One Last Dress Rehearsal: Dallas Stars take on the Minnesota Wild
By Brian Sweet
Well, we have reached the end of the preseason schedule today. The Dallas Stars will take on the Minnesota Wild in their final preseason game this season. After today, every game on the schedule will count as the Stars look to make the postseason again this year. The Stars need to get all the jitters and mistakes out of them. They had some of those in the last preseason game against the St. Louis Blues. Let’s take a look at the three keys of the game against the Minnesota Wild tonight.
Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild Preview: 3. Play your opening night lines
The Stars need to play their opening night lines tonight against the Wild. It will at least give everyone an opportunity to play with one another for a game when it doesn’t count against your overall record. I would definitely like to see Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson play on the same line tonight. I would also like to see Kyle McDonald get some playing time as he could be filling in for Radek Faksa next Thursday night. Let’s get everyone on the same page tonight.
Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild Preview: 2. Get rid of the errors and mistakes
The Stars definitely need to get rid of the rust tonight on the ice. We cannot afford to have two own goals again. I understand that hockey players will have that “offseason rust” and make some mistakes during the preseason. Well, preseason hockey is over after tonight and the regular season begins next week. I know that the Stars can get over all the mistakes that they made in the last game. They just got to focus and treat this like a regular-season game tonight.
Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild Preview: 1. Treat this like the real thing tonight
The Stars need to treat this game like it’s game 1 of 82 on their regular season schedule tonight. They won’t get a do-over and it will count as a loss if they end up losing the game. Every game matters in this league and I understand it could be any team’s night. They can’t afford to come out slow against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. Jamie Benn and his team need to treat this game like the real thing and put this game out of reach in the first period tonight.