First Shift 🏒
Maybe the biggest problem around the optics of the Stars’ home record is the fact they are very good on the road.
So while the Lads in Victory Green posted the same points percentage at home (26-11-4) as on the road (24-9-8) at .683 last season, the latter accomplishment just seems better. Dallas ranked 15th in home scoring at 3.24 goals per game last season and sixth on the road at 3.41. It was sixth in GAA at home (2.68) and third on the road (2.73). The shots on goal were about the same, the special teams were about the same, the faceoffs were about the same.
And yet, the overarching feeling was these guys were road warriors.
Early evidence in 2026-27 has done nothing to refute those claims. Dallas is 1-2-0 at American Airlines Center and 3-1-1 everywhere else. So as the team prepares for a six-game homestand that starts Tuesday against the Boston Bruins, coach Glen Gulutzan was a little concerned.
Asked if he looked forward to getting back home, Gulutzan said Saturday in Chicago: “No, I don’t look forward to it, not with this team. We’re pretty good on the road. One area of improvement is our home record and the way we start at home, so that’s going to be harped on this week.”
Again, everything is relative, but it’s good to know there is focus there. Dallas started slow on opening night against St. Louis, and that was confusing in a 4-0 loss. But they crushed San Jose, 5-0, and played one of their best overall games in a narrow 3-2 loss to Colorado, and that’s where the focus is for the players.
“We don’t really talk about it a lot,” said defenseman Heiskanen. “We just have to do the same thing as we do on the road – a simple game, work hard and wear an opponent down.”
This run will be an interesting one, as five of the opponents are from the Eastern Conference. Still, opponents like the 7-2-0 Bruins, the Islanders led by former coach Pete DeBoer, and the Canadiens (who went to the Eastern Conference Final last spring) should create plenty of passion.
“This is a balancing act,” Gulutzan said. “I’m still focused on our individual daily game prep, but that is going to come. We do have to be better at home and we can be better at home, we just haven’t talked about it for this homestand yet.”
Asked what is the difference between having the bus, the plane, and the hotels on the road – and then not having it for six games – Gulutzan said each has its challenges.
“You’d think we should have more because if we manage this thing right as coaches, we should have more energy,” Gulutzan said. “But you take those out and you have to add in families and commitments and other things. We’re all family people here, so it’s up to us coaches to make sure we’re balancing the right energy at home.”
