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Game Day Guide: Stars at Lightning | Dallas Stars
First Shift 🏒
The Stars had the best road record in franchise history last season.
Looking back, it’s difficult to pin down exactly why.
Obviously, this is a good team and had the second-best overall record in the NHL, so the 26-10-5 mark away from home was a big part of that. But as they try to follow that up this season and are off to a 4-4-0 start on the road, there is no real magic formula they can return to.
“We just have to play our game, it doesn’t matter where we are playing,” said Duchene. “You guys always look at the home and road and think there’s something to it, but there’s nothing to it to us.”
The Stars have an 8-2-0 record at home, including one “home” loss in Tampere, Finland. Last season, they sometimes struggled at home, including a 4-6 mark at American Airlines Center in the playoffs. So how is it they are having such a great start this year?
“It’s hard to say,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said when asked about the issues on the road. “It’s like our home record this year. It’s not like we’re doing anything different, we’re just winning games. When I look at our road games this year, we’ve played some really good teams.”
Among the road losses are Florida, Winnipeg and Washington – three of the top 10 teams in the league. That’s important as they head out on a three-game road trip with contests against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. Both are traditional Eastern Conference powers.
“It’s a great test,” DeBoer said. “In the next five games, we have Colorado, Winnipeg, Tampa and Carolina, top teams in the league. So those are great tests for us.”
That can be a huge portion of the midseason for the 12-6-0 Stars.
“I think it can be a turning point,” said goalie Jake Oettinger. “We’ve had an up and down start. Our record is pretty good but I don’t think we’ve played our best yet. These are some great tests on the road.”
Did Oettinger have an explanation for posting an 18-6-2 road record last season?
“Personally, for me, you need to be able to weather storms and close out games,” Oettinger said. “Those are all things we can get better at this year.”
Doing it now would be ideal.
“I always think we have our best against some of those top teams,” said Duchene. “We love that challenge, because those are the teams we’re going to need to beat if we want to achieve our ultimate goal.”
And as for finding specific reasons for wins away from home? Well, the reasons are pretty much the same no matter where you are.
“Hockey is hockey,” Duchene said. “We have a great game plan. I’ve talked about how well-coached we are. We know what the recipe is for ourselves and we make adjustments to whoever we’re playing. We’re well prepared and it’s up to us as players to execute.”
Dallas, TX
Dallas Cowboys 2026 NFL Draft debate heats up
Jeff Kolb and Sam Gannon welcome Cowboys insiders Clarence Hill (All City Dallas) and Calvin Watkins (Dallas Morning News) for a hilarious breakdown of the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. Giving insight, arguments, and plenty of laughs as two of the best Dallas Cowboys writers in the business go head-to-head on what Dallas should do next.
Dallas, TX
New video of Lake Dallas explosion draws focus on order decades ago to remove old plastic pipes
Dallas, TX
Dallas Mavericks Owners Might Be Making Big Mistake in Search for New GM
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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