Dallas and Minnesota square off in a Central Division rivalry.
The Christmas break has ended and the Dallas Stars begin the long march through the second half of the season at home against the Minnesota Wild.
The Stars went into Christmas on a high note, beating the Utah Hockey Club on a one-game road trip after going a disappointing 3-3 at home during a six-game home-stand. That included losing two inexcusable games to Nashville, who are at the bottom of the league standings, and the plummeting New York Rangers.
Before the game against Utah, the Stars were suddenly sitting outside of a playoff spot for the first time all season. Being one game out of a playoff spot may not be a cause for concern in December, but this team is looked at as a contender and has not even been close to that reality leading up to the recent middling stretch, so it really should put the team on high alert moving forward. Being average is not good enough in this division, especially with the list of other competitive teams currently ahead of them.
One of those teams is Minnesota, who started off hot and have kept it up pretty steadily, and currently sit second in the division behind the league best Winnipeg Jets. The Wild are coming off a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, but before that had lost four games in a row, including a 5-0 shutout at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets.
The two teams met in November in a 2-1 win for the Stars. In that game, Mason Marchment scored both goals for the Stars - one at the end of the first period and the other halfway through the third period to give the Stars an insurance goal down the stretch. Shortly after, Kirill Kaprizov brought the Wild within one but the Stars held on for the victory. Brendan Smith and Matt Dumba both fought in the game, but neither are playing in Friday's game.
What to watch for:
- Roope Hintz is currently on a five-game point streak against the Wild on home ice, which includes six goals and four assists. Hintz also has four goals in his last five games, including a two goal outbreak against the Washington Capitals.
- The struggling power-play looks to start converting on their man-advantage opportunities. In the last five games, the Stars have gone an embarrassing 2-for-20, including 17 minutes on the man-advantage against the Rangers that elicited no goals and a short-handed goal against. Dallas recorded 21 shots on goal, but a lot were easy saves with no rebound opportunity. It is getting well past the point of chalking it up to early season struggles, and becoming quite inexcusable.
- At morning skate, Minnesota announced that Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek are both out for Friday's game and did not even make the trip to Dallas. The Wild recalled Devin Shore and Brendan Gaunce from AHL Iowa to fill out their roster. Missing both players is a huge hit for the Wild, but it is especially painful to lose Kaprizov, who is tied for fourth in points in the NHL with 50 points in 34 games.
Ahead of morning skate, Lian Bichsel was called back up to slot in for Matt Dumba, who still remains on the injured reserve. Dumba has been skating with a bubble helmet on but there has not been a timeline released regarding his return.
Projected Lineup:
Robertson-Hintz-Borque
Marchment-Duchene-Dadonov
Benn-Johnston-Stankoven
Steel-Back-Blackwell
Harley-Heiskanen
Lindell-Lyubushkin
Bischel-Lundkvist
Oettinger
DeSmith
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CDT and can be seen on Victory+ and ESPN+
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