The Dallas Stars are back at American Airlines Center after a three-game road trip.
It's been a while since the Dallas Stars have been on their home ice. The last time they played at American Airlines Center was January 27, a 5-4 overtime victory over the Washington Capitals right before the All-Star break. Defenseman Thomas Harley scored his second overtime goal in consecutive games for the win.
Dallas is coming off a three-game road trip where they went 2-1-0. On Saturday, they took down the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 to move their record to 32-14-6. They became the third team in the NHL to hit the 70-point mark this season and sit atop the Central Division.
Forward Tyler Seguin scored two goals, Thomas Harley added another. Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment each contributed two assists and goalie Jake Oettinger had 18 saves.
Carolina kicks off a three-game road swing having won five of their last six games. They're currently in second place in the Metropolitan Division with a 30-16-5 mark, good for 65 points.
The Canes' last action was also on Saturday, a defensive struggle that ended with a 1-0 overtime thriller over the New Jersey Devils. It was the first time since 2021 Carolina had taken a scoreless game into overtime.
Goalies Pyotr Kochetkov of the Canes and New Jersey's Vitek Vanecek stopped a combined 64 shots in regulation. Sebastian Aho notched his 11th career overtime winner, a franchise record.
The Stars and Hurricanes are meeting for the first of two games in an 11-day span. Dallas failed to come up with a victory in last season's series, going 0-0-2. They have, however,managed to earn a point in each of their last four meetings (2-0-2.
The two teams have each gone 4-1-0 in their last five games. Dallas boasts an 8-3-1 record this season against teams in the Metropolitan Division, while the Canes are 3-3-2 against Central Division clubs.
Things to Watch for:
Tyler Seguin has seven points (2-5-7) in his last six games. In his career against the Hurricanes, he has 18 points (11-7-18) in 29 games.
Forward Joe Pavelski has played particularly well against Carolina at home, tallying eight points (5-3-8) in his last eight home games against them.
In six games against the Canes during his career, goalie Jake Oettinger is 2-1-2 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
With 257 points in his NHL career, Carolina's Jaccob Slavin is just one point away from tying Justin Faulk for the most points in Canes/Whalers history.
Carolina has won five consecutive road games and has a road point streak of eight straight games.
Projected Lines:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
Benn-Johnston-Dellandrea
Steel-Faksa-Smith
Harley-Heiskanen
Suter-Lundkvist
Lindell-Hakanpaa
Oettinger
Wedgewood
These lines have not been officially confirmed. However, coach Pete DeBoer said forward Evgenii Dadonov will miss extended time due to a fracture he suffered in the win over Montreal. No word as yet on who the Stars will call up to replace him.
The Stars need to tighten up their play on special teams. They are 33-for-152 (21.7%) coming into tonight's game, while Carolina is 47-for-170 (27.7%). The Hurricanes have a slight edge on the penalty kill, 84.2% to 81.6%.
Puck drop is at 7 Pm CT, and the game can be viewed on Bally Sports Southwest.
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