The Dallas Stars end their current West Coast road trip with a unique scheduling sequence. Dallas plays two consecutive road games against the Seattle Kraken in Seattle, meaning they can remain in the same city for multiple days despite not being home.
The scheduling quirk is a welcome change for the team, and it is embracing its circumstances.
“I think it’s awesome,” goaltender Jake Oettinger told the media before Saturday’s win. “I wish we did that the whole season. If you’re going somewhere on the road twice, [you can] just settle into your hotel room and feel like home. You’re not moving around as much.”
What a Road Trip!
Oettinger’s thoughts sound much like baseball, which regularly plays two to four games between the same teams in the same city. However, it is much less common in the NHL. Most in the Stars organization can only recall it happening during the COVID season and once the playoffs start — aside from this year’s NHL Global Series against the Florida Panthers in Finland.
“I haven’t seen anybody who doesn’t enjoy it– cutting down on the travel alone,” head coach Pete DeBoer said before Saturday’s game. “Coming in, you’re only taking one flight to play a team twice and dial in on them. I love it. I understand why we don’t do it as much, but I do love the format.”
The Stars had back-to-back home games against Chicago in December 2023 and have played home-and-home series over a three-day period against several teams. But the last time they had a road trip like this and stayed within the confines of North America was in March 2023, also against the Seattle Kraken.
Dallas won both games, played the Kraken three times in nine days, then eliminated Seattle from its first playoff appearance about two months later.
Challenges of the Unique Format
A common place you will see back-to-back games between the same two teams at the same arena in the hockey world is in the college ranks. Obviously, this makes it much easier to manage travel for student-athletes who have to juggle the responsibilities of school on top of the responsibilities of everyday life and being an athlete. It also helps keep most games to the weekend, where college hockey teams usually play Friday and Saturday.
Yet at the same time, playing an opponent back-to-back can become a unique challenge, particularly when that opponent is as skilled as the teams in the NHL or even just familiar with your team’s playing style and strategies.
“It’s a little like a college weekend,” DeBoer added. “We found out during COVID, it’s really hard to sweep a team, just like it is in college hockey. You rarely see a team win two games, so that’s the challenge for us — is to win the first one here tonight and then make sure we’re ready for the second one.”
It can become somewhat of a “mini playoff series.” Luckily, in this case for the Stars, Dallas is the only team involved heading toward the postseason.
So Far, So Good
The Stars began the two-game stint with a 5-1 win on Saturday night that clinched Dallas’ fourth straight playoff berth and ended any slim hopes Seattle may have had. They also officially crossed the 100-point mark in the standings for the third year in a row, possibly even more impressive considering the Stars finished the 2020-21 season with just 60 points in 56 games and missed the postseason.
Now, the challenge becomes wrapping up the road trip with a hard-earned win over a familiar and desperate opponent, which could also pull Dallas within four points of the Winnipeg Jets for the Central Division lead.
Main Photo: Chris Jones- Imagn Images
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