'There's a comfort in the uncomfortable': Stars have been here before

Stars (24-18-2, 50 points) vs. Jets (19-17-7, 45 points)

The Winnipeg Jets had a tangible desperation in their return from the All-Star break Tuesday.
They took a 2-0 win over the Minnesota Wild in a physical game that looked a lot different than the eight games before, where they went 1-6-1. That slump put the Jets in a tough place, and the Stars understand a little something about that place.
"They're kind of in the same situation as us," Stars defenseman Ryan Suter said. "Both trying to find a way into the playoffs. We expect them to come hard, and we have to be ready for that."
The Jets are 19-17-7 for 45 points. The Stars are 24-18-2 for 50, meaning Winnipeg could see this as a must-win against a team it's chasing. That's interesting for a Stars team that's been the hunter in recent contests. Still, Dallas knows that to get into the top three in the Central or grab one of the two wildcard spots, every point is crucial.

"We have teams we're looking to catch, and I think they're looking at us as a team to catch," forward Tyler Seguin said. "Another big divisional game. We saw some glimpses of their game against Minnesota, who's a top team, and they really took it to them and had a lot of compete. They're a team that's feeling good and so are we, so it should be a good match."
Dallas is in the middle of eight straight against the Central Division and is coming off a big 4-3 win over Nashville. That's important, because the team needs to build positive forward momentum and stop some of the streaky tendencies it displayed in the first half of the season.

What to watch

Jake Oettinger will get the start in net. It'll be his fourth straight start, and he's 2-1 in the previous three. Braden Holtby has been dealing with some nagging injuries, and he didn't skate in the morning, but will back up on Friday.
Still, coach Rick Bowness says he likes where Oettinger is. The 23-year-old is 12-5-0 on the year with a 2.56 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.
"We're not trying to protect him anymore," Bowness said. "We protected him for a while there and picked our spots where we'd play him, and that's gone by the wayside now. We need to keep letting him play these important games."
Bowness said different goalies develop at different times, and references former Stars goalie Jack Campbell, as well as Andrei Vasilevskiy, who Bowness coached in Tampa.
"Some guys take longer than others and you never know when they're going to take off and be the dominant goaltender," he said. "It all depends on the individual."

Lineup update

Radek Faksa is listed as very doubtful tonight.
Here is a possible lineup:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Benn-Seguin-Gurianov
Raffl-Kero-Glendening
Kiviranta-Peterson-Radulov
Suter-Heiskanen
Lindell-Klingberg
Hanley-Hakanpaa
Oettinger
Holtby

Numbers

51

Jets forward Paul Stastny has 51 points (22 goals, 29 assists) in 51 career games against the Stars. That's the second most he has scored against any opponent in his career.

47

Seguin has 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists) in 41 career games against the Jets.

57

Dallas allows the fifth most second-period goals at 57. Winnipeg allows the third fewest second-period goals at 38.

He said it

"There's a comfort in the uncomfortable we've been through if that makes sense. We've been a Cinderella team in different ways over the years and we've done this before. We also have guys in here who have been on the wrong side. The window, if you look at the first half, is really two wins, three wins, it's that small. That's definitely talked about right now." -- Seguin on if previous races for a playoff spot will help this team in the second half of the season
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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.