Stars @ Sharks Preview

Irbe's fucked up back   12 March 2017

Know Thy Enemy: Dallas Stars

Last Ten Games: 5-5-0

Playoffs?: 11 PTS out of WC, yeah.... No.

The scoop: So apparently a game happened yesterday but who cares,  Nashville doesn't deserve shit. Instead, San Jose plays the "Holy shit are they that bad?" Dallas Stars. Dallas, despite winning the Central division last year, has been plagued by mediocre goaltending and a PK that is so bad, it actually sorta defies belief. Dallas' PK is ranked 30th in the league, showing up with a toasty 73.5% to show for it. To put that into perspective, the 29th ranked team on the PK, Buffalo, comes in at 76.3%, nearly 3% higher than Dallas. Combine that with below average goaltending, and that puts Dallas 28th in GA/G, with a 3.21. That puts them only ahead of Arizona and Colorado at the bottom. The only reason Dallas is not completely buried at the bottom of the league is their well-known firepower, lead by Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. However, the firepower has stuttered a bit this year. In 5v5 GF60 last year, Dallas was 3rd with 2.46. This year, they've regressed to 11th with 2.31. Nevertheless, Dallas still remains a dangerous goal scoring force, and expect fireworks tonight.

Why should you hate this team?: Ewwwwwww

Da Fenwicks: San Jose posts a 52.87% Fenwick, compared to the Stars' 49.81%. Fenwick levels = yes

Meanwhile, in San Jose: Much has been oozed about San Jose's Powerplay, and for good reason. Despite having some of the best top down talent in the league, the powerplay has become notorious for being painfully static, and it shows. The Sharks are a paltry 24th in the league in PP%, with 16.9% rate to show for it. That is horrific, especially for a team this talented, this high in the standings. Which makes this game so important for the PP. San Jose isn't just playing a bad PK team, they are playing the worst of the worst. This is a fantastic chance for the PP to regain some confidence, but on the flip side, being silenced on the Power Play by such an atrocious PK unit can be severely demoralizing, so that makes this meeting so important for the PP to regain the swagger of years past.