First Shift: Stars open up heavy stretch of schedule against surging Hurricanes

The Stars are heading into one of their most difficult parts of the schedule.

Starting with Carolina at home on Tuesday, Dallas has a stretch of 10 games in which seven of the opponents are top 10 in the league. Among the upcoming opponents are the second place Bruins, the sixth place Rangers and ninth place Carolina, and then two bouts with Central Division rivals Colorado (road) and Winnipeg (home) to close the month.

It’s a pressure-packed time for a Stars team that ranks tied for third in points percentage.

“I think you always have one eye on the standings,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “It’s a lot easier looking at the standings coming off of wins. I think everyone is looking at the standings here recently in our group. You can’t underestimate the relevance of head-to-head games against Winnipeg and Colorado we’ve got coming up here. But at the same time, those two points aren’t any more important than they are against Carolina or Nashville this week. We’ve got some important points on the board over the next two or three weeks.”

The Stars know that and are pushing to get their game in top-notch order. They roared into the All-Star Break on a 4-0-1 run, and then stumbled a little coming out of the hiatus. They were outplayed by Buffalo, but got a win on Jake Oettinger’s 47 saves. They then lost a close 5-4 game in Toronto, but Dallas battled back with a 3-2 win in Montréal on Saturday, fixing both shot differential (38-20 for the Stars) and a leaky penalty kill (going 4-for-4 against the Canadiens power play).

That’s important heading into this stretch.

“The first 10 minutes against Montréal\], we had to get used to that pace,” said forward [Matt Duchene, who had two assists in the game. “Jake held us in early and we took over from there. It was a good game, we could have had a few more.”

The Duchene line with Tyler Seguin and Mason Marchment has been clicking all year and has stayed together despite the fact DeBoer has been experimenting a little with other lines. After putting Wyatt Johnston on the top line right wing and moving Joe Pavelski to a line with Jamie Benn and Sam Steel, DeBoer last game went back to the old lines. That could be a comfort as the Stars play a very aggressive Carolina team. The Hurricanes have the top shot differential in the league at plus-7.8 and also lead the league in missed shots at 856.

“You have to be ready,” DeBoer said. “I think we saw a piece of that with Montréal – a lot of skill, a lot of speed, a lot of pressed-up forecheck in the neutral zone. I think we took some stuff out of the Montréal game that can help us. But Carolina does it at an elite level. They’re on top of you everywhere on the ice. We have to make sure we’re prepared for that.”

And after that, they have games against six of the top 12 scoring teams in the league to test their defensive prowess and goaltending.

“We know who we’re playing, we know where they are in the standings,” said defenseman Thomas Harley. “But it’s the old hockey cliché of it’s one at a time and we’re not overlooking Carolina. We’re going to have our hands full.”

Key Numbers

54.6 percent
Dallas ranks second in the NHL in faceoff winning percentage at 54.6 percent. Carolina ranks eighth at 52.9 percent.

.929
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger is 2-1-2 in his career against Carolina with a 2.15 GAA and .929 save percentage.

33
Stars forward Jamie Benn has 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists) in 30 career games against Carolina.

He Said It

“I think he needed a kick-start. I think at the time we talked about him getting some more offensive zone puck touches and when you go with [Roope Hintz] and [Jason Robertson], you’re going to get those. I think he got those. But he’s so valuable in the middle of the ice for us, and when you talk about teams in the playoffs, I think the center position is that important. Hopefully, he goes back into the middle with some of that confidence and makes the people around him better.”

- Stars coach Pete DeBoer on moving Johnston up to the right wing on top line for a scoring boost and then moving him back to a line with Benn so he can play center again.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.