville the other night. Picked up a goal. Maybe he aggravated something. Maybe they just are giving him maintenance. I don’t know. Harley’s a bit of a shocker. Um I don’t believe we saw anything at the end of the game against Nashville. Um I’m trying to think if he was banged up in one of the games. I I I really don’t recall. Um so uh that is just Whoa. Uh it could be precaution. Um, I’m trying not to look into it too much, but if it is anything like uh uh the the stars, they just they can’t handle much more. They they really can’t handle much more. They are on thin ice. The margins are as thin um as ever right now. Um and Goldson is having his work cut out for him. So, um we’ll wait to to get updates, but um that obviously throws a wrench into some things. Um it it it’s probably just precautionary, right? Um just to to give guys, um some rest, but you know, you got hints out, you got new Shane, those are key guys down the middle. Like Dallas is just missing some playmakers right now. Um they’re just missing guys that can drive the play. Uh and offensively that that has hurt them. you know, they’ve just looked they they just at times look like they’re not going to score at all. They’re just not threatening. But then, you know, they have stretches, you know, like a game against Carolina and and Nashville where they start stacking shifts and they’re they’re able to uh they’re able to generate some stuff, you know, at even strength. It it’s not easy at times like especially in their own zone. Um they struggle to to get out. Um, and that certainly has a uh a hand in what’s going on at the other end of the rink. But like Duchane, just think about the amount of times he can make plays for others. Some of the assists he’s had like he he plays with speed, holds on to pucks. Dallas can’t handle much, you know, more uh, you know, much more injuries. um at this point. Uh they’re missing, you know, two two big chunks or two top center iceman uh right now. Um which gives Johnson a chance to elevate. You know, Sean’s been great this year. He deserves a lot of credit. Um he’s been so good. Um coming off, you know, another surgery where he missed all last year for the most part. You know, he’s got four points in nine games. It’s like not eyepopping numbers, but it’s also really good because of what we’ve seen out of him. Um, you know, he’s having to kind of jump up and down the lineup. Like, not everything’s perfect for Dallas right now. So, I think when you look, you know, Sean’s number, some others, um, they’re not eyepopping, but they are playing uncomfortable hockey. It’s it’s just it’s not pretty right now and they just have to find ways to just chip and chip away. And I think Sean has embodied that. It’s just sort of how he’s played over the last couple years, you know, dealing with injuries and I think Sean deserves a lot of credit for uh just continuing to play consistent um and being a guy that they can rely on. Uh you know, they put him up with Ranton and Steel. Um he can play with Ernie and Ritzcoian. We’ve seen that or Blackwell, right? He’s he’s kind of been in like a bottom six role. We all know he can be in a top six. He can play with elite talent. Um they’re they’re asking him to do a bit more, which is all right because uh I think he can handle it. And then at at some point you get some guys back hopefully. Um and then you can lessen his load and take a lot more pressure off of him. When he’s playing with Duchine, he doesn’t have to I guess carry the the load as much. like Duchain is obviously the driver of that line. Um and Sean for the most part just needs to be right place, right time. Um he’s savvy on the forche. Um plays a physical style too. Um you know, more than you’d probably ever expect from him, but he does bring, you know, that type of a game where, you know, he finishes checks. Um he’s not not blowing people up, but he finishes checks. Um he’s good in the corners. He’s hungry. Um and um he he he’s just helped out a lot. Um and I think uh deserves a lot of credit for just kind of hanging in there and just, you know, being that that veteran that the Stars desperately need right now with Jamie out. Of course, like like Jamie really hurts. you know, coming into the year, we’re like, you know, the Stars can handle Jamie being out just because they had everybody else and now everybody’s out and you’re like, well, it would be nice to to have Ben um just to have uh you know, a a bit of a bruiser out there. The stars are just uh you know, lacking uh you know, a little bit of here, a little bit of this here, a little bit of that there. Uh just um so we’ll continue to wait. Um, I’m continuing to refresh uh the the old Twitter verse to see if we we get anything from from goalie. Um, so when we do that or we’ll wait for that hopefully at some point by the end of this uh episode. Otherwise, let’s uh let’s get into a preview Washington. There’ll be a lot more fun said talking about, you know, the fans and butts of of all these guys here at Morning Skate. So, let’s preview the Caps and some interesting numbers as well. Otter dominates Washington. Did you know that? I’ll tell you more in just a moment. Today’s episode of Lockdown Stars is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel’s live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making the late push. And right now, new customers are getting $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins on FanDuel. And it’s not just the NBA, it’s football, college football, NFL, baseball. What a World Series game that was last night. I’m so tired because I stay up and watch all 18 innings for whatever reason. So get in on the action with FanDuel because it’ll make a game like that incredibly exciting. Head to FanDuel.com, sign up, play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. The Dallas Stars taking on the Washington Capitals tonight on ESPN, a part of the Frozen Frenzy 7:30 puck drop at the American Airlines Center. And who knew Jay Goter is an absolute beast against the Washington Capitals. I I know that the Stars have always been good against the Caps. Really, wherever they play, whether it’s at home, whether it’s on the road, the Stars are 58 31 and 20 all time against Washington. And it’s not like the Caps have been a bad team. The Caps my entire life have been competitive. I I they’ve been good. They they’ve always been a part of some of the elite teams of the uh of the Eastern Conference. Really doesn’t matter. Stars, whatever reason, have a lot of success. Um they’re 30 13 and 12 at home um against Washington. They’ve won seven of their last 10. Um and Jay Goter has been a beast. 