Dallas Stars vs. Chicago Blackhawks Preview

It was great to see the Dallas Stars on the global stage, and truthfully, outside of a disastrous opening period against the Florida Panthers, the team played decent hockey. Two losses later, however, the Stars return to American Airlines Center a bit lower in the standings to face a Chicago Blackhawks team that should be beatable.

That said, this game is a return to the regular season grind, and Dallas just hasn't played that much meaningful hockey since they beat this same Blackhawks team 4-2 on October 26. Even with the break, there is news on the injury front. Tyler Seguin has a nagging lower body injury, which apparently gets aggravated during back to back games. Also, Mason Marchment is day to day with something that seems to have happened during his fight in the second game in Finland.

Head Coach Pete DeBoer is still looking for consistency within the lines. The Matt Duchene line has been hitting its mark, but nothing has held with either Roope Hintz/Jason Robertson or Wyatt Johnston/Jamie Benn. Evgenii Dadonov has mostly been the wildcard throughout the lineup, moving between all of the lines as needed – and that's probably his role for the season. Logan Stankoven would seem to be the guy most likely to find a consistent spot – but nothing has obviously clicked so far.

Dallas Stars Lineup

Jason Robertson (21) – Roope Hintz (24) – Evgenii Dadonov (63) Sam Steel (18) – Matt Duchene (95) – Tyler Seguin (91) Jamie Benn (14) – Wyatt Johnston (53) – Logan Stankoven (11) Oskar Bäck (10) – Mavrik Bourque (22) – Colin Blackwell (15)

Miro Heiskanen (4) – Matt Dumba (3) Thomas Harley (55) – Ilya Lyubushkin (46) Esa Lindell (23) – Nils Lundqvist (5) Jake Oettinger (29) Casey DeSmith (1)

Lundqvist was a healthy scratch for the second game in Finland. A bit rough for a defender who has arguably been one of the Stars better blue liners, albeit in a third pair role.

The status of Marchment will drive the rest of the lineup decisions.

Per Mike Heika , Lundkvist is back in and Marchment is out.

Chicago Blackhawks Lineup

Philipp Kurashev (23) – Connor Bedard (98) – Ryan Donato (8) Taylor Hall (71) – Nick Foligno (17) – Tyler Bertuzzi (59) Ilya Mikheyev (95) – Jason Dickinson (16) – Teuvo Teravainen (86) Pat Maroon (77) – Lukas Reichel (73) – Craig Smith (15)

Wyatt Kaiser (44) – Seth Jones (4) Alex Vlasic (72) – Connor Murphy (5) Nolan Allan (42) – Isaak Phillips (41)

Petr Mrázek (34) Arvid Söderblom (40)

Mrázek stood on his head the last time these two teams met. He should get another chance. On the other hand, Chicago is on the second day of a back to back with travel – and Mrázek took the 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings last night.

Otherwise, Chicago is running the same forward group, with a few winger moves between the Bedard and Dickinson on the first and third lines. On defense, the Blackhawks have been disappointed so far with the play of T. J. Brodie, which has seen him benched recently in favor of regular call-up Phillips.

Things to Watch

Opening 10 minutes.

It's only natural to have rust after a long road trip, especially with international travel and a significant number of non-Hockey activities. Do the Stars come out sloppy, or is the team ready to go after dropping two straight against the Stanley Cup winners.

Miro Heiskanen.

This is always a good watch – but Heiskanen's numbers haven't been up to speed so far this year. There are actually two things to watch here. First, if he is on his strong side (likely playing with Dumba), is he taking advantage of the natural fit. Second, is he winning board battles and controlling sticks in the crease. This is something that would normally not be a concern – but with the numbers being somewhat average, is there anything out there to be worried about.

The "B"s – the new guys.

Both Bourque and Bäck have had time to adjust and become comfortable with the NHL game. No early season jitters left to blame – so time to take a look at their play. For Bourque, take a look at how he captures open ice (and if he is able to find space in the offensive zone). For Bäck, watch him along the boards – is he winning battles and if he is, can he get the puck off the boards to teammates.