After a bad loss at home, the Dallas Stars are ready to turn the page when they welcome the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Glen Gulutzan’s team saw a five-game winning streak snapped Tuesday when the New Jersey Devils won 5-1. The coach said the Stars never gave themselves a chance in the game. However, rather than working out the mistakes on the ice Wednesday, he canceled practice, noting that Dallas had been on the ice four days in a row.
“We’ll regroup,” he said. “Hey, through 82 (games), 84 now, there’s always one or two flushers. You just can’t let them linger.”
Even after giving up a season-high five goals, the Stars remain the stingiest team in the NHL, giving up a league-best 2.0 goals per game. That’s been key since the offense has struggled. After finishing as a top-10 scoring team the previous four seasons, Dallas currently ranks 25th with an average of 2.67 goals per game.
Mikko Rantanen leads the team with six goals and 14 points. He and Jason Robertson share the lead in assists with eight. Combined, Rantanen, Robertson (five goals) and Roope Hintz (five goals, five assists) account for half of Dallas’ 32 goals through 11 games.
Thursday marks the end of the Canadiens’ four-game road trip, and it will also be the return of goalie Jakub Dobes (1-2-2, 4.47 goals-against average) to the ice after Jacob Fowler has started the prior three games. The Czech netminder has lost his last four starts, the last being a 4-3 overtime loss at home to San Jose on Oct. 20. Dobes has faced Dallas twice and has a 1-1-0 record with a 3.61 GAA and an .870 save percentage.
While the Canadiens have won three in a row and earned points in five straight (4-0-1), coach Martin St. Louis still sees room for improvement with his squad. One concern is the power play, which ranks fourth worst in the league at 11.4% (4-for-35). Since Zachary Bolduc scored with the advantage in the first period of Montreal’s 4-3 win over Buffalo on Oct. 17, the Canadiens have failed to score on their last 12 opportunities.
Part of the issue has been Nick Suzuki’s upper-body injury, which could sideline him until the middle of next month. The captain leads the team with 12 points in nine games and shares the lead in assists with Lane Hutson at seven. In addition, forward Ivan Demidov, who tallied 13 of his 43 assists last season on the power play as a rookie, has played in just two games due to a lower-body injury.
“It’s not one guy, it’s five guys,” St. Louis said. “We could be a little more connected, for sure, and we’re trying to strive towards that.”
On Thursday, Montreal will face a team that ranks second in the league with a 92.9% (3-for-42) penalty kill. Dallas has blanked opponents on their last 22 power-play chances, dating back to Oct. 14.
Jake Oettinger (6-2-1, 1.43 GAA) will likely get the start in goal for Dallas. He’s won his last four starts and leads the league with three shutouts. The American Olympic netminder owns a 5-2-1 record against Montreal with a 2.66 GAA and a .900 save percentage.
