Compared to how poor Dallas played in January, the Stars played much better hockey this month. They got off to a shaky start, alternating wins and losses before going on a show losing streak. However, Dallas rediscovered its game and fired off five wins in a row near the end of the month. That win streak tied their longest of the season and puts Dallas back into a playoff spot.
Overall, Dallas went 8-5-3 in February. They had three games go into a shootout and another three games that ended in overtime. Injury troubles showed up again as Brenden Morrow, Sheldon Souray and Jamie Benn all missed games (Morrow is still out). As a result to injuries to the forwards, Ryan Garbutt got some time with the team and made a huge impression.
Dallas was 7 of 39 on the PP this month and 45 of 54 on the PK. In January, Dallas had 29 PP chances and were on the PK 34 times so the special teams got a lot more work this month.
Kari Lehtonen started 14 of the 16 games in February. Richard Bachman started the other two. Bachman was 1-1-0 while Lehtonen was 7-4-3. Most of the skaters had their best months of the season due to the amount of games in February. They still managed to produce though.
For the PP and SH stat boxes, I first put the amount of time that they had in the month and the total time that the player has on the season in parentheses.
As a small comparison, the league leader among forwards in ice time this season is Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk with 24:49 of TOI/G. He has 1414:35 total time on ice on the season. His time on ice is really quite incredible. He’s the only non-defensemen in the top-64 players in the league in terms of ice time per game (he ranks 15th in the NHL). For defensemen, the league leaders are Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi and Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell with 26:59 of TOI/G. They have totals of 1646:11 and 1672:36, respectively.
more after the jump
GP = Games Played TOI = Time on ice TOI/G = Time on ice per game
PP TOI = Power-play time on ice SH TOI = Shorthanded time on ice
Forwards (Ordered by TOI/G in February):
| Player | GP | TOI | TOI (Season) | TOI/G (February) | TOI/G (January) | PP TOI (season) | SH TOI (season) |
| Loui Eriksson | 16 | 331:02 | 1259:47 | 20:41 | 20:43 | 41:15 (169:04) | 30:49 (111:30) |
| Mike Ribeiro | 16 | 327:52 | 1125:59 | 20:30 | 19:23 | 42:37 (163:32) | 16:22 (47:44) |
| Michael Ryder | 16 | 298:03 | 1101:30 | 18:38 | 17:23 | 42:42 (171:30) | 0:21 (1:24) |
| Steve Ott | 16 | 292:28 | 1069:32 | 18:17 | 17:37 | 21:54 (126:35) | 31:22 (98:17) |
| Jamie Benn | 10 | 172:39 | 955:43 | 17:16 | 20:49 | 17:51 (131:53) | 1:32 (34:50) |
| Brenden Morrow | 2 | 29:50 | 767:04 | 14:55 | 18:49 | 3:15 (120:14) | 1:03 (21:55) |
| Eric Nystrom | 16 | 237:26 | 807:30 | 14:50 | 14:00 | 1:53 (9:37) | 23:29 (75:31) |
| Radek Dvorak | 16 | 230:10 | 912:47 | 14:23 | 14:09 | 0:18 (6:04) | 28:36 (120:28) |
| Vernon Fiddler | 16 | 224:17 | 892:44 | 14:01 | 15:20 | 0:09 (8:20) | 27:48 (130:42) |
| Adam Burish | 15 | 184:42 | 584:14 | 12:19 | 12:32 | 8:36 (28:47) | 25:02 (67:37) |
| Tomas Vincour | 14 | 157:51 | 350:54 | 11:17 | 8:06 | 1:15 (17:21) | — (0:14) |
| Tom Wandell | 16 | 165:04 | 595:28 | 10:19 | 14:24 | 14:22 (31:48) | 0:18 (7:30) |
| Ryan Garbutt | 7 | 60:39 | 60:39 | 8:40 | — | — | — |
| Toby Peterson | 7 | 54:28 | 293:49 | 7:47 | 5:44 | — (22:24) | — (9:55) |
| Jake Dowell | 8 | 58:39 | 345:55 | 7:20 | 8:06 | — (1:02) | — (22:23) |
| Francis Wathier | 0 | 5:25 | 5:25 | — | 5:25 | — | — |
| Matt Fraser | 0 | 3:57 | 3:57 | — | 3:57 | — | — |
- Eriksson, Ryder and Ribeiro ended up playing on the same line for most of the month after Benn was injured.
