Dallas Stars Aim For Big Win Against Surging Tampa Bay Lightning

The homestand rolls on for the Dallas Stars tonight as they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning to town. What will it take for the Stars to break out of a skid, knock off the best team in the NHL, and pick up two big points?

The Dallas Stars are back in action tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning as they continue a six-game homestand. And for the Stars, this game couldn’t have come a moment sooner.

After dropping games against the Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues to close out last week, the Stars had Sunday and Monday off from action. During the two-day break, Dallas traded Devin Shore to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Andrew Cogliano. He’s expected to start on Tuesday night on a line with Jason Spezza and Erik Condra.

So, there’s a lot weighing on tonight’s game as the Stars get back into action. They are 23-19-4 on the year, are trying to break a losing skid built against bottom-tier teams, and are hoping that Cogliano can make a quick impact. On top of that, Dallas is now tied for third place in the Central division with the Colorado Avalanche. A loss tonight would bump the Stars back into the wild card race, where things are even more crammed.

And that brings us to Tuesday’s contest between the Dallas Stars and the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.

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This is a tall task for the Stars, perhaps the tallest of their season so far. The Lightning come into Tuesday’s game with a record of 35-9-2 and 72 points. It’s the best record in the league by a clear mile and has the Lightning on track for the President’s Trophy. They have only endured one losing streak this season, though it only lasted two games and happened in November. A 13-0-1 record in December helped them close out the 2018 year on a red-hot note.

Since the turn of the calendar, however, the Bolts are 4-2-0. While that would seem like a decent record for most NHL clubs, it’s a bit unexpected for the Lightning. Their most recent game ended in a surprising 5-1 loss to the New York Islanders.

So, what was it that caused the Lightning to falter? Why did they collapse in Brooklyn? Could they be in store for a second consecutive loss?

Let’s take a look at Tampa Bay’s strengths. First off, they are explosive on offense. Seven of their 21 skaters have scored at least 10 goals this season and nine of their skaters have at least 24 points. In contrast, only three Stars have scored at least 10 goals and put up at least 24 points.

The Bolts are averaging 4.04 goals per game, which is almost 0.4 goals higher than the Calgary Flames, who sit second in GF/GP. Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Steven Stamkos are leading the furious charge for Tampa, combining speed and skill to create a lethal attack.

The Tampa defense is managing, with a 2.89 goals against average (12th best in the NHL) on the season.

In terms of special teams, their power play is just as lethal as their offense, posting a 29.9 percent success rate. Their penalty kill is also a top-ten unit with an 83 percent success rate.

The goaltending tandem of Andrei Vasilevskiy and Louis Domingue has been decent, though the offense has carried the load on different occasions.