Game Preview: Stars @ Blues “We Need to Be Angry At Ourselves”

Tuesday's game against the Blues was one of many emotions for Dallas. Rookie Riley Damiani tallied his first NHL goal in his debut, putting the Stars up 1-0 midway through the second period. From there, it was all downhill.

As the third period came to an end, the Stars were staring at a 4-1 lopsided loss, their fourth straight loss following a season-long seven-game winning streak. While there were glimpses of positives throughout the game, there were far too many negatives that overshadowed them.

"We had some guys who, I'll have to check the video to see if they even played," Stars coach Rick Bowness said after the loss. "I couldn't find them on the ice. Unless you want to show up and get your nose dirty and get involved in a game like that then you're a complete non-factor and we had a few of those guys that were complete no-shows. We have no chance if we have guys that don't want to show up and play in those games."

The good news? They have the ability to get immediate redemption as they take on the Blues in St. Louis on Friday night. Coming off a two-day break, Dallas will look to respond, securing an important win against a divisional opponent. The message from their coach leading up to the rematch, get angry and show some pride.

"No one likes to lose, and we don't like to lose the way we did in Minnesota, and as a pro with a lot of pride, it has to hurt you and you have to come back with some anger," Bowness said. "To win that game [Friday], we have to be angry at ourselves for playing the way we did. You've got to get angry, and you have to have pride. It starts with that."

The Stars lineup will look a bit different than it did on Tuesday night as a stingy illness continues to work its way through the dressing room. The latest victim is Miro Heiskanen, who will not make the trip to St. Louis. Joel Kiviranta also remains out with an upper-body injury so there will be some new faces in the room on Friday.

After reassigning both Ty Dellandrea and Riley Damiani down to the American Hockey League, the Stars recalled forward Riley Tufte and defenseman Thomas Harley on Friday. Both players will be in the lineup against St. Louis and will be counted on to play a big role in a physical Central Division matchup.

"I didn't give Riley very many minutes,” Rick Bowness said. “He only played 12 minutes [total] in two games, and I want to give him more than that. I'm trying to get him more minutes tonight because we're gonna need his size. We want him to be a big, physical force for us."

The Stars did receive some positive news as both Roope Hintz and Alexander Radulov were cleared to return after missing the last two games with an illness. Hintz is the Stars leading scorer and has been greatly missed during his short absence while Radulov is looking to refind his offensive game after offseason surgery.

Friday’s game marks the second of 10 straight games against divisional opponents, a massively important stretch for the Stars as they head into the New Year.