When looking at last night’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s hard not to immediately point to the penalties. The Dallas Stars took eight of them, for a grand total of 23 across just four games this season.
That’s not a good figure, and when you put yourselves on the penalty kill so often, things will inevitably fall apart:
“We’ve got a smart group,” [head coach Pete] DeBoer said. “They know. They know you’re playing with fire. If you put a team on the power play five or six times, you’re playing with fire, regardless of how good your penalty kill is.