The Texas Stars Just Blew Their Lead in the Central Division

 The Stars are on their longest losing streak of the season at the worst possible time; can they overcome before the playoffs begin?

(Credit: Logan Foust/Texas Stars)

The Texas Stars returned home last week with a sweep of their five-game road trip and a four-point lead in the Central Division. They ended the week with a four-game losing streak (their longest of the season) and allowed their lead in the standings to evaporate completely.

The losing streak began against the Iowa Wild, who inhabit the last-place spot in the Central Division. Obviously, losing to a team at the bottom of the standings seems like a misstep, but Texas had some pretty solid excuses. 

Their second game against the Wild was their fifth in just eight days, a grueling schedule that included travel from Cleveland back to Austin. That makes it even harder to get amped about a midweek series against a clearly inferior opponent. 

Also, both games against the Wild included several new ATO additions to the lineup. After the first game against the Wild, Coach Graham admitted that some ATO players struggled with the short turnaround between games. 

“I noticed a little more fatigue in a couple of players today, and you have to keep in mind, in a college schedule, you play Friday, Saturday, or maybe on Saturday, Sunday. Most players haven't played three games in five days with long travel coming from an Eastern Time Zone, probably since junior.”

These excuses do not exist in the same way for the series against the Admirals. The two games last weekend had been circled on the calendar for a long time. It was known that they could decide a divisional title or, at the very least, be a good measuring stick going into the playoffs. The two teams have faced off in the playoffs each of the last two years, after all. With all that on the line, Texas could not best their opponent and only mustered one goal in each game. 

That’s not to say they lacked effort (on the contrary, they went after Milwaukee before the puck even dropped in game one), but when the lights are the brightest, your best players need to play like your best players.  

The Stars’ top-line mainstays, Matěj Blümel and Justin Hryckowian, were completely held off the score sheet until the final frame of the homestand when the Stars were already down by two. It was the longest point drought for Blümel and tied for the longest for Hryckowian this season. This raises the concern of whether or not Texas can rely on their record-breaking forward and rookie phenom once the playoffs begin. 

That being said, this team is not carried by just one line. Texas has one of the most elite offenses in the league and is tied for fourth in goals. A lot of that offensive depth comes from veteran players like Cameron Hughes, Kole Lind and captain Curtis McKenzie, who have experience in important games like the ones last weekend. They were all notably absent from the score sheet. 

Credit where credit is due. Milwaukee knew they needed to win both games against the Stars to give themselves a shot at the regular-season division title, and they did just that. Their defense in the two-game set was suffocating. They also received impeccable goaltending performances from former Texas Star Matt Murray, a candidate to win the award for the AHL’s outstanding goaltender. 

But that’s playoff hockey. It’s tight checking, structured defense and sometimes goalies stand on their head, but the best teams overcome. The Texas Stars failed in their first honest look at playoff-style hockey. 

Coach Graham is not sounding the alarm just yet, however. “You go to the five prior games, everyone's feeling pretty good. Watch those games. They probably weren't as good as you felt. And then when you look at these four losses, they're probably not as bad as you thought either. That's why it's important to maintain that levelheadedness. We just get back to work; our job is to solve problems.”

Step one for Texas will be to clean up the mess they made in the standings and ensure they still raise a Central Division champions banner on what has been a great season. Step two is to prove to themselves and their fans that they can excel in playoff hockey. Otherwise, it may be a short spring for the team from Cedar Park.