By MIKE HEIKA
The Dallas Morning News
The Stars have emphasized the details of the game since training camp, and that, coach Marc Crawford said, is the difference between this season and last.
"Honestly, it's a lot of little things," Crawford said of the team's 24-13-4 record and third-place standing in the Western Conference at midseason. "There's no real huge difference, other than we're doing a lot of the little things better, and that has added up to a much better record."
By little things, Crawford is talking about things a casual fan might not notice. It could be how a player reads and reacts to the opposition, how he keeps the gap between forwards and defensemen, even which way he turns when tracking back to chase a puck in the corner.
The Stars have made significant use of video this season in hopes of helping players react instantly rather than thinking. And the compilation of all of those little things stacked one upon another are enough to make a big difference.
The Stars are a funny team. They are not great on offense (15th at 2.78 goals per game), they are not great on defense (12th at 2.68), they are not great on the power play (12th at 18.6 percent), and they are not great on the penalty kill (23rd at 79.8 percent). It is stunning that a team that has the sixth-best record in the league has scored just five more goals than it has allowed.
"Timely goal, timely stops, we are pretty much in every game and our competitive fires seem to take over when the game is on the line," Crawford said. "You talk about chemistry and trust of your teammates and confidence, and we have that."
Dallas is 14-3-4 in one-goal games. It is 9-3-2 when tied after two periods. It has been the very definition of clutch this season.
"I do think that we always feel we have a chance to win every game," captain Brenden Morrow said. "You don't really talk about it or plan it, but you feel it. We're usually not behind by much, but we think we're going to find a way to get the job done."
In a 2-2 game against Chicago on Wednesday, Dallas scored on its only third-period power play and stopped two Chicago power plays (scoring a short-handed, empty-net goal to win the game, 4-2). The defending Stanley Cup champs are better in most statistical categories, but they are not getting the right goal at the right time.
Crawford attributes the Stars' success to humility created by two seasons of missing the playoffs. Steve Ott likes to call it hunger.
"This is the hardest-working team I have ever been on, and it started once last year ended," Ott said. "Pretty much every player put in the hardest summer of work that they could."
On the ice, there are not many changes. GM Joe Nieuwendyk added a gritty checking line forward in Adam Burish and a backup goalie in Andrew Raycroft