5-0, 952 save percentage, 1.49 goals against average, and one shutout against the Capitals. How about that for some dominant performances? That’s got to be one of his better stat lines against an individual team. I know he’s very good against Minnesota. I have to imagine the Caps is up there as well. Stars won seven of last 10 as I mentioned. Um and they’ve won their last three games at the AAC. So, um that is um another thing the Stars have going for them. Uh, but there is a caveat on this whole situation. Like the Dallas is not where they want to be right now. But, you know, they’re coming off back-to-back wins. Those are massive. If they can get a streak going, start stacking some more wins together. They’re going to be in good shape. Continue to stay in the hunt while they are going through these trials and tribulations. So, tail of the tape. Stars penalty guilt not very good. We talked about that. Washington’s penalty goal not very good as well. They’re 28th. Stars are 27th. Power play. Stars are cooking right now. It’s scorching 32% fourth in the league. Washington is 17th which is 20th uh 20%. But we all know what they can deploy. Um with with Ovetchkin um out there who’s just adding to his goal total. Uh you know Tom Wilson has been their leading scorer. Yeah. Tom Wilson, that guy who, you know, destroys people. Um, leading scoreer right now, five goals, has 11 points. Uh, their goalending is good. Um, their goalending can be great. Uh, they have a great tandem. Uh, one of the best in the leagues. Logan Thompson, Charlie Lingren, former St. Cloud State Husky. Uh, Thompson is 51-0. He’s allowed nine goals in those six appearances. 1.50 5-0 goals against its best in NHL, 938 safe percentage, and they’re coming off a 71 shellacking um against Ottawa. So, this is sort of the same boat that the Stars were in when they played St. Louis. St. Louis was beat down by Chicago the night before. They were beat down by Ottawa the other night, 7 to one. So, there’s going to be an emphasis defensively and they’re going back to their number one and Thompson. Dallas has to be ready. Um, they’ve given up a lot of goals. Of course, at this kind of point in the season, it um can be a bit wonky. You know, they’ve given up 21 goals against that’s best in the NHL. Um, so they can be really really stout. Like that’s their identity. Um, haven’t scored a ton. They’re about middle of the pack. Um, so they’ve been uh they’ve been good. Um, they’re, you know, a good side obviously. Uh, you know, they got 12 points or six and0 coming into the game. I mean, this is without, you know, some of their, I guess, really core pieces chipping in a lot offensively. Uh, you know, Ovetkin, seven points, but just a couple of goals. You know, Ryan Leonard’s a good rookie. That’s a guy to keep a lookout on. Ryan Leonard. uh from uh from Boston College uh really successful uh career with uh the Golden Eagles. Um and you know they have a they have a really good back end that loves to chip in. Jacob Chrin uh John Carlson just continues to be you know stout blue liner that chips in. So um this is um this is a this is a going to be a tough game for Dallas. I I I think it’s going to be tough for them tonight. I really do. Uh Washington is is going to clean up a lot. They’re going to try to shut down the Stars, especially off the rush. Um and and Dallas has to be prepared because they did not look good following, you know, a team that got beat down the previous game um in St. Louis. They weren’t really able to muster up much. I think we could see that again tonight. They’re going to have to rely on Jake heavily early. Um I just I just get the feeling it’s going to be a bit of a slow start. You know, if there’s some more guys out, you’re you’re getting Cap Boo back in the lineup. It looks like it’s going to get thrown out of whack a bit and the Stars are just going to have to figure it out on the fly. Uh so I I think this is a night where you may see a slow start. Um and uh uh Dallas may have to be just kind of held in there. So, that that’s sort of what I’m looking at um and looking and looking for. Um Dallas can’t they can’t they can’t play catchup tonight though. Um that first goal is going to be massive after two games where you had to score three unanswered. Um worked really hard to get back into those games. Um and credit to them, they won both. Uh you can’t do it a third game in a row. They got to get out early. uh maybe weather the storm, get a power play, capitalize, and then go from there. Uh that that feels like that’s the type of night Dallas is is going to be in for uh on on home ice. Uh curious what you think. Uh leave your predictions in the uh in the comments below. Um still nothing in terms of why Harley wasn’t skating along with Beck or Duchain or Hints. Um, so, uh, follow us at Lock on Stars on X. I’ll be sure to retweet some information there as well when we do get some clarification on, uh, their departures from morning skate. But, uh, Jake will be in net tonight. Stars in cap 7:30. It is a national broadcasted game. Uh, NHL frozen frenzy. So, all 32 teams are in action. Enjoy a fun uh night of hockey Stars fans and appreciate you joining us today, making us a part of your day here on Lockdown Stars, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. Please like, comment, and subscribe, hit that notification bell. Um, as always, thank you for the love and support, and we’ll see you on tomorrow’s show breaking down a Stars versus Caps game. See you tomorrow. So long, Stars fans.

Dallas Stars’ penalty kill woes continue as injuries mount. Can they overcome these challenges against the Washington Capitals? Joey Erickson breaks down the Stars’ struggling special teams, highlighting key absences and their impact on face-offs. The host analyzes lineup projections without Thomas Harley, Matt Duchene, and Roope Hintz, emphasizing the need for veterans like Tyler Seguin to step up. Erickson previews the upcoming Capitals matchup, spotlighting Jake Oettinger’s impressive history against Washington and the importance of a strong start for Dallas. Tune in for expert insights on how the Stars can navigate their injury-plagued roster and secure a crucial win in this NHL Frozen Frenzy showdown.

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