Game Preview: Stars Host Surprise Predators To Begin Stretch of Eight Straight Divisional Games

The Stars return from the NHL All-Star break to take on the Nashville Predators at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night. It will be the first game for either team since Tuesday [Feb 1]. Dallas dropped their last game to Calgary in heartbreaking fashion while Nashville defeated Vancouver 4-2 on home ice.

“We just want to get skating and go at them,” Rick Bowness said. “They haven’t played, we haven’t played, so it might be a bit scrambly at times but that’s okay, we’ll play through it.”

The Stars currently sit four points out of a playoff spot with a disappointing record of 23-18-2. The Predators, on the other hand, have exceeded expectations this season.

After outlasting Dallas for the final playoff spot last season, Nashville has rocketed out to a 28-14-4 record that has them sitting comfortably in the top three of the Central Division (currently second behind Colorado).

Similar to last season, the Predators are led by their goaltender, Juuse Saros, who has a 24-11-3 record with a .927 save percentage and 2.35 goals-against-average. His 38 starts this season are tied for the NHL lead with Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry.

“Give that kid in net a lot of credit,” Bowness said. “He has been outstanding for them starting last year. He’s just an outstanding goaltender. You get goaltending like that and all of the sudden, everybody in front of you plays better and everyone feeds off of that.”

For Dallas, things have not gone according to plan. They are 5-5-0 in their last 10, sit middle of the pack in goal-scoring, and in the bottom third in goals-against average. After a disappointing loss to Calgary before the break, the Stars will play their next eight games against Central Division opponents, making this the most important stretch of the season by far.

When Bowness was asked if the emotion will be dialed up tonight, he responded quickly:

“Yes, it will be,” he said. “It is a team that we have to catch. And I know it may be a little imposing right now when you look at the point differential but you just win a couple of those games in hand and all of the sudden, you are right there knocking on the door. We understand the importance of tonight’s game and we certainly haven’t given up hopes of catching them. That’s the plan.”

This will be the first time Dallas has met Nashville since the Predators overcame Dallas for the final playoff spot last season. It is a rivalry that started in the playoffs, was boosted from the 2020 Winter Classic, and is now one of the biggest for this Stars team.

“Yeah I think so, Klingberg said when asked if the intensity will be boosted in a rivalry game tonight. “They obviously have been doing something good this year and we know where we are at, so this is a huge game for us. I believe we can catch them down the road if we play good here.”

Lineup Updates

• Jake Oettinger will start in goal tonight. This will be his third-straight start (1-1-0, .931 sv%, 2.50 GAA)

• Jason Robertson missed practice yesterday but DID skate this morning and will play tonight

• Braden Holtby is fully healthy following his recent injury

• Joel Kiviranta will play tonight after missing the last game with a lower-body injury

• Michael Raffl will play tonight after missing the last five games with a lower-body injury

He Said It: “I was staying here (during the All-Star break) doing my rehab and stuff,” Raffl said. “Obviously, it helped take a little bit of pressure off of coming back having that extra week to recover and work on the foot.”

Projected Lines

Robertson - Hintz - Pavelski

Benn - Seguin - Gurianov

Kiviranta - Peterson - Radulov

Raffl - Faksa - Glendening

Lindell - Klingberg

Suter - Heiskanen

Hanley - Hakanpää

Oettinger

Holtby