Things are looking great for the Dallas Stars after five straight wins. They’re 7-3 in their last 10 games. And let’s be honest here: is anyone in the NHL playing better than Roope Hintz is right now?
I guess you could ask the same question in regards to that line. Joe Pavelski, Jason Robertson and Hintz are playing on a different level right now. Pavelski leads the team with 17 points. Hintz leads in goals scored with 10. The assist leader is the only one that doesn’t come from that line. It is, however, Miro Heiskanen. Since he’s a defenseman I’m not sure that counts. Robertson is tied for second with 10 assists.
Of course it’s easy to pick out the great things like that when the team is playing at such a high level. It seems like only a few weeks ago, we were wondering if the Stars would ever win a game in regulation.
Tonight’s opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets visit the American Airlines Center and Dallas is hoping for a better outcome than last time they played. On October 25th, the Stars visited the Blue Jackets. Dallas was coming off two straight wins. The Blue Jackets won 4-1 in an ugly game for Dallas. It would be the first of four straight losses for Dallas.
Potential Lines for Dallas
Jason Robertson (21) – Roope Hintz (24) – Joe Pavelski (16)
Michael Raffl (18) – Jamie Benn (14) – Denis Gurianov (34)
Joel Kiviranta (25) – Tyler Seguin (91) – Luke Glendening (11)
Jacob Peterson (40) – Radek Faksa (12) – Alexander Radulov (47)
Ryan Suter (20) – John Klingberg (3)
Esa Lindell (23) – Miro Heiskanen (4)
Andrej Sekera (5) – Jani Hakanpaa (2)
Braden Holtby (70)
Jake Oettinger (29)
The Columbus Blue Jackets
While the Stars are trending up, the Blue Jackets seem to be trending in the opposite direction. Columbus has lost two straight games by a combined score of 12-3. They gave up six goals in each of those losses and were shut out Tuesday night in Nashville (6-0).
Columbus is being led in scoring by Oliver Bjorkstrand with 19 points. Boone Jenner leads the team with 10 goals. The Blue Jackets are averaging over three goals per game. What’s made the Stars current run so impressive is that their defense has shut down some pretty powerful offenses (St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, and Carolina Hurricanes. The Stars only gave up one goal to each of those teams.
Dallas’ defense is going to need to shine once again when they face the Blue Jackets tonight.
Potential Columbus Lines
Oliver Bjorkstrand (28) – Boone Jenner (38) – Jakub Voracek (93)
Gustav Nyquist (14) – Cole Sillinger (34) – Alexandre Texier (42)
Max Domi (16) – Jack Roslovic (96) – Yegor Chinakhov (59)
Eric Robinson (50) – Sean Kuraly (7) – Justin Danforth (17)
Zachary Werenski (8) – Adam Boqvist (27)
Vladislav Gavrikov (44) – Jake Bean (22)
Gavin Bayreuther (5) – Andrew Peeke (2)
Elvis Merzlikins (90)
Jonas Korpisalo (70)