The Dallas Stars continue their Eastern Conference road trip with a visit to Long Island to take on the New York Islanders.
The Dallas Stars (27-13-5) continue their Eastern Conference road trip with a visit to Long Island to take on the New York Islanders (19-15-11).
The Stars are coming off a blow-out win against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, which saw them put six goals past Nico Daws. The newly formed top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Wyatt Johnston combined for six points in the winning effort, including this brilliant solo rush from Johnston.
This is the first meeting between these two teams. The Stars won both matchups last year. The Islanders are in a tough stretch; they have lost four games in a row and have had just two wins in their previous ten games.
It was announced yesterday that the Islanders were firing their head coach, Lane Lambert, and hiring Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy.
Lambert was the head coach of the Islanders for just a season and a half. Roy was the coach of the Quebec Ramparts in QMJHL, where they went on to win the QMJHL championship and the Memorial Cup last season. Roy was the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche for three seasons.
An interesting element of the game to watch out for tonight will be if the Star's power-play can connect against the Islander's 29th-ranked penalty kill. The Stars also have the second-highest shooting percentage in the NHL at 12.2%, and the Islanders are ranked 31st in the NHL in shots against per game, giving up 35 shots.
The Stars must be prepared for a motivated Islanders team after the coaching change. The Islanders are a veteran-built team that will try to use this as a turning point in their season and attempt to make a run to the playoffs.
Projected lines:
Robertson-Hintz-Johnston
Dadonov-Duchene-Seguin
Benn-Steel-Pavelski
Dellandrea-Faksa-Smith
Lindell-Hakanpaa
Harley-HanleySuter-Lundkvist
Oettinger
Wedgewood
It's yet to be determined if Mason Marchment will return to the lineup after missing yesterday's game with an illness.
Puck drop is at 6:30 p.m. CST and can be seen on Bally Sports Southwest.
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