Tonight’s meeting with Colorado already feels like a big one for Dallas, and the reason is simple: the Stars are getting elite goaltending while their offense takes another hit.
Jake Oettinger earned NHL Second Star of the Week honors after giving up just one goal across three starts. He stacked up two shutouts and finished with a .983 save percentage, an early-season run that has put him front and center for Dallas.
The Stars will need that stability in net even more now that Matt Duchene is headed for a long absence. Duchene underwent core muscle surgery and is expected to miss about three months, leaving a bigger hole in a forward group that has already had trouble finding steady scoring. Duchene missed the entire preseason with the injury, so the setback was not exactly out of nowhere.
Stars coach Glen Gulutzan called it “…it was more of a chronic thing that they didn’t want to kick down the road anymore.”
He also made clear how much Dallas loses without him:
“You take those guys out of your lineup, you lose offense. I mean, that’s the reality.
No offense to anybody in this room, but if I plug you in that hole, you’re not going to give me any offense. You can’t just put anybody in there, right?”
Colorado brings a very different kind of problem into the matchup. The Avalanche are averaging 5.2 goals per game, the highest-scoring offense in the NHL, though they also have questions in net. It gives tonight’s game an interesting contrast: Dallas leaning on goaltending and Colorado coming in with firepower.
Around the Central, Minnesota handled Vegas 4-2 last night after jumping out with three first-period goals and holding off a late push from the Golden Knights.
There’s a full slate tonight. St. Louis is in Ottawa at 6:30 PM CT after beating Columbus 5-3 on Saturday, while the Senators come in off a 4-1 win over New Jersey on Monday.
At 7:00 PM CT, Pittsburgh visits Chicago. The Blackhawks are trying to shake off a rough start, and Connor Bedard is expected to make his season debut after shoulder surgery. The Penguins are coming off Saturday’s shootout win over Dallas.
Minnesota is back right away, facing Winnipeg at 7:15 PM CT after beating Vegas last night. The Jets are looking to rebound from Friday’s 5-1 loss to Anaheim.
Then Vegas heads to Nashville for a 7:45 PM CT puck drop in the second game of a back-to-back, with the Golden Knights trying to hand the Predators a second straight defeat.
Elsewhere, there’s at least some fighting on the ice to keep an eye on, with Lorenz and Lauzon trading a quick, heated scrap.
And one more note from around the league: Ullmark has been off to a hot start, leading the NHL in SV% and wins so far.
Dallas also announced a watch party for tomorrow night’s rematch with Colorado at the AAC before the teams meet again in Colorado on Wednesday.
In Other News...
Stars Loss To Colorado Exposed An Early Problem They Can't Ignore
The Stars had enough positive individual moments in their 3-2 loss to Colorado to avoid sounding alarm bells about their talent, but the game still pointed to an issue they cannot let linger. Wyatt Johnston was out because of an illness, which pushed Sam Steel into a second-line role, and he handled the assignment well enough to keep Dallas from looking completely out of sorts up front.
Tyler Seguin continued to show how central he remains to the offense, scoring on the power play and later helping trim the deficit to one goal. Even so, the Stars spent too much of the night chasing the Avalanche after a costly penalty hurt their chances, and that kind of discipline lapse is the sort of thing that can erase otherwise encouraging work in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Catch A Break In Dallas But Face A Bigger Concern
Wyatt Johnstons absence was the biggest lineup wrinkle for Dallas heading into this one, and it came with an immediate ripple effect for the Stars. The young center had been a fixture in the lineup since his NHL debut in October 2022, so his usual spot suddenly being empty forced Dallas to shuffle on the fly, with Sam Steel sliding to center and defenseman Kyle Capobianco being used as a forward.
For a team trying to manage the night around multiple absences across the matchup, Johnstons status was the one that changed the feel most sharply for Dallas. Colorado also came in without Cale Makar for family reasons, while Nashvilles Mavrik Bourque and Colorados Zachary LHeureux were out injured, but the Stars were the club dealing with the most notable adjustment at the top of its own lineup. [Read more 🡒]
Jake Oettinger Is Giving Dallas Everything But One Problem Remains
Jake Oettinger has been doing just about everything Dallas could ask of him early this season, and the numbers back it up. Through five games, the Stars have allowed the fewest goals in the NHL, with Oettinger carrying a 0.74 goals-against average and a .963 save percentage while giving the team a reliable last line of defense.
Against Pittsburgh, though, the margin for error finally narrowed. Oettinger was sharp again with 20 saves on 21 shots, but Dallas still left with a 2-1 shootout loss, a reminder that even elite goaltending can only cover so much when a game tilts into the kind of finish the Stars would rather avoid. [Read more 🡒]