Stars need consistency, fast starts to get those wild-card points

The Dallas Stars hit the NHL All-Star break with a 20-20-10 record.

Despite their .500 record and inconsistent play through the season’s first 50 games, the Stars are still just three points out of the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference.

But what can they do to make another postseason a reality rather than a pipe dream?

Get stingier

One number stands out surrounding the 50-game mark for the Stars, and that is 157 — the number of goals Dallas has allowed thus far, second-most in the NHL. The good news of late is that the Stars have started doing what they were known for last season, scoring goals, and that recent offensive surge has helped make their goal differential, now minus-22, look better than it’s been for much of this season. Minus-22 is still the fourth-worst differential in the NHL, and if that number doesn’t drastically improve over the season’s final 32 games, the Stars likely miss the playoffs.

Consistent play

The Stars must find a way to string victories together. Dallas won back-to-back games only twice in the first 50 games and its longest winning streak was three games. Contrast that with the Stars losing consecutive games eight times and having five three-game losing streaks. Those are the hallmarks of a wildly inconsistent team, another trend that must right itself quickly.

Stay on the ice

Only two players on the team have not missed at least one game. They are Tyler Seguin, Dallas’ lone All-Star, who leads the Stars in assists and points, and rookie center Devin Shore. The Stars likely begin the second half with two defensemen on the mend in veteran Johnny Oduya (lower body) and Jamie Oleksiak (hand). Getting them healthy and keeping them and everyone else healthy is imperative.

Fast start

Consistently scoring first must become another positive trend. As they did in a 4-3 win against Buffalo on Thursday to hit the break with a victory, the Stars seem adept at digging early holes for themselves, like the 2-0 deficit they faced early against the Sabres. Scoring first, which Dallas has a 15-6-3 record when doing so, would help ease the stress of consistently chasing games. The Stars allowed the first goal in their final seven games heading into the break and were 2-2-3 in those contests.

Killer instinct

Dallas’ penalty kill is the NHL’s worst with a 74 percent success rate, and the Stars have also allowed the most power-play goals in the league with 44. Luckily, the Dallas power play is a bit better, ranking 20th with a 17.2 percent success rate. But as special teams go in the second half, the Stars will follow accordingly. The penalty kill obviously has nowhere to go but up, but how high is that ceiling?

This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Stars need consistency, fast starts to get those wild-card points."