What to watch for as Stars try to avoid 'trap' against Sens

The Dallas Stars will be looking to close out a five-game homestand on a successful note tonight against an Ottawa Senators team that is playing out the string in the Eastern Conference.
Here's what to watch for in the first of two meetings between these squads over the next couple of weeks.

Trap schmap

You can call it a "trap game," you can call it whatever you want, but this is one of those games that will require the full attention of the Dallas lineup because it is fraught with potential pitfalls.
The Stars are coming off two emotional games at home where they tied late in regulation before losing in overtime Thursday to Tampa Bay, and then beating St. Louis in overtime Saturday. They are 2-1-1 on this five-game homestand and will jet to Nashville right after tonight for a Tuesday affair with a Predators team that has won eight straight.
Did we mention trap?
Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock has said that it doesn't matter where a team is in the standings, each of the Stars' remaining games will be challenges (they have 16 remaining including tonight's tilt) and that non-playoff teams, like the Senators, have new energy because they've got players playing for spots for next year and relishing the spoiler role.
In short, don't snooze on Erik Karlsson and Matt Duchene, even if they are 1-5-1 in their last seven contests.
"I think it does need to be said," added Dallas forward Brett Ritchie, who is playing some of his best hockey of the season. "Every game's going to be like a playoff game, but the last two games are pretty emotional games and we've poured a lot into both those games."
And with the Senators down in the standings, and with little familiarity between the two teams, preparation will be doubly important, Ritchie said.
"They're playing loose, they're playing for jobs next year. We've been in that position last year, so we won some games down the stretch just like they're trying to now," he said. "You definitely have to really be ready mentally, prepare as much as possible as you did for those last two games.
"Even though we have a back-to-back against a bit division rival tomorrow night, you can't look there until this one's over."

Lineup tinkering

Hitchcock referred to Saturday's emotional win over St. Louis as a physically-taxing affair, and he was noncommittal Sunday about tonight's roster, and so, it was not all that surprising that Roope Hintz was called up this morning from the American Hockey League on an emergency recall basis with a couple of guys banged up.
Hitchcock had indicated that extra forward Gemel Smith would likely be in the lineup tonight, and line rushes this morning had Smith with Jason Dickinson and Remi Elie.
Radek Faksa (foot) did not take the morning skate and Jason Spezza skated in his spot between Antoine Roussel and Tyler Pitlick. Ritchie moved up to the right side with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, where Spezza had been playing the last couple of games.
On the back end, defenseman Esa Lindell (illness) was not on the ice, which means Julius Honka may re-enter the lineup. He skated with Stephen Johns, while Marc Methot paired up with John Klingberg -- although Hitchcock said not to read too much into the pairings.
"It's a 25-player league," Hitchcock said. "You need 25 guys that can play between what you have on your roster and what's in the minors."

Hard work on the hard side of the puck

Very quietly, the Stars have become one of the hardest teams in the NHL to play against.
They rank fourth in the league in goals allowed per game. They are tied for fourth on the penalty kill, which has been dynamite of late, killing off all 13 opportunities in the last three games, including several 5-on-3 situations.
That will be important tonight as the Senators' special-teams play has been good of late, killing off 13 of 14 manpower advantages in the last six games. The Ottawa power play has been clicking, too, with one power-play marker in four of the last five games.
And with Faksa day to day, that will put more pressure on the penalty-kill group, and look for Dickinson and Elie to take a bite of the penalty-kill time in Faksa's absence.
The Stars have had a tendency to put themselves in unenviable positions with penalties, like Antoine Roussel earning an instigator penalty off the opening faceoff Saturday that led to a St. Louis 5-on-3 when Lindell took a delay of game penalty shortly after. Ritchie also negated what would have been a Dallas power play by driving a Blues player in to the St. Louis net on the delayed penalty time. And so on.
In short, the best way to stay among the hardest teams to play against is to play just as hard -- but maybe a tad bit smarter.

Captain's time to shine?

Curious to see whether the dominant performance turned in by Benn against the Blues -- he scored the overtime winner and added an assist on the late tying goal by Radulov -- will replicated on a more or less nightly basis down the stretch.
Benn was so euphoric (or was that relief?) at scoring, he snapped his stick over his knee in a widely-seen celebration.
He joked afterward that it was due to a bad batch of sticks, but it has been a struggle for him finding the net. His goal Saturday was his first in 12 games, and he has just two in his last 16 outings.
It goes without saying that when Benn is playing the straight-line game -- at one point Saturday, he sat on St. Louis captain Alex Pietrangelo in the corner for a prolonged period of time after one significant collision -- he is a mighty handful. And the rest of the team takes its cues from that style of play from the Dallas captain.
Hitchcock said Saturday marked the fourth time in the last five games that Benn has been that kind of player. In terms of timing, the Stars couldn't ask for it to happen at a better time with the team nipping at Minnesota's heels for third place in the Central, and currently nestled in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
It also bodes well against an Ottawa team that ranks second-worst in the NHL in goals allowed per game.

Bring on the second

Funny how things shake down, but the Stars continue to be a team that sometimes can't get their wheels turning until the game is well underway.
They are plus-1 in terms of goal differential in the first period and 23rd overall in first-period goals, but a whopping plus-21 with 80 second-period goals -- fourth-best in the NHL.
The Senators are the opposite, a team that tends to sag in the middle of the game, having allowed 84 second-period goals for a minus-26 goal differential. That places 30th in the NHL.
In short, a perfect storm for a second period Dallas uprising.
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Scott Burnside is a senior digital correspondent for DallasStars.com. You can follow him on Twitter @OvertimeScottB, and listen to his podcast.