Are The Dallas Stars Underachieving?

[hirawl]

Things will be better with Bichsel… what a start… plays a heavy game and is quite mobile for his size…

The stars have to many lefties as defensemen and need to do a trade… ship Lindell out and keep heiskanen, hartley and bichsel on the left side…

Shipping Lindell out would really make a difference. A huge negative one.

 

[dirtydanglez]

yes but that can all change in the playoffs.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Utah's been to OT 10 times, Calgary 12 times. Lots more coin flip points they've gotten thanks to that.

Regulation W-L is the only W-L worth looking at. The standings the NHL promotes is, and has been since 2005, full of lies.

I agree with your broader point about regulation results being more telling, but disagree that OT results are akin to a “coin flip.”

Edmonton is 7-2 in OT, is that because they’re lucky or because they have players whose skillset is well suited for a 3v3 format?

Even the rule that coincidental fighting majors don’t lead to 4 v 4 is premised on the idea that certain teams are better than others with the extra space afforded in such situations.

 

[ijuka]

The broader point about Dallas underachieving stands up under scrutiny here, but as to the point being made right here...by regulation win percentage:

12. Dallas: 17-13 (.567)
17. Utah: 11-11 (.500)
18. Calgary: 10-11 (.476)

They really aren't as close in terms of real performance as the standings make it seem. Dallas has only had two games last beyond 60 minutes this year, they've gotten very few of those bonus points. Utah's been to OT 10 times, Calgary 12 times. Lots more coin flip points they've gotten thanks to that.

Regulation W-L is the only W-L worth looking at. The standings the NHL promotes is, and has been since 2005, full of lies.

This is not how you look at regulation performance. Here's what it should actually look like:

Dallas: 17-13-2
Utah: 11-11-10
Calgary: 11-11-12

You can't just isolate the regulation-ending games and examine them in a vacuum. Being able to tie games instead of losing them is still valuable. And yes, it is valuable in the playoffs as well.

If we turned those regulation scores into points via the win-loss-draw system:

Dallas: 36p
Utah: 32p
Calgary: 34p

Or points per game:

Dallas: 1.125
Utah: 0.865
Calgary: 1.000