August 7, 2026
August 7, 2026
2005-06 Dallas Stars: Staying Competitive
The 2004-05 NHL season never happened because the league held a lockout of its players, forcing them to play in other leagues until a new collective bargaining agreement could be reached. Once the dust settled and everyone realized an entire regular season had been lost, the NHL went back to business for the 2005-06 season. The Dallas Stars ended up being one of the teams to emerge as a playoff contender in the post-lockout NHL, kicking off a memorable 2005-06 Dallas Stars season.
The transition between 2004-05 and 2005-06 was an interesting adjustment period for the entire league, as all 30 teams no longer had to worry about regular season games ending in ties. This was because of a new rule that introduced the shootout: if games were still tied after a single overtime period, both teams would enter a best out-of-five shootout.
The 2005-06 Dallas Stars season produced a 53-23-6 (overtime losses) record and 112 points, finishing 13 points ahead of the San Jose Sharks to win the Pacific Division. The Stars finished as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. In head-to-head play, the Stars went 6-1-1 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 5-3 against the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-0 against the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2-2 against the San Jose Sharks, 3-0-1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues, and 3-1 against the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks.
Center Mike Modano served as captain for the Stars for most of his NHL career, and the 2005-06 season would be his last as captain. Modano had 27 goals and 50 assists for 77 points with 12 power play goals, 22 power play assists and 4 game-winning goals off 207 shots. Center Jason Arnott had 32 goals and 44 assists for 76 points with 11 power play goals, 18 power play assists and 5 game-winning goals off 167 shots. Defenseman Sergei Zubov, one of the team’s alternate captains, had 13 goals and 58 assists for 71 points with 9 power play goals and 30 power play assists off 141 shots.
Left winger Brenden Morrow had 23 goals and 42 assists for 65 points with 8 power play goals, 9 power play assists and 4 game-winning goals off 146 shots. Left winger Jussi Jokinen had 17 goals and 38 assists for 55 points with 8 power play goals and 23 power play assists off 107 shots. Right winger Jere Lehtinen had 33 goals and 19 assists for 52 points with 14 power play goals and 6 game-winning goals off 216 shots. Defenseman Philippe Boucher had 16 goals and 27 assists for 43 points with 8 power play goals, 11 power play assists and 3 game-winning goals off 174 shots.
Right winger Bill Guerin had 13 goals and 27 assists for 40 points with 14 power play assists off 210 shots. Center Stu Barnes had 15 goals and 21 assists off 123 shots. Center Niko Kapanen had 14 goals and 21 assists with 8 power play assists off 97 shots. Left winger Antti Miettinen had 11 goals and 20 assists with 7 power play assists off 107 shots.
Goaltender Marty Turco went 41-19-5 as a starter, allowing 166 goals off 1,624 shots in 3,910 minutes, recording 1,458 saves, an .898 save percentage, a 2.55 goals-against average and 3 shutouts. Turco was arguably one of the most mobile goaltenders in the NHL when he was on top of his game.
Johan Hedberg was a steady backup goaltender for Dallas, going 12-4-1, allowing 48 goals off 472 shots in 1,079 minutes, recording 424 saves, an .898 save percentage and a 2.67 goals-against average.
During the course of the regular season, the Stars put together two separate six-game winning streaks. The first began with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on January 4 and ended with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Boston Bruins on January 14. The second began with a 4-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on January 23 and ended with a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on February 1.
The Western Conference Quarterfinals didn’t go the way the Dallas Stars had planned, as they were shown the exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs courtesy of the Colorado Avalanche, who eliminated the Stars 4 games to 1. The only game of the series the Stars managed to win was Game 4 on April 28, beating the Avalanche 4-1 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
In the first period, center Brad Richardson scored what would be Colorado’s only goal of the game 4:46 in. At 7:35, Jere Lehtinen scored a goal to tie it. Dallas took over in the second period as left winger Niklas Hagman scored at 3:50 in, and Bill Guerin added a power play goal at 18:41. Hagman then put the finishing touch on the win for Dallas with an empty-net goal 18:45 into the third period.
Though the 2005-06 Dallas Stars season ended in a first-round exit, the team stayed competitive through the 2000s. The Stars would only get as far as the Western Conference Finals with Mike Modano still on their roster; they would not return to the Stanley Cup Finals with Modano as they had in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. On September 23, 2011, Mike Modano, the last active player who had played for the Minnesota North Stars, officially announced his retirement from hockey after signing a one-day contract with the Dallas Stars. Modano was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame a few years later, on November 17, 2014.
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