Dallas Stars Face Similar Columbus Blue Jackets Team To Start 2018

The Dallas Stars will play their first game of the 2018 calendar year tonight. They will face off against a Columbus Blue Jackets team that is very similar to them, both in the standings and on the ice.

After a long stretch of “four-point” games against Central Division and Western Conference foes, the Dallas Stars will take on an Eastern Conference opponent tonight to kick off 2018. The Stars will play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at 7:30.

The Stars and Blue Jackets enter tonight’s game with plenty of similarities between the two clubs. Though they are in different conferences altogether, they are playing a very similar style of hockey.

Dallas and Columbus enter tonight’s game with the exact same record of 22-15-13. While it is common to have the same record as another team in the first few games of the year, the halfway point is a bit different. With varying schedules and overtimes and shootouts factoring in, two teams having the exact same record when they meet up at the halfway point probably doesn’t happen often.

In addition to that, the Stars and Blue Jackets have both allowed 111 goals exactly through 40 games, giving the teams a 2.77 GAA.

Dallas Stars

After tallying two assists on Sunday night, Stars captain Jamie Benn took sole control of first place on the team in points with 37. In Columbus, Artemi Panarin is leading the way with 34 points. While the Blue Jackets started the season hot but have cooled off recently, the Stars started slow but have since sped up significantly.

The Stars come into tonight’s game riding a four-game win streak at home and a 6-2-2 record in their last ten games. Their most recent game was a 6-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on New Year’s Eve. The Blue Jackets, on the other hand, are riding a 3-5-2 skid over their past ten games. They have not won a game since December 23 and lost their most recent game to the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 5-0.

“It was an interesting game watching them because it was the same thing that happened to us,” said head coach Ken Hitchcock about the Blue Jackets’ last game. “They had three or four breakaways. If they score on the breakaways, who knows where the game goes. We felt the same way when we played Tampa, and then all of a sudden Tampa exploded on us in the same way they did against [Columbus].”

The Blue Jackets have plenty of reasons to stay excited about this season, though. After finishing with 50 wins last season and 108 points, the Blue Jackets have made a case as Stanley Cup contenders. Sergei Bobrovsky (who won the Vezina Trophy last season) has backstopped well for Columbus this season, and newly acquired forward Artemi Panarin is leading the charge for the Columbus offense.

“They’re the same as us,” said Hitchcock. “They use their speed to check and they’re great at it. That’s how we play. When you use your speed to check, you can be successful. When you don’t, you end up on your heels and you don’t look very good. Both our teams seem to be built where we have skilled players but when you’re on top of people, they make mistakes. And when it’s vice versa, you look flatfooted.”

Columbus Blue Jackets

But the Blue Jackets do have room to improve, just like the Stars. They are currently 21st in the league in goals for per game with 2.73. A large part of that struggle has to do with not capitalizing on their power play, which is currently dead last in the league in efficiency.

On the flip side, their penalty kill is decent largely due to their clean play. The Blue Jackets rank third in the league in penalties taken at 7.5 minutes per game. The Stars, on the other hand, are 28th at 10.5 minutes per game.

There will be some lineup changes for the Dallas Stars tonight. Remi Elie is out with the flu and will be replaced by Jason Dickinson in tonight’s game. Dickinson will slot into the fourth line with Gemel Smith and Brett Ritchie, but will play center for the first time this season in Dallas.

“We like [Dickinson] a lot,” said Hitchcock. “We haven’t been able to create any room for him, but we like him a lot. He’s exactly what we need. He’s got size, speed, and he’s on top of you quickly. We like what he brings to the table. I think where we have not been fair to him is he’s played center all year [in the AHL], and then he comes up here and plays wing all the time. So this is the first real go at center ice which I think will be a good evaluation for him.”

Dickinson currently has no points in five games played with the Dallas Stars this year, but has shown that he can be a scoring forward. In the last two seasons, he has three goals in eleven games while skating less than 12 minutes per game. It will be a good opportunity for him to play at his natural position and see if he can bring a new edge to the Dallas offense.