Last season, the Dallas Stars led the Western Conference with 109 points during the regular season and won their first playoff series since 2008, defeating Minnesota in the first round.
Naturally, heading into this season, the bar was set high.
However, for various reasons, Dallas missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. One day later, coach Lindy Ruff was fired by general manager Jim Nill.
“We never could get a good run going,” Ruff said. “We didn’t quite have the finish we had in the previous year.”
Here’s a look at what went wrong and what went right with the Stars, who finished 34-37-11:
What went wrong
Injuries take toll
The Stars lost more than 260 man games to injury, ranking among the top 10 in the NHL.