The Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks have both struggled with keeping leads in recent games. They will try to improve on this when they play each other on Wednesday night in Chicago.
The Stars lost 6-4 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. Dallas had a 3-1 lead after the second period, but they allowed three goals in the first 8:09 of the third period and two more in the final 2:07.
“Next one’s always big after a loss,” said Stars forward Jamie Benn. “Obviously, we want to end this road trip with a win.”
The Blackhawks lost 3-2 in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Chicago had a 2-0 lead going into the third period but let it slip away and gave up the winning goal just 1:06 into overtime.
The Blackhawks are now 6-1-2 when leading after the second period.
Chicago defenseman Alec Martinez, who has won three Stanley Cup titles, said confidence is key in keeping a lead.
“If you have experience where you’ve held those leads and been successful in that, then you fall back on your experience,” Martinez said. “There’s a knowing that, ‘We’re going to get this job done.’ It’s a process. Every team goes through it.”
Martinez also mentioned that players need to balance being aggressive and playing with caution while holding a lead.
“You’ve got to keep attacking,” he said. “If you just sit back and allow them to enter the zone, you increase the sample size. You give them more zone time and the odds are further and further stacked against you.”
Chicago coach Luke Richardson agreed, saying that holding a lead is about managing the puck and staying out of your own defensive zone.
“Eventually, it’s too much and it wears out all your good energy playing defense (rather) than creating offense, which is part of our problem offensively,” Richardson said.
The Stars are also hoping to improve their power play, which has been struggling. They’ve scored on only 1 of 15 power-play chances in their last six games, dropping them to 25th in the NHL for power-play efficiency (16.1 percent). Last season, they ranked sixth with a 24.2 percent success rate.
“It starts with breakouts,” said Stars forward Tyler Seguin. “More pucks to the net, for sure.”
In addition, the Stars’ penalty kill has been a problem. They gave up one short-handed goal and two power-play goals to Carolina.
“I liked most of our 5-on-5 game all night, but the special teams were a disaster,” said Stars coach Pete DeBoer. “(One) short-handed goal, two power-play goals by them. You’re not going to win if your special teams look like that.”
If the Stars can win in Chicago, they will face a busy schedule in December, with nine home games and five on the road.
Dallas has been much better at home this season, with a record of 8-2-0, compared to 5-5-0 on the road.
“We’ve got to go out and execute,” said Benn. “The power play can make a big difference on the road. We just need to go out there with the confidence to make a difference in the game.”
