The New Year’s Eve game always seems to be a special one for the Dallas Stars. And now, with wins in three of their past four contests, can they close out the 2018 year on a high note against the Canadiens?
You can probably associate a handful of things with New Year’s Eve. From the silver confetti, to the New York City celebration, and plenty of partying that runs into the early hours of Jan. 1, most people have NYE memories. But for hockey fans in Texas, NYE has also come to mean a Dallas Stars home game.
The Stars initially played their first NYE game during their inaugural season in 1993-94, they have been playing an NYE game in every 82-game season since 1997-98. The results have been favorable for the home team, with Dallas posting a 12-5-0-2 record since beginning the tradition. They are 13-5-0-2 overall.
More recently, the Dallas Stars are 4-1-0 since the 2013-14 season, defeating the Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Nashville Predators, and San Jose Sharks over the span. Their only loss came in 2016-17 against the Florida Panthers.
On Monday night, they will add another chapter to their NYE saga. This time, it comes against the Montreal Canadiens.
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It’s a matchup between two teams sitting in the second wild card spot in their respective conferences that could be removed from the playoff picture with a loss. With 26 teams in action tonight, there is plenty of opportunity for the standings to shift significantly before 2019 takes over. That’s a critical point for the Stars.
After winning three of their last four contests, Dallas has since clawed their way back into the Western Conference playoff picture. They are 20-16-3 on the season with 43 points. But, there’s still little to no room for error.
The Stars sit in the second wild card spot, but are only one point ahead of the Vancouver Canucks in the standings. They are also only four points ahead of the Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers with games out of hand.
On the other side, the Montreal Canadiens sit 20-14-5 with 45 points. They hold the second wild card spot in the East, but are only one point above the New York Islanders in the race.
Both teams need the two points for leverage. Not only will it keep them in the playoff picture, but it will also give them a high note to enter the New Year on.
The main story going into tonight’s game for the Dallas Stars is the return of defenseman Connor Carrick to the lineup. Carrick has been sidelined for the past 29 games after suffering an ankle injury on Oct. 28 against the Detroit Red Wings. He was acquired by the Stars in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs just days before the start of the 2018-19 season.
A Winning Habit
With Taylor Fedun out due to illness, the Stars only have six healthy defensemen on the roster.
“Well, there’s two things,” said head coach Jim Montgomery about Carrick’s return. “One, he’s in better condition and yesterday in practice, his gaps were better and his timing was better as far as how we want to play defensively. And the second thing, we have no other option.”
Carrick is expected to play on the third pairing alongside Julius Honka, who will slot in on the left side. Montgomery pointed out that Honka’s puck-handling abilities make him a solid option to play on the left side although he is right-handed.
“[With] Honka, his puck skills are really good, so he can handle pucks on his backhand really well,” said Montgomery.
On top of that, the Canadiens are expected to start Antti Niemi in goal. Niemi is 5-4-1 this year with a 4.22 goals against average and .870 save percentage. The former Star is now 35 and spent the 2017-18 season bouncing from team-to-team before settling with the Canadiens. Last season, he helped the Canadiens defeat the Stars in March by stopping 36 of 38 shots.
This will serve as the second and final meeting between the Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens this season. Dallas claimed the first matchup with a 4-1 win in Montreal back on Oct. 30. And although the Stars picked up the two points, the Canadiens put together a strong performance. Montgomery pointed out that he is looking for a strong effort and work ethic from his team in tonight’s contest.
“Our transition defense has to be a lot better than it’s been for most of the season,” Montgomery said. “If you look back at the way we played against Montreal last time, Ben Bishop had to be great and we won the special teams battle and that’s why we were able to come out of there with a win. But, we were outplayed and it’s because of the work ethic of their forwards.”
The Stars are expected to go with a similar lineup to the one they used in their 5-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night. Here is how Dallas is expected to roll out:
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Denis Gurianov
Mattias Janmark – Roope Hintz – Alexander Radulov
Blake Comeau – Radek Faksa – Tyler Pitlick
Devin Shore – Jason Spezza – Valeri Nichushkin
Julius Honka – Connor Carrick
Bishop put on an impressive showing against the Red Wings on Saturday, stopping 33 of 34 shots faced. As a result, he will draw the start tonight against Montreal.
It’s a New Year’s Eve contest with plenty at stake for both teams. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from the American Airlines Center.