Dallas Stars Being Tested In Multiple Areas Against Minnesota Wild

The pressure continue to pile up on the Dallas Stars as October rolls along. Tonight, they face a Minnesota Wild team while shorthanded and riding a losing streak. That’s quite a tall task to deal with.

There’s nothing like a little early season pressure to see where the Dallas Stars currently stand.

On opening night, it was up to the Stars to not take the Arizona Coyotes lightly and to incorporate a new system and new players while picking up two points. In game two, they had a test against a divisional opponent that they had not defeated in two years. Game three brought them a Stanley Cup favorite with plenty of weapons. Game four brought them an early deficit that required a historic comeback.

And finally, games five and six brought them a back-to-back test away from home.

They managed to pass half of the tests and, as a result, are 3-3-0 on the season. In the wins, the Stars looked like one of the most impressive and dominant teams in the league. In their losses, they looked like a team that didn’t even deserve to be in the playoff situation.

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This Jekyll/Hyde scenario has lingered with the Dallas Stars since last season and seems to have them in a never-ending cycle of uncertainty. There’s just no guarantee as to which Stars team you will get on a certain night, and that cannot happen. Consistency is important for a team trying to work their way back into the circle of contention.

That all begins with a hot start. And on Friday night, the Stars have their next chance at reaching for that start.

Being 3-3-0 isn’t the best place to be considering the circumstances, but it’s also not a bad place to be. Dallas is still in the middle of the fight, have shown their abilities, and have plenty of schedule left to start a streak.

But Friday night presents a new challenge for the team. They’ve had six different tests so far this year, but the seventh one is ultimately unique in its own way.

The Stars will welcome the Minnesota Wild to the American Airlines Center tonight for a divisional showdown. The Wild are in a similar boat as the Stars, starting the year on a 2-2-2 note in what seems to be a “win now” situation for the franchise.

Their special teams aren’t entirely special, they are in the middle of the Central standings, and their best players are carrying the load right now. While the Stars have Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, and John Klingberg carrying the load, the Wild have Zach Parise, Jason Zucker, and Ryan Suter doing the heavy lifting.

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Eyes On Isles

It’s two Central division rivals with similar storylines and a bitter history. There’s not much more you could want in a Friday night brawl on national television (the game will be televised on NBCSN).

But, the test for the Stars doesn’t have to do with the similarities. Instead, it has to do with their own inner issues.

For one, the Dallas Stars are currently stuck in their first losing streak of the season. While they look good at home, their most recent trip up north proved to be a disappointing waste of time. They went 0-2-0, were outscored 7-1, and lost to two teams that they had the assets and capability to beat. Their offense was shallow and inconsistent, their defense was porous, and their goaltending couldn’t hold the line. It all came down to a lack of focus, structure, and energy.

And now, they will have to find their way around that. It comes with practice, dedication, and a refreshed mindset. Dallas will need that tonight on home ice against the Wild if they want to get back into the win column.

But that’s not all. The Stars will also be without their superstar workhorse forward in Alexander Radulov. This season, Radulov has four goals and ten points through the first six games. He became just the second player in Dallas Stars history to record a goal in each of the first four games of the season. This performance comes on the heels of a 27-goal, 72-point performance in 2017-18 that solidified Radulov as one of the Stars’ most lethal offensive targets.

He’s played the majority of this season in his usual spot alongside Benn and Seguin on the top line as well as on the top power play unit. But he likely won’t be in the lineup on Friday night as he recovers from a lower-body injury.

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Blackhawk Up

With him out, rookie Roope Hintz will likely slide into the top spot and skate alongside one of the league’s best duos. That’s a lot of weight to put on a rookie’s shoulders, but Hintz showed in the preseason that he’s capable of being a consistent offensive producer. He’ll have to show that on Friday night considering he’s yet to post a point through four games this season.

And finally, it’s a Central division matchup. That’s a big enough test in its own sense. The Stars have struggled for two consecutive years with finding ways to win within their division. In both cases, it’s led to their untimely demise and early vacation.

This year, they are off to a good start at 1-0-0. But there’s a long way to go and a long list of divisional juggernauts awaiting them down the road. This is simply the next step.

The Dallas Stars have a lot to focus on and a lot to overcome in tonight’s matchup against the Wild. They have the tools and capabilities to be a great team that is tough to beat (as we saw in games 1, 2, and 4). But, at the same time, they have some lingering issues that handcuff them to mediocrity (like we saw in games 3, 5, and 6).

Which Stars team will show up tonight could go a long way in determining how the team closes out the month of October. With the season getting into full swing, Dallas has a three-game homestand followed by two road games to kick off a long trip before the end of the month. Can they find a new spark and gain back their momentum tonight? It won’t be easy.

But hey, sometimes early season pressure can be a good thing.