Game Day Guide: Stars at Predators

When: Thursday, October 10 at 7:00 PM CT

Where: Bridgestone Arena

TV: ESPN+

Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

Live Stats: NHL Game Center

Watch Party: AT&T Discovery District

Five Points 5️⃣

• The Dallas Stars face the Nashville Predators Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena for the first time this season. Entering Thursday's match, the Stars went 5-0-1 during preseason. The Predators went 2-3-0 during the preseason.
• The Stars have won four consecutive games at Bridgestone Arena and have points in 13 of their previous 15 (8-2-5) dating to Dec. 27, 2018.
• Dallas is 57-39-12 all-time vs. Nashville, including a 23-24-8 mark on the road.
• Forward Matt Duchene has 14 goals and 36 points (14-22—36) in 38 games against his former club. Duchene played four seasons in Nashville, tallying 197 points (84-113—197) in 249 regular-season games. He set career highs in goals (43), points (43-43—86) and power-play goals (16) during the 2021-22 campaign, recording the third-most points in a season in Predators history.
• Goaltender Jake Oettinger has appeared in nine games against Nashville, posting a 5-2-2 record with a 2.17 goals-against average and .921 save percentage.

Players To Watch 👀

Forward Logan Stankoven tallied seven points (4-3—7) in five preseason appearances. Last season, Stankoven tallied points (3-5—8) in 10 of 19 regular season games and recorded goals in three straight games from Feb. 26 - Feb. 29. He also earned a four-point night (2-2—4) March 5 at San Jose, marking a career-high.

First Shift 🏒

As far as season openers go, the Stars have a doozy on Thursday.

Not only are they playing a fierce Central Division rival in Nashville, but the Predators might have been the most talked about team in the NHL during the offseason. They added Steven Stamkos, Johathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei via free agency. That’s big for a squad that made the playoffs with 99 points last season.

“Any time you’re in the division, particularly with what Nashville added, they’re going to have some excitement with their new players and their first game, and they’re going to try to make a statement,” said Stars Head Coach Pete DeBoer after practice in Nashville on Wednesday. “We’re going on the road in a tough building. It’s on us to be prepared for their pressure and make sure we execute.”

Dallas took advantage of the schedule to fly in early to Nashville and go on a team golf outing Tuesday. The event was arranged by former Predator and current Star Matt Duchene and offered a perfect team bonding moment.

“I think it’s important,” said DeBoer. “It’s critically important to the new guys, and we’ve got some new guys here. It was a fabulous day. Matt Duchene did a great job hosting.”

Dallas added its own free agents in the offseason, including Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith, Colin Blackwell and Casey DeSmith. The Stars also have rookies Stankoven, Mavrik Bourque and Oskar Bäck on the roster. Bourque is battling injury and is not expected to play in the season opener, so Bäck will make his NHL debut in Nashville.

Bottom line: the Stars are a different group than the one that finished second in the NHL with 113 points and made it to the Western Conference Final last season.

That was a big reason why Duchene wanted to hold the outing.

“I think we can do a better job off the ice,” said Duchene, who joined the Stars in the summer of 2023. “Everyone is an unreal guy and gets along really well. I think we just need to do more together throughout the year. I think we’ve done more already this year than last year. I think it’s an area we want to get better at off the ice this year. You just get a tighter bond and that’s always going to help you.”

Duchene, who spent four seasons in Nashville and was bought out before last season, said he’s looking forward to the challenge of facing the Predators at Bridgestone Arena after two games there last year.

“It’s obviously an amazing building to play in and they’re going to be a really strong team this year,” Duchene said. “Our division is always crazy tough, there’s never a night off when you’re playing our division, so this is a great way to catch a moving train. I’m looking forward to it.”

DeBoer said the Stars have done a good job starting fast the past two seasons, and he’d like to do that again. Dallas was 8-3-1 to start DeBoer’s first season and 11-3-1 to start last season. They won the season opener both years.

While Bourque is out, the rest of the lineup is in good shape. DeBoer juggled the lines in Wednesday’s practice, plotting Stankoven on the top line with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz, while having Wyatt Johnston center Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadonov. The new look D-pairs stayed the same, with Miro Heiskanen playing the left side next to Dumba, Esa Lindell next to Nils Lundkvist and Thomas Harley to the left of Lyubushkin. Jake Oettinger is expected to get the start in net.

“You’re as ready as you can be for Game 1,” DeBoer said.

Nashville could be without starting goalie Juuse Saros, who is battling injury, meaning former Stars backup Scott Wedgewood could get the start for the Predators. That would be another fun twist in an already entertaining showdown. Predators captain Ryan O’Reilly said he thinks the vibe will be outstanding.

“I love that for our group,” O’Reilly said. “Dallas obviously is one of the better teams in the league the last few years, and it's going to be a great test for us. But I think that's what we need. Obviously, preseason is preseason, you try to get going, but as you jump into the start of this, it's full bore. It's going to be a great experience.”

Key Numbers 🔢

231

Jason Robertson led the Stars with 231 shots on goal last season and had 29 goals among 80 points. Robertson took 313 shots on goal the year before and led the Stars with 46 goals among 109 points.

.921

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger is 5-2-2 in his career against Nashville with a 2.17 GAA and .921 save percentage. In his career against the Central Division, Oettinger is 35-9-4 with a 2.25 GAA and .922 save percentage.

26-10-5

Dallas had the best road record in the NHL at 26-10-5 last season, which was also a franchise record.

He Said It 📢

“I couldn’t care less. I don’t read anything. We know what we’ve got in there. We could have won the Cup last year, we know that. We had that good of a team and we came up short. I think we’re in a better place to start this year than we were to start last year. We want to keep building our game. It’s all about what you do on the ice, the game is never won or lost on paper.”

-Stars forward Matt Duchene on many experts and analysts picking Dallas to win the Stanley Cup this season

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.