What to look for as the Stars take on the Utah Hockey Club.
The Dallas Stars will host the Utah Hockey Club for the first time on Saturday, January 4. The two teams meet in almost opposite situations, as the Stars are 4-0-1 in their last five, while Utah is 1-4-0 in the same stretch.
Recent Success
The stars have found success recently through some mixed up line combinations. The absence of Tyler Seguin, due to his long term injury, as well as the recent injury to Mason Marchent (week-to-week with a “puck to the face” injury) has left Pete DeBoer no choice but to mix some things up. This has been seen by Evgenii Dadonov slotting into the RW spot next to Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz, and also seen Matt Duchene center a line with Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn.
One of the main Positives in all of this, is the Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz look like themselves again. Robertson seems to have taken his omission from the USA’s 4 Nations roster personally, as he has tallied 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) in the 13 games since the roster was announced without his name. I have LOVED the way that Robo has been driving the play and looks to be doing some of the things that Dallas fans have come to love – the main of which is having an eye for the goal. His goal in a recent game with the Blackhawks is a prime example of this:
SPREAD THE WORD, WE BACK. pic.twitter.com/u73c8iE7No
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) December 30, 2024
Robo’s success has also been shared by the rest of his linemates, with Roope Hintz tallying 7 goals in his last 8 games.
Another product of the recent shake-up is the line of Benn-Duchene-Johnston which has been on FIRE, to the chagrin of anyone enjoying Johnston’s slow start to the year, compared to expectations. Duchene’s movement and driving of the play has allowed Johnston to shine next to the steadiness of Jamie Benn, which has seen Johnston rack up 8 points in their last 5 games. Per Moneypuck, this line is the Stars’ most productive (out of line that have played at least 30+ minutes together) with an Expected goals % of 70.8%, and 5.78 xG per 60 minutes.
Matt Dumba will remain in the lineup as Lian Bichsel’s stay in Dallas looks to be short-lived – although many are wondering if he is getting the 2022 Thomas Harley treatment, and will be pulled up closer to April around the playoffs. But for now, the Big Swiss Blueliner will stay in Cedar Park – and Dumba and Lundkvist become beneficiaries of this decision
Expected Lineup (Dallas):
Robertson – Hintz – Dadonov
Benn – Duchene – Johnston
Steel – Bourque – Stankoven
Blackwell – Hyry – Bäck
Heiskanen – Lyubushkin
Lindell – Lundkvist
Harley – Dumba
Oettinger
DeSmith
Expected Lineup (Utah):
Keller – Hayton – Schmaltz
McBain – Cooley – Guenther
O’Brien – Bjugstad – Crouse
Carcone – Stenlund – Kerfoot
Sergachev – Maata
Cole – Kesselring
Valimaki – Bortuzzo
Vejmelka
Stauber
What I’m watching for from Utah:
Forecheck. The main thing I remember whern watching the Stars’ most recent tie with Utah was the energy that Utah played with up until the final whistle. In some ways, it brought me back to watching the Stars’ playoff tie with the Seattle Kraken two years ago. In Utah’s most recent win over the Calgary Flames, the win that snapped their four game losing streak, Lawson Crouse scored his first goal since November 29th – and it was a direct result of some relentless forechecking by Liam O’Brien. If Utah can turn up the heat on the forecheck, it could put the bottom 3 Dallas Blueliners (Lybushkin, Dumba, Lundkvist) into positions that could lead to costly mistakes.
Prediction:
This is going to sound slightly odd as this will be a home game for Dallas, but this feels somewhat like a “trap” game. Utah just snapped a losing streak, and Dallas is on the precipice of a long road trip, which could result in Utah bringing an energy that the Stars may not be able to match. But, Dallas’ quality of their top scoring lines will show through, as it has been doing recently even as teams like Ottawa and Buffalo tried to punch back, to no avail.
I foresee Dallas winning this game 4-2 due to an empty-netter, and Jake making a few clutch stops while Utah pushes for an equalizer with time running out.