Stars Have Opportunity to Improve Road Record With 5-Game Trip Away From Dallas – The Hockey Writers Dallas Stars Latest News, Analysis & More

The Dallas Stars (24-13-1) are enjoying a six-game point streak (5-0-1), with four of those games coming at home where they have been dominant all season long. They have a 16-5-1 record at the American Airlines Center (AAC), but on the road it’s been a much different story as they have gone 8-8-0 outside of Texas in the first three months of the season.

The Stars have an opportunity to rewrite the script as they play eight of their next 13 games on the road, including five straight, starting on Tuesday night (Jan.7) at Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers. The Stars lost 3-1 against the Rangers just under three weeks ago thanks to 41 saves from Igor Shesterkin, who is currently out of the lineup.

The Stars are hot and the Rangers have been cold, making Tuesday night the perfect opportunity to start their east coast trip with a bang.

No Place Like Home for Stars

It’s been a weird season for the Stars through three months, and you can pin a lot of it on their play at home versus the results they’ve been getting on the road. Any way you slice it, the Stars have been one of the best teams at home all season long, from goaltending, to goal-scoring, to the penalty killing. The one knock has been the power play, which is only 10.4% at the AAC.

The Stars have played six more games at home heading into this trip, and as previously mentioned, the Stars are 8-8-0 on the road and almost all of their metrics are down when they leave Dallas. They’ve scored 49 goals and allowed 46, opposed to scoring 73 at home and allowing only 49.

Overall, the Stars are 85.4% on the penalty kill, which is the best in the NHL, but that dips to 78.4% on the road. Their power play is 29th in the NHL at 15.4%, yet on the road, it jumps up to 21.4%. Some things you just can’t explain.

Jake Oettinger Looking for Some Road Cooking

You’ve heard the phrase “home cooking?” Well, Dallas’ star goaltender Jake Oettinger is looking for the best road cooking he can find. Last season, he was exceptional on the road, and while the wins and losses looked the same wherever he played, statistically, he was better on the road. I’m about to throw this season’s stats at you, so I won’t bore you with last season’s splits. Safe to say, he was really good.

This season, it’s been a different story. In 19 games at home, he is 14-4-1. In 10 games on the road, he is 5-5-0. At home, he has a .917 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.13 goals-against average (GAA). On the road, he has a .896 SV% and a 2.80 GAA.

A lot of this speaks to the point we made earlier. The Stars just don’t score enough on the road. A 2.80 GAA isn’t too shabby, generally speaking. But when your team isn’t scoring, a star goaltender needs to bring that number down. Also, when your penalty killing is as shaky as it’s been on the road, those numbers will be inflated as well.

The numbers say what they say, but even when you watch the games, you can see he just hasn’t been as comfortable in a crease that’s not in Texas. The Stars need to figure out their offense, and that has nothing to do with Oettinger. Regardless, he’s going to have to step it up on the road. The Stars have 25 games left on the road and only 19 games left at home. Simple math says these road games are really going to matter.

Johnston and Robertson Need to Stay Hot

After slow statistical starts to the season, Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson have caught fire as of late. A huge part of the Stars’ potential success on this trip will depend on these two talents’ production. Robertson has four goals and 16 points in the last 14 games, while Johnston has three goals and 12 points in the last nine games and is currently on a six-game point streak.

Much like the team has a whole, Robertson’s point production on the road has been extremely noticeable. 21 of his 30 points have been at the AAC. In 16 road games, Robertson has four goals and nine points. Johnston, on the other hand, has been fairly consistent. He has three goals and 12 points in 16 road games, which is on par with his 17 points in 22 home games.

The team’s power-play success on the road matches up with what we’ve seen from both of these payers. Both Johnston and Robertson have two power play goals and five power play points on the road.

Stars Need to Find Road Success

As we march into the final half of the regular season, all eyes will be on the standings with each and every game. The Stars currently hold the first Western Conference wild card spot with 49 points, two behind the Colorado Avalanche, who sit third in the Central Division, and seven points behind the first-place Winnipeg Jets.

The Western Conference is incredibly deep, so it’s going to be a tough road in the postseason no matter where they finish. That being said, if the Stars can climb up the divisional standings, there’s always a chance they could make life a little bit easier on themselves.

Related: NHL 2024-25 Power Rankings: Week 13

In keeping with the theme of playing on the road, one thing all of the teams that they are chasing have in common is they are all very good on the road. The Jets are 13-8-0, while boasting a 14-4-2 record at home. The Minnesota Wild, second in the Central, are a staggering 15-3-3 on the road, and are a more pedestrian 10-8-1 at home. The Avalanche are 13-7-0 away from Denver and 12-8-1 at home. I’m sure you got the point by now, but a .500% winning percentage away from Dallas will just not cut it if they want to keep up with the big boys and be a big boy themselves.

On this road trip, they will travel to New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. All of those are winnable games, with the contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs maybe being the hardest of the five (at least on paper.) The Stars have a hot date with the Avalanche in Colorado next weekend, so keeping pace in the division will be key over the next two weeks.

Enjoy the cuisine on the east coast if you must, but this is far from a vacation as the Stars are looking to turn their road results around.