First Shift 🏒
Thursday is a “trap” game for the Stars.
But it does come with a couple of warning alarms.
Dallas is coming off a five-game road trip in which it went 4-1-0, is playing a non-rival in the Montréal Canadiens, and is home for just one game before heading to Colorado for a massive Saturday tilt against a divisional rival. This one has “scheduled loss” written all over it.
But the great thing for the Stars is they just played in Montréal last week, they are familiar with this opponent, and they know just how much focus will be needed. Plus, forward Roope Hintz left last game with an upper body injury, and if he can’t play on Thursday, then several players will get the opportunity to step up and play bigger roles.
“It’s just next man up mentality,” said Stankoven, who had two goals and an assist in a 4-1 win in Toronto on Tuesday. “Everyone kind of buys into the system and the structure, and when you play with details, that’s the biggest thing.”
Dallas already is missing Seguin (hip surgery) and Marchment (facial fracture), so losing Hintz would be significant. The trio are among the team’s best offensive players, and Dallas has had trouble scoring goals at different points this season. That said, they are on an 8-1-1 run since Christmas in which they have outscored opponents, 34-20.
A big part of that run is the fact that the scoring has picked up. Heading into Dec. 29, Dallas was averaging 3.17 goals per game. Since then, they are at 3.56. The power play was connecting on 15.4 percent of its chances. During the run, it is at 25.9 percent.
That resurgence has been led by Jason Robertson, who has 13 points (4 goals, 7 assists) in 10 games. Duchene has 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists), while Wyatt Johnston has 9 (3 goals, 6 assists). Benn and Dadonov each have 8 points, while Thomas Harley has 7.
Meanwhile, the goals against average has improved to third best in the league at 2.44, and the penalty kill leads the NHL at 85.2 percent.
All of that puts Dallas in a good place if it has to play without Hintz for any amount of time. Stars coach Pete DeBoer said the team has to get some power plays goals, get some depth goals and defend well. That should be doable, because the Stars have been doing it in recent weeks.
Duchene was talking about Stankoven when he said a Hintz injury could open the door for more chances, but he could have been talking about a bunch of different forwards.
“If Roope’s out for a bit, he’s going to have an elevated role, and we want him feeling good,” Duchene said. “It doesn’t matter how you get them, you feel better when you make plays, you’re looser, there’s a lot of good stuff with that.”
As tiring as the five-game road trip was, things don’t get any easier. Dallas hosts Montréal on Thursday and then goes to Colorado for a day game on Saturday. They are back at AAC to face the red-hot Red Wings on Sunday and follow that with home games against Cup contenders Carolina and Vegas after that. But if they handle this well now, it could set them up for success when the injured players start coming back.
“We’re built to have four lines and just roll,” said Duchene. “I think right now, we’re not that way because we have injuries. But that gives these young guys an opportunity. And I think them playing together because we switched the lines up, they’re coming, you can see it. And we need it.”