Shooting Stars: On the Road Again
The Dallas Stars look to get some important points while on a three game East Coast road trip this week. On Tuesday night, they’ll take on the Florida Panthers. The team will stay in the state of Florida and take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. The Stars end the week with a game against the Hurricanes.
1) Tuesday, Feb. 12 @ Panthers- 7 p.m. ET
The Stars need to get the depth scorers going especially since the season is heading down the stretch. The Florida Panthers have the depth scoring and can spread the wealth around the lineup. The Stars have the advantage with even strength play while the Panthers have the special teams advantage especially while on the power play.
The Stars Win If…
They play with discipline and stay out of the penalty box. The Panthers have the second best power play in the NHL and operate at a 26.5% clip. The Stars need to be able to skate with the Panthers and not take the lazy penalties or a lot of stick infractions. The Panthers have scored 50 first period goals on the season and the Stars only have 25 so it would benefit the Stars to make sure that they get off to a good start.
Matchup of the Game
One thing to watch in this game is the play of the Panthers power play against the Stars penalty kill. The Panthers’ power play is dangerous and is the second-best behind the Lightning. The Panthers top unit has combined for 104 points so the Stars want to make sure that they clear the puck when they get the chance. The Stars penalty kill is the sixth best in the NHL at 83.2%. They have been a much better team defensively this season and are getting some decent goaltending, which has made a difference especially when down a man.
Game Prediction
The Stars will avenge a loss from earlier this season against the Panthers and pull out a 3-1 win. The Stars goal scorers will be Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov and Jamie Benn. The Panthers lone goal will be scored by Mike Hoffman. The Stars take the important two points from this game and keep pace in the Western Conference.
2) Thursday, Feb. 14 @ Lightning- 7:30 p.m. ET
The Stars will have a tough time matching up against a balanced Tampa Bay Lightning team. These two teams have yet to play each other this season. Goaltender Ben Bishop is still injured for the Stars but the team is hoping that he can be ready for this game and if so, it would be a huge boost for the team.
The Stars Win If…
They can manage to play a solid team defensive game and they have been doing a lot of that this season. The Stars need to establish a forecheck early and often so the Lightning are the team defending and not attacking. The Stars should limit their mistakes because the Bolts are one of the better teams at cashing in on the opposition’s mistakes.
Matchup of the Game
The two players to pay attention to in this game are Tyler Seguin and Nikita Kucherov. These two each lead their teams in points on the season. Seguin has 51 points and Kucherov has 84 points. Seguin has been one of the more consistent players for the Stars this season, while Kucherov started off the season slow. The teams are going to need to be aware of where each of these players are while they are on the ice because both of them can set up or score goals.
Game Prediction
The Stars get off to a slow start in this game and never recover. They’ll lose 4-2 in regulation to the Bolts. The Stars goals are scored by Alexander Radulov and John Klingberg. The Bolts goal scorers will be Brayden Point (x2), Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson.
3) Saturday, Feb. 16 @ Hurricanes- 8 p.m. ET
This will be the first time that the two teams are getting together this season. The Carolina Hurricanes have more depth scoring but both teams can get some points from the guys on the blue line. The Stars have the all around advantage in this game but that means nothing on paper. The team needs to go out play a good solid road game.
The Stars Win If…
They can play a solid defensive road game for about 50 minutes of this game. They need to avoid turnovers and mistakes because the Hurricanes have guys that can put the puck in the back of the net. The Hurricanes also have some speed in their lineup so the Stars need to be prepared to skate in this game.
Matchup of the Game
These two teams have defensemen that have no problem jumping into the play on the offensive side of the puck. They also have players on the blueline who can skate and move the puck. The Hurricanes six defensemen have combined for 105 points on the season. The Stars top six defensemen have combined for 101 points. This should be a good defensive game, but the defensemen won’t be afraid to jump in the play on the offensive side of the puck either.
Game Prediction
The Hurricanes will win the game by a score of 3-2 after getting off to a fast start and building from there. The Stars goals come from Jamie Benn and Andrew Cogliano. The Hurricanes will get their goals from Sebastian Aho, Dougie Hamilton and Justin Williams. The Hurricanes fans should get ready for another Storm Surge celebration after this win. The Stars finish out the week with a disappointing 1-2-0 record.
