Coming off the back of a 3-2 OT win against the Ottawa Senators on the road the Dallas Stars are staying in Canada. Dallas will look to extend it’s 3 game win streak against the Montreal Canadians. The Canadians (what a unique name), who are 10-4-2, are currently third in the Eastern Conference. This will be no easy task for the Stars as Montreal looks to bounce back from losing three of their last four.
Reported Lines:
Robert Tiffin, from starsthoughts.com, reported that practice lines will mostly stay the same with one major change. Adam Erne is out tonight with a lower body injury. Erne was replacing the injured Jamie Benn on Dallas’ wings, but now he has to sit out. He will be out a couple of weeks, and is currently returning to Dallas to get better treatment.
Nathan Bastian will be replacing Erne on the wing of Dallas’ 4th line.
Offense:
Steel-Johnston-Rantanen – 1st line
Robertson-Hintz-Seguin – 2nd line
Bäck-Hryckowian-Bourque – 3rd line
Blackwell-Faksa-Bastian – 4th line
Defense:
Lindell-Heiskanen – 1st line
Harley-Lyubushkin – 2nd line
Bichsel-Petrovic – 3rd line
Goalie:
Casey DeSmith – Starting
Injuries:
Jamie Benn – Collapsed Lung. Benn looks to be doing alot better recently, even skating and traveling with the team. Look for Benn to be back within the next week.
Adam Erne – As discussed earlier Adam Erne is out for the next couple of weeks. He will look to rehab his lower-body in Dallas. He is no longer traveling with the team.
Thomas Harley – All signs point towards Thomas Harley starting today. However, he has been dealing with a nagging “something” according to Stars coach Glen Gulutzan (whatever that means). Kyle Capobianco, who traveled with the team, could play some minutes tonight depending on how Harley is feeling.
Keys to the game
1 – Don’t give up an early lead. PLEASE don’t give up an early lead. Dallas NEEDS to start fast and control the game from the jump. In order to start fast Dallas must take away Montreal’s speed through the neutral zone and utlize their structure to net the opening goal.
2 – Shut down Suzuki and Caufield. Montreal is currently being carried by two players, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Suzuki leads the team in points with 20, and Caufield leads the team in goals with 12. The Suzuki-Caufield duo thrives off of eachother. Suzuki is responsible for 16 assists, many of which go to Caufield. If Dallas shuts down this duo they will win the game.
3 – Special teams. Montreal’s power play has been inconsistent, and their penalty kill can be leaky. This is Dallas’ main advantage. The Stars boast the 2nd best powerplay in the league. For Dallas to win they must take advantage of Montreal’s leaky penalty kill. Montreal has an 80% kill rate, and Dallas needs to lower it to ensure a win tonight.
4- Penalties. Dallas cannot afford to commit unnecessary penalties. The Stars have a 74% kill percentage, good for 22nd in the league (yikes). For Dallas to win tonight, they cannot give Caufield and Suzuki the man advantage. The Canadians have the 5th best powerplay, and Dallas needs to ensure that their penalty kill unit is off the ice as much as possible.
Prediction:
I can’t say that I feel good about this game. I believe that Dallas will (once again) get off to a slow start. I expect an early Montreal lead that Dallas will have to overcome. However, I don’t know if Dallas will be able to overcome an early deficit against this Canadians team. Dallas will try its hardest to comeback, but fall in a close game. Prediction – Montreal 3, Dallas 2
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