- Loui Eriksson was one of the few guys that continued their hot play from January and carried it over to this month. He played five more games this month, but matched his point totals that he had in January (4 goals, 9 assists). It’s the third month of the season (out of five so far) that he has reached those exact numbers.
- Mike Ribeiro had his best month of the season pointswise. He had 4 goals and 12 assists to lead all Stars players in points for February. He ends the month on an eight-game point streak.
- Ryder had his best month of the season, reaching season highs in goals, assists and points. He had 9 goals and 6 assists and was the Stars leading goal scorer this month.
- Amid trade rumors all month, Steve Ott had his most productive month of the season. He had 3 goals and 8 assists, both season highs.
- Jamie Benn missed six games due to a lacerated leg. He suffered a deep cut in his leg in the game against Calgary when a skate was caught on his leg.
- Brenden Morrow missed 14 games due to his lingering back/shoulder/neck injuries. He’ll miss a couple more in March.
- The Dvorak-Fiddler-Nystrom line hit a wall this month. All three guys had their worst months of the year. Nystrom had only 2 goals, Dvorak was limited to 1 assist and Fiddler only had 1 goal and 1 assist. All three guys were healthy through the month.
- Tom Wandell was returned to his fourth line duties with the return of Benn and Ribeiro this month but he still produced some numbers. His three goals this month were the most of any month this season for him.
- Ryan Garbutt got his first taste of NHL action this month and proved that he belongs. He’s one of the hardest workers on the team and twice lead the team in hits. He scored a game winner in the third game of his career.
- Francis Wathier and Matt Fraser played one game in January and got no time in February.
Defensemen (Ordered by TOI/G)
| Player | GP | TOI | TOI (Season) | TOI/G (February) | TOI/G (January) | PP TOI (season) | SH TOI (season) |
| Stephane Robidas | 16 | 372:30 | 1309:38 | 23:17 | 21:13 | 39:41 (153:17) | 50:55 (171:52) |
| Alex Goligoski | 16 | 367:38 | 1199:11 | 22:59 | 23:10 | 43:35 (174:39) | 17:59 (55:07) |
| Trevor Daley | 16 | 342:58 | 1340:06 | 21:26 | 22:40 | 24:18 (145:50) | 39:12 (155:15) |
| Sheldon Souray | 9 | 182:53 | 1042:33 | 20:19 | 18:13 | 2:05 (105:45) | 16:19 (107:01) |
| Philip Larsen | 16 | 286:07 | 650:24 | 17:53 | 19:57 | 20:53 (47:30) | 3:52 (15:51) |
| Mark Fistric | 13 | 228:26 | 798:08 | 17:34 | 15:26 | — (0:49) | 37:33 (108:43) |
| Adam Pardy | 4 | 66:03 | 424:35 | 16:31 | 14:29 | — (2:01) | 1:22 (20:44) |
| Jordie Benn | 0 | — | 24:36 | — | 12:18 | — (0:09) | — (0:00) |
- Nick Grossman played seven games in February with the Stars before he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers.
- Robidas’ TOI this month was his most for any month this season. He had 2 goals and 3 assists and a +7 rating.
- Trevor Daley had a great month. It didn’t show in the stats (he only had 6 assists) but watching his play, you would always notice him doing solid work on the ice. He’s probably been the best defenseman all year for Dallas. He ended the month on a five game point streak.
- Sheldon Souray missed seven games due to an ankle injury.
- Philip Larsen started to get more physical this month and it showed. He had 12 PIM, 10 more than he’s had all season.
- Mark Fistric has been getting steady playing time now that Grossman is gone. He’s firmly entrenched as a day-in day-out starter now.
- Jordie Benn returned to the AHL as the Stars defensemen got healthy again. He didn’t play any games this month.
