As of late, all the Dallas Stars do is win no matter what, currently riding a seven-game winning streak and 13-point streak. Those streaks will be tested once more as the Stars hit the road to take on the Chicago Blackhawks.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Stars, who beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in Dallas last night. Meanwhile the Blackhawks haven’t played since Saturday when they lost to the Stars 2-1 in the shootout, which prompted this Twitter thread from Blackhawks goaltender Robin Lehner:
All the experts in the media on what my new shootout strategy should be:) I’m all ears. The shootout is not hockey so I gotta learn this sport somehow and hopefully one of the experts can help me as all my goalie coaches haven’t been able to yet. Sabres fans would love to hear
— Robin Lehner (@RobinLehner) November 24, 2019
Not only is Chicago hoping to snap the Stars’ winning streak, but also their own three-game losing streak. They currently sit four points behind the San Jose Sharks for the second Wild Card spot, but they also have two games in hand. A win would keep the Blackhawks squarely in the playoff race, while another loss would continue their descent to the bottom of the standings.
In contrast, the Stars sit firmly in second place in the Central, which would have seemed like a fever dream just a month ago before that fated Minnesota Wild game. A win against Chicago would not only set a franchise record for the longest winning streak, but it would also briefly put them ahead of the St. Louis Blues for first place in the Central (ignoring the fact that St. Louis would have a game in hand, of course).
Will the Stars keep the streaks alive? Or will we simply be thankful that they lasted as long as they did this Thanksgiving? Puck drops at 7:00 p.m. CT.
Stars’ Lineup
As the second night of a back-to-back, there’s no morning skate today. But expect a lineup similar to the one used in last night’s win over Vegas:
Jamie Benn – Roope Hintz – Tyler Seguin
Alexander Radulov – Jason Dickinson – Corey Perry
Mattias Janmark – Joe Pavelski – Denis Gurianov
Andrew Cogliano – Radek Faksa – Blake Comeau
Esa Lindell – John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak – Miro Heiskanen
Andrej Sekera – Roman Polak
Expect Anton Khudobin to be in net.
Blackhawks’ Lineup
Per head coach Jeremy Colliton, Chicago will ice the same lineup as they did against Dallas on Saturday:
Alex Nylander – Jonathan Toews – Brandon Saad
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik – David Kampf – Andrew Shaw
Zack Smith – Kirby Dach – Ryan Carpenter
Duncan Keith – Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan – Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta – Connor Murphy
Only difference is this time, Corey Crawford will be between the pipes. Maybe they’re anticipating another shootout?