Shooting Stars: Weekly Preview (10/16/16-10/22/16)

The Dallas Stars will look to get back in the win column after blowing a 2-0 lead on Saturday night against the Colorado Avalanche.

The Stars will play on the road against the Nashville Predators, and then come home for two games. Dallas will take on the Los Angeles Kings and the Columbus Blue Jackets and will have the home ice advantage. The key for the Stars is goaltending, which has been less than spectacular in the first two games of the season. Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen will need to make the routine save and a couple of highlight reel saves for the Stars to have a chance at winning some games.

The Predators are a balanced team that can beat you with the offense or the defense. Nashville has one of the best defensive corps in the NHL, if not the best. The Preds will need to put some pressure on the defense of the Stars and force them to turn the puck over. If Nashville should get behind in the game then just keep pushing because Dallas will give up some goals, and they’ll have a chance to get back in the game. The most important key for the Preds is to get some shots towards Dallas’ net.

Dallas will have a tough time matching up since Nashville is a balanced team. The Stars will also need to keep the turnovers to a minimum and watch out for the defense because they can chip in on the offensive side of the puck. Dallas needs to stay out of the penalty box since the Preds already have four power play goals. The team will also need to get some bodies in front of the goalies to make life harder for them.

On Thursday night, the Stars return home to take on the Los Angeles Kings. It has been a struggle offensively for the Kings to start off the year. They aren’t getting enough shots to the net, and are giving up way to many chances to the opposing team. It hasn’t helped that they are missing top goaltender, Jonathan Quick, who is out due to an injury. If the Kings can manage to get the first goal then it could help their confidence and they can build on the goals from there.

Dallas needs to get the first goal to keep the home crowd in the game. They will need to keep the Kings second chances down to a minimum because even thought Los Angeles is struggling, a goal or two could help them break out of its offensive slump. If the Stars can manage to get a lead then keep attacking, but play smart with the puck and keep the turnovers down to a minimum. The goalies need to step up and find a way to stop some pucks from getting into the net.

The Stars end the week with a game on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets are off to another bad start and on all accounts. They can’t score goals and are allowing too many. They have only five players with more than one point and three others that have only one point. Columbus will need to keep Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in check or its going to be a long night. The one bright spot for the Blue Jackets so far this year has been the special teams.

Dallas will need to stay out of the penalty box since the power play is somewhat of a bright spot for CBJ through the first week of the season. The Stars will need to get in on the forecheck, force turnovers and create chances. This could be a trap game for the Stars so they want to make sure that they come out with energy from the drop of the puck, and play with it for the rest of the game.