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Pregame Notes (15): Stars Battle Boston as Both Teams Look to Gain More Consistency

taylor newby
·3 min read

The Dallas Stars and Boston Bruins have been almost guaranteed to make the playoffs in recent seasons, but both teams are still looking for a little more consistency as the teams meet in Dallas Thursday.

After starting 4-0-0 on the season, Dallas has gone 5-5-0 since and has shown some weaknesses against the top teams in the early standings. The Stars are back home after a two-game road trip where the team experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It started out in Winnipeg, where the league's top team outclassed Dallas in almost every way, with a very late Roope Hintz goal being the only thing preventing the Stars from getting shut out. Then, in Pittsburgh on Monday, Dallas exploded for six goals in the first period and thrashed the Penguins 7-1.

Mason Marchment had a five point night with one goal and four assists. Matt Dumba was a healthy scratch and Brendan Smith slotted in and had himself a two point night. Miro Heiskanen, who had not been able to score a goal thus far, had a two goal night.

Meanwhile, Boston is still struggling to find their footing since the last time the Stars saw them in Boston. This will be the second and final time these two meet during the regular season. The last time they played, Dallas came away victorious in a 5-2 win against a struggling Boston team. The Bruins still only have 18 points through 17 games and with a win Tuesday against the Blues have climbed just over .500 at 8-7-2. Boston came back to win 3-2 over St. Louis in a feverish third period comeback after being down 2-0 through two periods.

What to watch for:

  • Jason Robertson is looking to snap a four game pointless streak tonight against the Bruins and he seems to be primed to do it against Boston. Dating back to February 2023, Robertson is on a four game point streak (two goals and four assists) against the Bruins. Robertson is having a bit of a slow start to the season and the Stars really need him to pick it up.

  • The Marchment, Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin line accounted for nine total points in their last game against the Penguins. Their line has been the best line for the Stars, even with Seguin's occasional absence for his nagging injury. Dallas will continue to lean on them until they can get their other lines going.

  • Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen paired up together with the scratching of Dumba on Tuesday. Dumba will sit in the press box again tonight, so the defense pairings should stay the same.

Projected lines:

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

Lindell-Heiskanen
Harley-Lybushkin
Smith-Lundkvist

Oettinger
DeSmith

Mavrik Bourque comes out and Oskar Back slots in, as Dallas hopes to add some size to go up against Boston's big line up. Dumba is healthy scratched for the second game in a row.

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.

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