This has already been a road trip filled with triumphant returns for the Dallas Stars. On Sunday, it was veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar returning to Ottawa, a place he had called home for the past three seasons and Dallas left the Senators' home ice with a well-earned shootout win.
On Tuesday, the venue shifted to Boston and this time it was new Stars center Tyler Seguin who was front and center for his first game against the Bruins since being traded to Big D back on July 4. Seguin and the Stars again answered the bell, getting the better of the B's in the shootout to remain unbeaten on their three-game swing through the Eastern Conference.
Now, on Thursday night, Dallas returns to a place it has come to know well over the years in Joe Louis Arena to face current Stars general manager Jim Nill's former employer in the Detroit Red Wings.
Dallas will look to complete its first perfect three-game road trip since March 2012 when in the first year under Glen Gulutzan, the Stars won at Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver as part of what would finish as a six-game winning streak.
Stars first-year head coach Lindy Ruff is well aware of his club having that opportunity to sweep and the veteran bench man remains quite pleased with the effort he got from his guys in Tuesday's big win in Beantown.
``We've got that opportunity (to sweep), but we know this is a tough building to play in. We knew Boston was going to be a tough building, too. They gave us a push in the first 10 minutes, and our push back was even greater. It was good to see," Ruff said after skate on Wednesday. "You're going to face that challenge in some buildings, and the home team is going to garner the edge, but you have to take it away from them."
Kari Lehtonen, who is 4-3-0 with a goals-against-average of 2.01 and a .931 save percentage in the seven games since returning from a lower-body injury, figures to get an eighth straight start in net tonight for Dallas, who will then return home before hosting the defending NHL Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
Dallas entered the trip just 2-5-0 away from the AAC, a trend that Ruff and his players both agree needed to be corrected as soon as possible. The Stars have done exactly that, winning those small battles and minding those minute details that can often be the difference between a win and a loss on the road.
"Sometimes, you'll go on the road and play a more structured game, a smarter game. You get a little more careless at home. It's trying to maintain a level of play that's consistent for both home and away," Ruff said.
And of course the other aspect of road trips, especially ones early in the season like this one is that for a team with a lot of new players like the Stars have, it gives the entire group some great opportunities to get to know one another and to bond as a group, something the club's new coach has seen plenty of during this Eastern trek.
"I really think we've got a real good group of guys who want to work for each other and play for each other. I said I have wanted to see more than just the players respond, I want to see the team respond, and so far it's been good," Ruff said.
Should the Stars prevail at the Joe on Thursday night, it will be the franchise's first sweep of a road trip against all Eastern opponents since the 1999-2000 club under Ken Hitchcock beat the Thrashers, Islanders, Canadiens and Senators in a roadie that started in late Nov. 1999 and ended in early December.
