Coming off the back of a 2-1 win against the Seattle Kraken at home the Dallas Stars are hitting the road. Dallas will look to extend it’s 2 game win streak in Canada against the Ottawa Senators. The Sens, who are 8-5-3, are currently third in the Atlantic division and 6th in the Eastern Conference. This will be no easy task for the Stars as Ottawa looks to extend its own win streak to three.
Reported Lines:
Robert Tiffin, from starsthoughts.com, reported that practice lines will mostly stay the same.
Tiffin stated that our good friend Jamie Benn was skating at morning skate in Ottawa. This is great news as Benn continues his recovery from a collapsed lung that he suffered in the preseason. Benn filled in for Rantanen today in practice. The lines were as follows:
Steel-Johnston-Benn(Rantanen) – 1st line
Robertson-Hintz-Seguin -2nd line
Bäck-Hryckowian-Bourque – 3rd line
Erne-Faksa-Blackwell – 4th line
Tiffin also reported that Heiskanen, Rantanen, Harley, and Lindell took the option to not practice, but all will play. Same lineup.
Finally, we have learned that Jake Oettinger will start. Otter replaces backup Casey DeSmith who boasted a 97% save percentage last game against Seattle.
The Opponent: Ottawa Senators
The Senators are unlike the Stars in almost every way. With Brady Tkachuk injured for 6-8 more weeks they have no superstars. On the other hand Dallas has Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Miro Heiskanen. However, despite this talent disadvantage several Senators have stepped up.
Shane Pinto has been an absolute beast for Ottawa to start the year. Pinto, a third line center making 3 mil AAV, has made things happened for Ottawa. Pinto has scored 8 times and assisted 6 more times. He’s second on the team in points (14), only trailing behind Ottawa 3rd overall pick Tim Stutzle(16). Stutzle, a 23 year old 1st line center, is the key to Ottawas attack. Dallas must neutralize both Stutzle and Pinto to ensure a win.
Alex Adams, Ottawa Senators writer for @Sportsnet, has reported that Sens starting goalie Linus Ullmark will start against Dallas. Ullmark, one of the best goalies in the league, will prove a tough nut to crack. However, if Dallas can get on the right end of the powerplay they can do anything they’d like against this Sens defense.
Keys to the game
1 – Exploit the powerplay. Plain and simple, Dallas must exploit the powerplay. The Stars have the 3rd best PP in the entire league, converting just under 33% of the time. If Ottawa gives Wyatt Johnston multiple chances on the powerplay he will bury them. Dallas’ ability to convert on the power play will tilt momentum in their favor.
2 – Shore up the defense. Dallas is way to good at starting off with a deficit to overcome. The Stars have shown to be leaky on defense at times. Oettinger cannot always save them. Ottawa will try to capitalize on transition and second-chance opportunities. Dallas must limit second-chance opportunities and ensure zone pressure to suppress Senator transition opportunities.
3 – Utilize elite blueline puck movement. Dallas simply has better defensemen than Ottawa. Dallas will look to Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley, and Ilya Lyubushkin to exert offensive pressure on Ottawas zone. Heiskanen in particular needs to utilize his puck movement to test Ottawa defenders.
If Dallas does all of these things it’s safe to say that they will come away with the win in Ottawa.
If Dallas wins they will tie with Anaheim for 2nd in the Western Conference at 23 points (assuming that Anaheim loses).
Prediction:
I believe that Dallas will control this game and dominate. However, the Stars are going to “Star”. I expect an early Ottawa lead that Dallas will have to overcome. However, Dallas will overcome and win 4-2.
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