Dallas Stars: 5 cannot miss games during 2021-22 season
The Dallas Stars recently released their 2021-22 season schedule. The release came with the welcome news that the NHL will be back to an 82-game regular season. Of their 82 games, we hand-picked the 5 must-see games for Dallas Stars fans.
Let’s do this.
Oct. 14 at New York Rangers
Perhaps, we should call this game the “Sean Avery Classic”.
If all goes as planned, the Dallas Stars open the new NHL season at Madison Square Garden, of all places. We state this with hesitation because COVID-19 is still a problem the Dallas Stars know all too well. The Stars start to the 2019-20 season was delayed 9 days due to COVID cases within the locker room.
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We believe the Stars will take proper COVID precautions to start camp that enables their new season starts on time.
The Rangers finished 27-23-6 last season and did not make the playoffs. However, there is plenty of offensive firepower in New York with the likes of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Artemi Panarin. The Rangers also added some muscle this offseason by swinging a trade for Ryan Reeves.
The “Broadway Blueshirts” appear to be posturing for a run at the postseason that starts on opening night. We at Blackout Dallas will look forward to the victory green shirts putting the Rangers a step behind out of the gate.
Oct. 22 vs. Los Angeles Kings
The Dallas Stars touch home ice for the first time in the new season on October 22nd. We’re keeping fingers crossed that the American Airlines Center (AAC) will be packed with victory green-clad fanatics.
The Stars home ice opener is a Friday night that follows a 4-game road trip to open the season. 4 games is the most any NHL team will be on the road this season. Dallas will welcome the Kings to AAC twice this season and make a trip to Los Angeles on December 9th.
The Kings remain caught between rebuilding and a last ditch effort to send cup-winning veterans out on a playoff bid. Los Angeles cannot be taken lightly with Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, and Jonathan Quick on ice. Each player has grown long in the tooth, but the season is young in October and the Kings’ vets will be low mileage.
We expect nothing less than an electrifying atmosphere from the Texas hockey crowd on this night.
Nov. 20 vs. St. Louis Blues
The Dallas Stars will welcome the St. Louis Blues to AAC on the third Saturday in November. Stars fans should anticipate an intense affair.
We believe the Blues are currently despised by Texas hockey faithful more than any other club. The Nashville Predators remain high on the list, but they are hardly a playoff team. One can also make a case for the Colorado Avalanche, but their fans are a fraction as annoying. The Avs also tend to shoot themselves in the foot come once the playoffs begin.
The Blues remains a gritty playoff contender that tend to match up well with the Stars. The November 20th contest, like all Saturday games in 2021-22, will be a 7 pm CT puck drop. The Saturday night start times are due to the rare occurrence of no double-booking the Dallas Mavericks at AAC during the season.
Speaking of the Dallas Mavericks, we must give credit to our friends at The Smokin Cuban for this article. We followed their lead that is “Dallas Mavericks: 5 cannot miss games this season”.
Dec. 8 at Vegas Golden Knights
The Dallas Stars will enter Sin City on the second Wednesday of December and we expect a large spotlight. We’re talking a potential ESPN Wednesday Night Hockey type of spotlight. The puck is slated to drop at 7 pm CT.
The Stars play the Knights for first time on November 27th in Dallas. However, we are underlining the December 8th contest because the Stars will be in hostile territory. We believe Vegas remains the team to beat in the Western Conference. And, if Dallas wants back into the Stanley Cup Finals, they must be capable of beating the Knights in Vegas.
Vegas experienced an interesting offseason, having traded Marc-André Fleury to Chicago and Ryan Reaves to the Rangers. The Fluery deal freed up some cap space needed to bolster their offense. The Reaves trade remains somewhat of a head-scratcher because he represented their bruising style of play that has provided so many playoff series advantages.
Blackout Dallas could not be any more excited to see the Stars square off against a more finesse Golden Knights roster. Did we mention Dallas will have 6-5, 207-pound Jani Hakanpää with them?
Apr. 3 at Seattle Kraken
The Dallas Stars will open the first Sunday of April by making their first trip to Seattle to play the Kraken. Stars fans will have already seen the Kraken in Dallas in January, but a game in Emerald City should hit different.
Seattle has waited a long time to get into the NHL and we expect their fans to pack the house at every home game. We have doubts the Kraken come anything close to the Golden Knights in terms or inaugural season success. Not after GM Ron Francis opted to load up on cheaper, lower line and minor league talent over most of the expansion draft.
Dallas Stars history will be made on April 3rd, an event that will hopefully be logged forever as “W”. Stars fans will also get a glimpse of Jamie Oleksiak on his new home ice with his new team. -JG