Dallas Stars: What To Watch For In Series Finale Against Blue Jackets
By Josh Clark
The road trip continues tonight for the Dallas Stars as they face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets. What should you look for in the final meeting of the 2017-18 season between these two teams?
The Dallas Stars are in the Buckeye State tonight for the third game in their four-game road trip. Tonight, they face off with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second and final time this season.
For the Stars, they will be in search of a different result than the last time these two met. On January 2, Dallas played arguably their stalest and most unemotional game of the 2017-18 season in a 2-1 loss to the Jackets. The Stars had little offensive firepower (which is rare for this team) and gave up two soft goals in the other end to cap off the game.
But that’s why there is always a second chance to right the wrong. Dallas has that chance tonight at Nationwide Arena.
The Stars, who sit with an impressive record of 26-17-3 with 55 points, are currently riding a two-game win streak. After falling flat out of their bye week against Colorado, they hit the road and beat both Boston and Detroit in back-to-back nights. They are 4-1-0 in their last five games, but had a six-day bye week during that span.
Dallas Stars
And a bye week is exactly what the Columbus Blue Jackets are coming out of in tonight’s game. Their last game was six days ago against a failing Vancouver Canucks team. But surprisingly enough, the Blue Jackets lost 5-2. They are on a two-game losing streak to some of the worst teams in the NHL and are starting to look prone to slipping in a stacked race in the Metropolitan Division.
The Blue Jackets still own a 25-18-3 record with 53 points and sit third in their division, but they have plenty of teams creeping up just behind them.
Both teams sit in a jam-packed division with little room to mess up, which raises the stakes in tonight’s game even more. A loss could prove harmful for both clubs.
Let’s take a look at a few of the growing storylines as we approach puck drop.
John Klingberg vs. Seth Jones
The Norris Trophy race seems to be a rather extensive one this season. It almost seems as though every NHL team has a defenseman that they believe is qualified to win the award for league’s best defender.
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But that’s not true. There are really only a handful of defensemen in the NHL that are currently following the Norris trend and have a shot at the trophy. Two of those players are John Klingberg of the Dallas Stars and Seth Jones of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
As two of the younger defenders in the race, it’s impressive to see them competing at such a high level this year.
Klingberg, 25, is a former fifth-round draft pick and is playing in just his third full season with Dallas. He currently leads the league in scoring by a wide margin with 43 points in 46 games. No. 3 is a confident young defender that is playing in a variety of situations for the Stars this season and is proving to be the most high-powered offensive defenseman in the NHL. He’s got a wide array of talents and skills and can put them all to use in any game situation. That’s special.
On the other side of the center ice line tonight is Seth Jones. At the age of 23, the Plano, Texas native is having a special year for the Blue Jackets. After being drafted by the Nashville Predators in 2013 at fourth overall, he was traded to Columbus during the 2016-17 season.
This season, he’s serving as a guiding light for the Blue Jackets blue line. He is eating up a ton of minutes each game, plays with confidence and smarts, and eats up a ton of minutes.
I got a chance to catch up with Lucas Denney of UnionandBlue.com (Fansided’s site covering the Columbus Blue Jackets) about Jones’ Norris Trophy campaign. Here’s what he had to say.
"Seth is having an insanely good year on a blue line that gets no attention. He has the fourth best corsi for percentage in 5v5 situations in the league. He is 9th in scoring and those stats are just half the story. Jones every night is the most dominate defenseman on the ice. He never is out of position and never gets beat. He is as much of a lock defensively you can find in the NHL.Of course he doesn’t play in L.A. or for the best team in the league so he doesn’t get a ton of attention. But if you watch one Columbus Blue Jackets game, you will see why he will be in the running for the Norris at the end of the year."
It will be fun to see how these two defenders lead their respective clubs and whether one of them turns out as the Norris winner at the end of the year.
Jason Spezza: Flash in the pan or sign of things to come?
On Monday afternoon, the Dallas Stars did something that they had not done in over three years: they made Jason Spezza a healthy scratch. Ken Hitchcock stated that he hoped it would serve as a wake up call to the struggling Spezza.
It has not been a good year for no. 90. Spezza is on track for the worst year of his 15-season career in 2017-18. He has posted seven goals and 18 points in 45 games for the Stars this year. This is not typical for the forward that has averaged 58 points a year in his first three seasons in Dallas.
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Maybe it’s the new system or maybe it’s Spezza’s changing role. But whatever it is, the 34-year-old is struggling with something.
Following the scratch in Boston, Spezza was reinserted into the lineup on Tuesday night against the Red Wings. He responded with two power play goals in just 13:45 of ice time. Even in a condensed role, he contributed in a big way.
Dose the healthy scratch and response signal a turn in production for Spezza? Or was it just a one-time thing?
It will be interesting to see how Spezza performs not only tonight, but throughout the rest of the season. He is no longer playing the big minutes and influential role that he served in under Lindy Ruff, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be an impact player for the Dallas offense. All he has to do is find that level on a consistent basis.
Show us what you’ve got, Dillon Heatherington
Tonight, the Dallas Stars will put their trust into rookie defenseman Dillon Heatherington as he makes his NHL debut.
Heatherington will come into the lineup for Julius Honka and skate on the third pairing with Stephen Johns, and there’s plenty of reasons to be intrigued.
Heatherington, 22, is a left-handed defensive defenseman that is having a solid year in the AHL. He was acquired by Dallas at the 2017 trade deadline in a deal made with who else but the Columbus Blue Jackets.
It will be fun to see not only how he takes on a new NHL role, but also how he squares up against his former team.
Bye week hangover
The Dallas Stars played one of their worst games of the 2017-18 season on Saturday night against the Avalanche. The Stars dropped a 4-1 decision and looked lost, tired, and unenthused for a majority of the game. Luckily, they hopped back on the horse and got back into the fight.
The reason they lost the game in such a poor fashion could likely be traced to the bye week. Dallas had just gotten back to competition after six days off that were filled with vacation and relaxation. They entered the break on January 6 after defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1, but that success and energy obviously didn’t carry over.
The Blue Jackets are in a similar position with tonight’s game. It is their first time playing since last Friday night and they are already riding a two-game losing streak that they built just before the break.
And according to Lucas at Union and Blue, the Blue Jackets aren’t the best team when playing after extensive rest.
"The Jackets aren’t the greatest playing when rested. They tend to do better when they have a nice flow of games and days off. I’m worried how the team will perform after 5 days off. But that said, the team is pissed after losing to Buffalo and Vancouver before going into the break."
It will be interesting to see how a rested Blue Jackets team does when going up against a Stars team that is playing their third game in four days.
Can Columbus keep their streak alive?
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The Blue Jackets may not be experiencing the incredible regular season stretch that they put together last year, but they are still doing well. They are in a playoff spot and are playing good, fundamental hockey on a nightly basis.
As a result, they aren’t losing a lot. And when they do lose, they are quick to correct their errors before the next game.
The Blue Jackets have only lost three games in a row on two occasions this year. Of those two instances, only one of them included three losses in regulation (which happened in early November).
Columbus is a good team that doesn’t dwell on the past. Instead, they learn from it.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Blue Jackets own a two-game losing streak against two of the worst teams in the league (Vancouver and Buffalo). That being said, it may be hard to make it three in a row.
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Whatever the case may be, there are a lot of interesting storylines to follow and potential outcomes based on tonight’s results.
Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets. 6:00 puck drop. Make sure to tune in.