So things didn’t go as planned on Friday night. The Dallas Stars opened their home stand with a resounding dud. On the night they honored the best defenseman in franchise history, the defense didn’t show up in a 5-0 loss to the Washington Capitals.
Tonight, they have a chance to redeem themselves against the Boston Bruins. Playing the final game of a three-game road trip, the Bruins come to the AAC for their only trip this season.
Dallas is catching a Bruins team that is currently fourth in the Atlantic division. They sit four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place and are nine points up on the Detroit Red Wings.
Meanwhile the Stars are coming off a game in which they took 29 shots, won 62.75% of the faceoffs, and still lost the game. It was a game in which you have to figure Braden Holtby knows he has to be better than that. And history shows he will be. Giving up five goals on 27 shots isn’t what he’s known for and you have to think he will be better.
Dallas Potential Lines
Jason Robertson (21) – Roope Hintz (24) – Joe Pavelski (16)
Jamie Benn (14) – Tyler Seguin (91) – Denis Gurianov (34)
Joel Kiviranta (25) – Jacob Peterson (40) – Alexander Radulov (47)
Tanner Kero (64) – Radek Faksa (12) – Luke Glendening (11)
Ryan Suter (20) – Miro Heiskanen (4)
Esa Lindell (23) – Jani Hakanpaa (2)
Andrej Sekera (5) – John Klingberg (3)
Jake Oettinger (29)
Braden Holtby (70)
The Boston Bruins
The Bruins are a team that has players everyone has heard of and are still producing at a high level. Brad Marchand, David Pasternak, and Patrice Bergeron are just a handful of names that have been around for a while. They’re also producing at a hefty level for the Bruins.
The last time these two teams met it was the second game of the season for the Stars and the season opener for the Bruins. In Boston, the Bruins won the game 3-1. It was close until Marchand scored an empty netter in the third period. Overall, the Bruins are 25-13-3 on the season.
Boston Potential Lines
Brad Marchand (63) – Patrice Bergeron (37) – Oskar Steen (62)
Taylor Hall (71) – Erik Haula (56) – David Pasternak (88)
Jake DeBrusk (74) – Charlie Coyle (13) – Craig Smith (12)
Anton Blidh (81) – Thomas Nosek (92) – Curtis Lazar (20)
Matt Grzelcyk (48) – Charlie McAvoy (73)
Mike Reilly (6) – Brandon Carlo (25)
Derek Forbort (28) – Urho Vaakanainen (58)
Linus Ullmark (35)
Jeremy Swayman (1)