Dallas Stars Aiming To Pick Up Critical Divisional Win vs. Blackhawks

The Dallas Stars will wrap up a short pre-holiday homestand tonight when they welcome the Chicago Blackhawks to the American Airlines Center. And, as it always seems to happen, this game means a little bit more.

The Dallas Stars and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Dallas Stars. What comes to mind when you think of these two clubs over the past six years?

You might think of the many brawls between Andrew Shaw and Antoine Roussel. Or, maybe you think of the battle for Central division supremacy. Your mind might even shift to the sea of red that always seems to accompany Chicago to the AAC each time they visit.

Whatever your thoughts may be, the point is this: these two teams always seem to put on a show when pitted against each other. And on Thursday night, they will add another exciting chapter to the saga.

The Stars will wrap up a brief two-game homestand by welcoming in the Hawks for a Central division showdown. It’s the first meeting between the two teams this season, and that leaves plenty of interesting storylines to follow.

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For one, the Blackhawks are in need of some serious help. After nearly a decade of being a Western Conference powerhouse, the Hawks sit 30th in the NHL standings right now. They are 11-19-6 with 28 points on the year and are a shell of what they used to be. Now, the hard times have been settling in on Chicago since the beginning of the 2017-18 year. But, this season represents a new low.

Meanwhile, Dallas is just now getting over a four-game road trip that saw them go winless and pointless last week. The Stars dropped four games in a row on the West coast and completely negated a four-game win streak that they used to kick off the month of December.

They returned home on Tuesday night to face off against a Calgary Flames team that was 9-1-1 in their past 11 games and sat atop the Pacific division. And, as if the week prior hadn’t even occurred, the Stars grabbed a 2-0 shutout win. That should do nothing but add motivation to the locker room going into Thursday’s contest.

“Yeah, it’s good,” said forward Tyler Pitlick after morning skate. “Calgary was hot coming into that game and the way we played, especially in the first two periods, we didn’t really give them much of anything because of our forecheck and our reload. We didn’t really give them a chance to get in our zone. If we can stick to that and keep that going, I think we’re going to be in good shape.”

“I think that game was huge for us,” added forward Jason Dickinson. “Obviously, we were on a four-game losing streak, so you want to end those as quickly as you can. Calgary, like you said, a good team right now and they’re near the top of the conference. So, it was huge for morale because those four games we lost on the road could have ended completely differently. We had to turn it around at home and obviously home ice has been strong for us, so it’s something we need to take advantage of while we have the time.”

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Their next opportunity comes tonight against an ailing Chicago Blackhawks team. But, regardless of the record or recent performances (Chicago is 2-9-1 in their last 12 games), this matchup always preaches expecting the unexpected.

“The message is to play our game,” Dickinson said. “You can’t think too much about what they’ve been doing or what their record is and how it’s been going. Obviously, we still need to prepare and look at what their game plan is. But, the biggest thing for us is to play our game and make it hard for them to come into our building.”

The Hawks sit 22nd in the NHL in scoring with a 2.81 goals per game average and second-to-last in goals against with a 3.75 average. Their strengths lie in their veteran defenders and the forward duo of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, but Dallas Stars head coach Jim Montgomery isn’t taking the opponent lightly.

“They’re a great rush offense team,” Montgomery said. “They generate a lot of scoring chances because they’re really skilled up front. And it’s not only one line; everyone knows about Kane and Toews, but there’s a lot of young players that people don’t know about that can make plays off the rush.”

"“We know they’re an explosive offensive team, so we can’t mess around with the puck. We’ve got to play hard and backtrack. The [defenders] are going to be getting in the rush, so we have to make sure to not let them beat us up the ice. Just take care of our game and play hard in their zone. I mean, I don’t think they’re the strongest team defensively, but they are still a good hockey team. I think if we get the puck in deep and hang on to the puck and have a good forecheck, we’ll be successful.” –Tyler Pitlick on the Stars’ game plan vs. Chicago"

This is a game that has produced some entertaining and exciting contests over the past few years since the two were pitted in the same division against each other back in 2013. There have been sparks at times and fireworks at others, but the common theme has always been energy in what can otherwise be considered as “four-point games.”

“It’s huge,” Pitlick said about the energy the game brings. “Every divisional game is important, and it’s always fun playing the Blackhawks. They’ve got some good players and it’s nice to be in front of our home fans and they get us going, too. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”