The Daily Faceoff Show: How a Dallas Stars closed door meeting turned their season around
There’s no team hotter in the last 10 games than the Dallas Stars.
They’ve won nine of their last 10 with each win coming in regulation, no less. Dallas has been led by its top line of Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski who have scored 13, 13 and 12 points in the last 10 games, respectively.
And on Tuesday’s Daily Faceoff Show, Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna talked about what turned around for the team.
Seravalli: “The Stars have been red hot. Seven straight wins, eight wins in a row at home at the American Airlines Center. What are you seeing from the Stars to this point?
McKenna: “You touched on one thing: when the Stars shut down Connor McDavid, a big part of it was Miro Heiskanen. He’s been phenomenal for the Stars. He doesn’t get the accolades of a Makar, or Fox or other defensemen in the league that are in the Norris Trophy conversation because his point totals aren’t there.
The real turnaround was a closed door meeting after a bad loss to the Nashville Predators on November 10th. They sent down Blake Comeau to the minor league, which really shook things up in the locker room. They’ve been 9-1 since then.
The big catalyst — besides Heiskanen (and) good goaltending — has really been Roope Hintz. Ten goals in 10 games for the ace of spades, my old buddy from the American Hockey League. Joe Pavelski, Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz — they’ve been red hot carrying the Dallas Stars. They’ve also had really solid secondary scoring. Jamie Benn is in the mix, Alexander Radulov’s advanced numbers have been phenomenal. It’s really all just starting to click in Dallas.”
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.