The hot-streaking Dallas Stars aim to extend their road point streak against a struggling, injury-hit Jets team.
The Dallas Stars will look to continue their franchise record 12-game road point streak Tuesday when travelling to Winnipeg to take on a Jets team that is normally a tough test but has been slumping as of late and appears to be a more favorable matchup than in the past.
Winnipeg is without star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and has seen their offense severely struggle this season with the departure of top six winger Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency this past summer. Dallas opened their season with a clash against Winnipeg that resulted in a 5-4 win for the Stars on the road as they look to replicate that success.
Since then the Jets have gotten back more key players like captain Adam Lowry, Cole Perfetti and top four defenseman Dylan Samberg, which should make it a closer matchup than expected for the Stars and one fans won't want to miss. Tuesday’s matchup will be the 62nd all-time meeting between the teams, with Dallas historically holding a 34-22-5 advantage.
Lineup Storylines
The Stars will look to continue using what has been working for them, as the team is currently on a record-breaking pace with its performance on the road. They will try to keep riding the hot hands of Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen. Robertson has 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points in his last 19 games and is emerging as one of the league’s hottest players. The second line features another dangerous scoring threat in Rantanen, who enters Tuesday on a six-game point streak with 11 points during that stretch.
Dallas is set to welcome defenseman Nils Lundkvist back to the lineup after he missed time with a lower-body injury, appearing in just four games this season while recording three points. The Stars could also see the return of top defender Thomas Harley during their two-game road trip. He is traveling with the team and may play Tuesday in Winnipeg or Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. The Dallas backend has been terrific recently, led by the league’s second star of the week, Jake Oettinger, who has become one of the NHL’s hottest goaltenders. The Stars netminder is 8-1-0 with a 1.87 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage over his last nine starts. He has been one of the league’s best goaltenders during that stretch.
This will create a very tough challenge for a Jets team that is desperately searching for a spark on offense. Head coach Scott Arniel is making a bold and potentially divisive decision by splitting up the team’s top line of stars Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Gabe Vilardi. The trio has produced 20 of the team’s 39 goals during its 16-game skid, and the hope is that separating them will create more balanced scoring across the top two lines.
Veteran winger Alex Iafallo will join the top unit after recording four points in his last 16 games. Gabe Vilardi moves to the second line, where he will skate with captain Adam Lowry and Nino Niederreiter. High-profile free-agent signing Jonathan Toews drops to the fourth line with Morgan Barron and Cole Koepke, as Toews has just one goal and one assist during the Jets’ 16-game slump. Removing him from key faceoffs may raise eyebrows because he leads the team with a 62.8 percent success rate, one of the best marks in the league.
Other Jets players, such as Cole Perfetti and Vladislav Namestnikov, are also sliding down the lineup due to recent scoring droughts. Namestnikov is scoreless in his last 16 games, and Perfetti has managed only two goals in 14 games since returning from injury. These struggles may continue given how strong the Stars have been defensively, and it could mean another long night for the Jets. A win would also serve as an important divisional boost for Dallas if the Stars can take advantage.
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Player & Betting Trends (Presented By BetMGM)
DAL ML (-139) | WPG ML (+115)
DAL -1.5 (+170) | WPG +1.5 (-208)
O/U 6.0 Goals
The Jets have quietly had the edge in this matchup during recent regular-season meetings, coming out on top in four of the last six games. Dallas did break that run with a win earlier this year, and the Stars have delivered solid results in Winnipeg by winning three of their last five visits.
These teams generally play tight, defense-oriented games, and the 5–4 matchup earlier this season ended a stretch of eight straight contests that finished with five total goals or fewer. For Dallas, Jason Robertson picked up two points in the season opener against the Jets, although he had recorded points in only one of the five meetings before that.
Mikko Rantanen is another key player to watch. He has collected 24 points in his last 24 games against Winnipeg and comes into this matchup on a six-game point streak. He should also gain from Matt Duchene’s return, as Duchene is set to play his second game after recovering from a concussion.
Winnipeg will look to Kyle Connor to continue his strong play in this matchup. He has produced four goals and four assists in his last five games against the Stars and enters Tuesday on a five-game point streak.
Goalie Matchup
Dallas: Jake Oettinger (Season: 14-4-2 record, 2.49 GAA, .909 SV% | VS WPG: 7-4-1 record, 2.69 GAA, .900 SV% in 12 games)
Winnipeg: Eric Comrie Expected (Season: 6-6-1 record, 3.08 GAA, .898 SV% | VS DAL: 1-1-0 record, 6.24 GAA, .829 SV% in two games)
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