The Dallas Stars capped off a three-game homestand with back-to-back wins against the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday night and the Anaheim Ducks Thursday night. The Stars improved their overall record to 5-4 and currently sit 6th in the Central Division.
The story of Thursday’s game was the birth of the depth scoring. The only one of the Stars big four that recorded a point in the game was John Klingberg who recorded his 4th assist on the year.
A Game of Firsts
The Stars had four different goal scorers in Thursday’s contest and had two other player record their first points of the season. Jason Dickinson started the scoring early in the first with an unassisted goal. Midway through the first, it was Roman Polak getting his first goal wearing a Stars jersey. Prized defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored his first NHL goal and Mattias Janmark netted his first of the season. Along with the four goal scorers, Julius Honka and Brett Ritchie both tallied their first points of the season as they added a helper apiece.
Defensive Scoring
With the goals of Miro Heiskanen and Roman Polak Stars defenseman have accounted for 8 of the teams 28 total goals. Last year four Stars defenseman scored only one goal all year. Nine games into the year and four different defensemen have already netted a goal. If the defense can continue to contribute offensively that will add a whole other dynamic to the potentially scary offense.
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Jason Dickinson a Game to Remember
Dickinson had played what was probably his best game in a Stars uniform thus far. He has played 38 games in his first three years with the Stars and only had three goals to show for it. Early in Thursday’s contest Dickinson forced a turnover and scored on a nice forehand backhand move. He tallied the assist on the Stars second goal and scored the Stars fifth goal of the night. The game against the Ducks was not only Dickinson’s first career multi-point game, but it was also his first career multi-goal game. His performance was by far the best of the night and he has the makings of a twenty goal scorer if he continues to play at a high level.
Looking Forward
The Stars are about to start a six-game road trip after playing seven of their first nine at American Airlines Center. The trip will start in the Motor City with the Red Wings Sunday afternoon at 4 pm CT. After the Red Wings, they will see the Montreal Canadiens who are surprising a lot of people early in the season. The three straight matchups with high octane offenses in Toronto, Washington, and Boston. The road trip will end when the Stars travel to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets November 6th.
Thursday’s game was a great game for the second, third, and fourth lines. Now is a great time to get the depth scoring going heading into a lengthy road trip because in order to beat some of those high power teams every player is going to need to step up offensively.
The Stars will return home to the American Airlines Center on Thursday, November 8th when the San Jose Sharks come into town.
Cover photo credit: Puckprose.com Chris Bugajsky covers the Dallas Stars for Full Press Coverage. Follow Chris on twitter @CBugajsky14.
