Seven games into the season, the Dallas Stars rank first in the NHL in goals allowed per game and 30th in goals scored.
Dallas is allowing 1.71 goals per game and leads the league with a .938 team save percentage, according to figures published by the team's website. The Stars give up 23.1 shots a game, third-fewest, and are allowing an average of one goal per game at five-on-five, the lowest rate in the league.
On offense, Dallas is averaging 2.14 goals per game, and the club sits at 3-3-1.
Game by game
Dallas has scored 11 goals in its three wins and four in its four losses. The Stars opened with defeats to St. Louis and Nashville in which they scored once combined, then outscored San Jose and Buffalo 9-0 over back-to-back shutouts.
A shootout loss in Pittsburgh, 2-1, followed, then a 3-2 home loss to Colorado on Tuesday and a 3-2 shootout win in Denver on Wednesday.
The Colorado games showed what the defense can do. The Avalanche opened the season with 26 goals in five games, matching the highest total for any team over the past 23 years, and managed five in two games against Dallas, one of them on a five-on-three power play. Coach Glen Gulutzan described the two games as "really even six periods."
Jake Oettinger has two shutouts in five starts and a .944 save percentage, and his scoreless streak reached 188 minutes, 52 seconds, the fourth-longest such run in franchise history. Casey DeSmith has stopped 49 of 53 shots in his two starts.
The penalty kill, ninth at 87.5%, has given up three goals, two of them in the first period at Nashville on Oct. 3, and scored one of its own on Arttu Hyry's shorthanded goal Wednesday.
Where the goals have gone
The power play, a strength last season, has two goals in 16 chances, and Dallas has drawn two or fewer power plays in four of its seven games. Its 11 five-on-five goals are tied for 21st.
