Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Shooting Stars: Weekly Preview 12/24/17-12/30/17

The Dallas Stars look to pick up some pivotal points against the competition this week since they play two games against Central Division opponents.

The Stars will visit the Minnesota Wild tonight. Dallas will then come home for a Friday night game against the St. Louis Blues, who are currently leading the division by one point.

Dallas will need to get off to a fast start against the Wild, including getting the first goal of the game to take the home crowd out of the game. The Stars need to win the special teams battle and try to get their power play back on track, which has been struggling lately. Dallas needs to have a solid defense effort including the forwards helping out and limiting their mistakes with and without the puck. They need to avoid the mental lapses that can happen throughout the game. One of the biggest problem with the Stars this year has been their consistency, whether it has been from period-to-period or game-to-game, and they need to play a consistent 60  minutes on the road tonight to get two points. The Stars will need to keep an eye on Eric Staal, who leads the Wild in goals and points. 

The Wild need to be better at even strength since they've allowed more goals than scored when playing 5-on-5 hockey. Minnesota needs to find a way to contain Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, and they can do that by having sustained offensive zone pressure. The Wild must stop the balanced attack of the Stars since they can roll four lines that can get scoring chances. Minnesota should have a better finish to the game if they want a chance at getting two big points at home. Alex Stalock is going must have a big game and make crucial saves for the Wild tonight. 

Dallas will return home on Friday night to take on a St. Louis team that has been average in their last 10 games played. The Stars should come out with some energy, get in on the forecheck and get the first goal of the game to keep the home crowd into the game. Dallas need to limits their mistakes because the Blues will take advantage of them. The Stars must be aware of when Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko are on the ice since they are the leading scorers on the team. Dallas needs to get good goaltending in this game, and not allow any soft goals. The Stars should try to have the lead entering the third period since they have zero third period comebacks this year.

St. Louis needs to have the lead entering the third period since they only have two wins in regulation when trailing after two periods. The Blues should keep an eye on when Alexander Radulov and John Klingberg are on the ice because they can score and setup teammates. St. Louis needs to get their power play going because that is one of the weak spots on the team. The Blues just need to get some shots on net, and make sure that there is traffic in front. St. Louis is giving up way too many third period goals this year (45), but they have also scored a lot (46). 



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