Janmark returns to Dallas for first time with Blackhawks

Stars (5-2-1, 11 points) vs. Blackhawks (4-4-4, 12 points)

Part of the fun of facing teams eight times a year this season is that there will be certain players that Stars fans get to see a lot.
Arlington-born Seth Jones in Columbus, for example.
Or former Stars winger Mattias Janmark in Chicago.
Janmark played 297 games with Dallas over four seasons, and then signed with the Blackhawks as a free agent. Now, as he returns for two games at American Airlines Center this week, he is playing very well for his new team.
Janmark has four goals and four assists for eight points in 12 games. He is fitting in well, and Stars fans will get a chance to see that Sunday.
"It took a few games to get going for him, but he's so strong on the puck, wins battles, wins 50-50s," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. "But he's got some skill, he can make plays. I feel he can help us in a lot of different spots."
Janmark had six goals and 15 assists in 62 games for the Stars last season and has shown some offensive ability in the past. Dallas did not attempt to re-sign him in the off-season. Janmark said he looked for a good fit in his new team.
"I wanted to come here because I thought this would be a good fit for me and what I was looking for to try to find my offensive game. It was just a good fit," Janmark told the Chicago media. "There's lots to improve still, but that's why it's helped me. Here, they play exactly how I wanted to play. That helped me to settle in."
Janmark said he hadn't really thought about playing the Stars, but that it will be fun to go head-to-head with old friend John Klingberg.
"Me and Klingberg were pretty good friends, so that'll be fun," Janmark said. "Try to get a forecheck going on him maybe. Get a hit in there."
As for the rest of the Blackhawks, there is some rivalry there. The two teams have been in the same division for years. Patrick Kane has 61 points (29 goals, 32 assists) in 51 games against the Stars. Dallas is 7-4-0 in its past 11 games against Chicago.
"They're a very dangerous team, highly skilled," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "The coaches have done a wonderful job there. They can score goals. They've got some good talent and the future looks very good for them. If you get in a run-and-gun game with them, they're going to burn you."

Will watching benefit rookie Dellandrea?

Ty Dellandrea has been an energetic addition to the lineup in his first six games, with a goal and an assist and 50 percent faceoff success while averaging 15:21 in time on ice.
However, Bowness said he felt Dellandrea needed to watch a few games, and so the rookie has been a healthy scratch for the past two contests. Dellandrea is expected to return today, and he could play on the top line with Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn if Alexander Radulov is out. Radulov missed practice Saturday with a lower body injury and is listed as a game-time decision.
If Radulov can play, Dellandrea might land on the fourth line. That's just how it is with the Stars right now.
"There's a top-six that we play, and we rotate depending on how things are going," Bowness said, noting that the FCC line of Radek Faksa with Blake Comeau and Andrew Cogliano is a fixture on the third line. "Blake has his legs back, clearly, we like him with Faksa and Cogs. That fourth line will probably be constant changes to it. We want everyone playing. We can't let guys sit too long because clearly, as the early season has shown you, everyone is going to play. We talked about it before the season even started. Everyone on that taxi squad will eventually play."
Bowness decided to play rookie Jason Robertson last game, and he has since been sent back to the taxi squad before being recalled again Sunday. Dellandrea and Tanner Kero were called up Saturday. The Stars also have the option of activating Joel Kiviranta off of IR Sunday. Kiviranta has been out since Game 1 with a lower-body injury.
Bowness said he hopes Dellandrea benefitted from watching.
"The game is so fast out there," Bowness said. "What you feel on the ice is this constant awareness that there are people around you all the time, but sometimes when you sit up in the stands, you see, 'Wow, there's a little more room out there than you realize.' He's not going to play in every game. We're very happy with Ty. He's a great prospect, he's a big part of our team now and a big part moving forward."

Oettinger to start; Khudobin scratched for disciplinary reasons

Anton Khudobin will sit out Sunday's game for disciplinary reasons, so Jake Oettinger will start and Landon Bow will back up.
The Stars could change three forwards, adding Dellandrea, Kero and possibly Kiviranta.
That means we could see some shuffling again.
Dellandrea played right wing in Radulov's place on the top line in practice Saturday. The second line was the same with Jason Dickinson, Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov, and the third line was the same with Andrew Cogliano, Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau. The fourth line in practice had Kero with Justin Dowling and Nick Caamano, but that is expected to change.
Andrej Sekera remains in COVID protocol and is not available on defense. The Stars are expected to stick with the same group they have played in recent games.

By the numbers

1,037

Chicago forward Patrick Kane has 1,037 points in his career, good for sixth place among players born in the U.S. Mike Modano is No. 1 at 1,374

2.32

That's the goals against average for Chicago goalie Kevin Lankinen. The 25-year-old free agent from Finland has stepped into the Blackhawks' void in net and has a 4-1-3 record, a 2.32 GAA and a .928 save percentage.

40.0

Dallas leads the NHL in power-play success at 40.0 percent. Chicago is third at 37.8 percent.

He said it

"These guys play so hard. It's really great. Jeremy's setting the culture here where he wants the hard work and he wants guys skating hard and guys winning battles. I think a lot of these guys do that so well. That's something I can get better at, too. Especially lately, it's been a fun group. We've been pretty much in every game and battling, hanging around, whether it's good goaltending or timely scoring. Just trying to figure out our game and now it's like 'Ok, we're in these games, let's figure out how to win them.' " -- Kane on how Colliton is helping the Blackhawks compete every night
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.