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Pregame Notes (12): Back in the USA, Stars Look to Bounce Back Against Blackhawks

taylor newby
·3 min read

The Dallas Stars are back at home for a quick one game homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks after a disappointing two losses to the Florida Panthers in Tampere, Finland for the NHL's Global Series.

The Stars have had the past four days off after getting back to Texas, re-adjusting and wearing off jet lag after their long travels. It has also provided the team needed time to re-focus and put the two Finland games behind them and prepare for a busy stretch through the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of the month.

Related: Stars Encounter First Real Adversity This Year, Now Return From Finland To Right Their Ship

Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks are once again on the second night of a back-to-back coming to Dallas just like their last meeting on Oct. 26. Interestingly enough, Dallas bookends their Global Series games with two home games against the Hawks.

After losing 4-1 to the Detroit Red Wings last night, Chicago sits at 5-8-1, in second to last place in the Central Division only ahead of the Nashville Predators. Nick Foligno was the only goal scorer for Chicago, scoring his fifth of the season. Petr Mrazek played in goal for the Hawks last night, but did play the prior back-to-back contest in Dallas because Arvin Soderblom was sick. Mrazek made 21 stops on 24 shots.

Head coach Pete DeBoer said that he expects tonight's game against the Blackhawks to be sloppy, but nonetheless is expecting the Stars to get back into the win column. In DeBoer's tenure over the Stars, they have never lost in regulation three times in a row during the regular season. One of the team's biggest strong suits has been their ability to be resilient and bounce back after losses.

What to watch for:

  • Thomas Harley has tallied four points in his last five games - one goal and three assists. He also leads all Stars defensemen in points with six. The blueliners for the Stars have been off to a slow start offensively, so the recent push from Harley is a good sign that things are moving in the right direction.

  • The Stars are still trying to get the combinations of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Logan Stankoven, Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston and Evgenii Dadonov to get going. DeBoer has tried a number of different combinations to not only get the lines clicking, but also to get the best (or at least steady) production out of certain players. Johnston has had a very slow start this season and the Stars are looking for him to get going, but he did start slow last season as well. It should be expected that these players will continue to get moved around until something works to DeBoer's liking.

  • Jake Oettinger looks to bounce back after a tough game in Finland where he allowed 6 goals. Prior to that, Oettinger had one of the highest save percentages in the league.

Projected lines:

Robertson-Hintz-Stankoven
Bourque-Duchene-Seguin
Benn-Johnston-Dadonov
Steel-Back-Blackwell

Dumba-Heiskanen
Harley-Lybushkin
Lindell-Lundkvist

Oettinger
DeSmith

There are a few game-time decisions heading into the game tonight as the team continues to deal with some minor but nagging injuries. Mason Marchment is out and has been listed day-to-day following his fight with Nate Schmidt in Finland.

The Stars are hoping to get back in sync against the Blackhawks and could really use the points, not only to bounce back after their two losses but because they head to Canada to play the Winnipeg Jets next. The Jets are off to a very strong start, only losing once in 13 games so far.

Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CDT and can be seen on Victory+ locally and ESPN+ in out of market areas.

Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

Stars Encounter First Real Adversity This Year, Now Return From Finland To Right Their Ship

Panthers Grab Lead in Third Period, Stars Drop Both Games in Finland

Finns on Display in First of Two NHL Global Series Games in Tampere, Panthers Handle Stars 6-4

Former Stars Defenseman Nearing Return To Action With New NHL Team