SHOOTING STARS: WEEKLY PREVIEW (10/23/16-10/29/16)
The biggest story for the Dallas Stars early in the season has been all the injuries that the players have suffered. This week they’ll face off against the Winnipeg Jets and the Minnesota Wild.
On Tuesday night, the Stars will take on the Jets at home. Winnipeg is allowing too many goals and not scoring enough, which is part of the reason that they have struggled in the early part of the season. The Jets will need to capitalize on their power play opportunities since the Stars have already allowed five power play goals against. Winnipeg should try to get after the defense of Dallas, and force turnovers. The Jets also need to get pucks to the net since the goaltending duo of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi haven’t been exactly stellar and will allow some goals.
Dallas needs to stop Mark Scheifele since he is the best player on the Jets. The Stars should get some power play chances that the team will need to cash in on since Winnipeg has struggled on special teams. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn will need to carry the team since they’ve suffered a lot of injuries to forwards. A key for Dallas is to get through the game without any more injuries to the top forwards on the team. The Stars also need their goalies to stop some pucks before they get into the back of the net.
These two same teams will face off again on Thursday night, but this time in Winnipeg. The Jets should try to get the first goal of the game to keep the Winnipeg crowd in it. Scheifele and the Jets top line will need to produce if they want to beat the Stars. Winnipeg will need to keep the duo of Seguin and Benn off the board or at least keep their point production low. Dallas still has a decent power play so it’ll be in Winnipeg’s best interest to stay out of the penalty box.
If Dallas can grab the lead then the team will want to be smart with the puck because the Jets have shown that they have the ability to come back in a game where they are down. The Stars will need to tighten up defensively and avoid turnovers, especially by the blue line. Lehtonen or Niemi, whoever is in goal, needs to make the routine saves to keep his team in the game, and maybe even get some highlight reels saves at crucial times during the game.
On Saturday night, the Stars will take on the Wild in Minnesota. The Wild should try and contain the duo of Benn-Seguin because if they do that then they have a decent shot at pulling off the win. Minnesota needs to get shots to the net and take advantage of the turnovers and scoring chances throughout the game. The Wild need to use their speed and play a physical game to try and wear the Stars down. If the Wild should have any chances with the man advantage then they need to capitalize since the Stars have struggled early on the penalty kill.
The Stars need to come out strong and score goals since the Wild have had trouble scoring goals in the first period. Dallas will need to keep pushing if the team can manage to get a lead since Minnesota has come back to win a few games when down. The Stars need to get the puck to the net because they’ll have a better chance to score some goals, all while remaining patient since the Wild like to block shots. They will need to win the battles and create chances since the Wild won’t just let the Stars walk all over them.
