It feels like 84 years since the Dallas Stars played last week against the St. Louis Blues. Well, the Stars have their first big test of the year as they take on the Vegas Golden Knights in Vegas tonight. The Stars lost to the Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals last season.
Stars’ fans had to watch from home as the Golden Knights raised the Stanley Cup above their heads after easily taking care of the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Finals. Let’s take a look at the three keys of the game for tonight’s game against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Vegas Golden Knights.
Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights Preview: 3. Get an early lead
The Stars need to get out to an early lead against the Vegas Golden Knights tonight. From the early games that I’ve seen the Knights play so far this year, they don’t wait for their opponent to strike first. I’ve also seen them score multiple goals in the fewest amount of seconds as well. This is not a team that you want to be trailing early against. If the Stars can get to them early and often on their home ice, I like our odds of earning two points on the road.
Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights Preview: 2. Shut down Chandler Stephenson
The one person I’m afraid of on the Vegas Golden Knight’s roster is Chandler Stephenson. So far early on in the season, he has two goals and three assists. I want to see Miro Heiskanen and the checking line take care of him tonight. I know they have other lethal goal scorers on this roster but the Stars need to focus their attention on him tonight. If they leave him alone on the ice tonight, it could come back to bite the Stars for not defending him harder.
Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights Preview: 1. Need Roope Hintz tonight
I hope that Roope Hintz is ready to go tonight because the Stars are going to need him tonight. You could tell in the home opener against the St. Louis Blues that the Stars were having issues without him in the lineup. It would really help if Hintz were in the lineup because everyone would go back to playing on their original lines and the chemistry would be restored. I know Hintz might be a tad rusty during his first game but restoring the line chemistry is needed against the Golden Knights.