DALLAS — The Dallas Stars power play is off to an historic start for 2021: eight power play goals in their first two games, on 12 chances. They've also scored twice on shorthanded goals.
As you might imagine, they're 2-0.
"I don't know, but it's clicking," Stars forward Joe Pavelski said. "One went off my skate. It's good to see when the puck's going in."
Dallas has tied an all-time NHL record with those eight power play goals in their first two games of the year.
"Right now, they're feeling it," head coach Rick Bowness said. "And with the skill level that we're putting out there right now, and they're feeling it, they're making great plays."
Bowness credited assistant Derek Laxdal for getting the special teams in tune. It's something the Stars have been putting in extra work on since last summer, before they made their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
"The [power play] is something that we focused on, probably going all the way back to the bubble," Pavelski said. "When we came back in, it was something we worked on every day, leading up to [the playoffs]."
And that extensive work has paid off, as this unit is incredibly hot to start the season.
"Right now you can just feel the confidence that they have," Bowness said. "They're moving for each other. There's a lot of chemistry involved there."
"You just gotta stay with it, you can't get too cute on it," Pavelski said. "When you get your lanes, you've got to attack. And I think we've done a good job with that so far."
And in a 56-game season shortened by COVID-19, Dallas needs every bit of that power play flair.
"We knew if we were gonna get off to a good start, your special teams have got to be where we need them to be," Bowness said. "And fortunately, so far, both of them have been really good for us."
There's no chance, of course, at keeping this pace. Eight out of 12 chances equates to a 66.7 percent success rate. League-leading numbers in years past have been between 25-30 percent. A regression to the mean is all but certain.
But you can't ask for a better start than this.