What to watch for as Stars try to prolong hot stretch
Dallas looks to win its third straight game against Columbus, which resumes play following its bye week
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Take advantage of what is given
The NHL changed its scheduling of bye weeks this season to try and keep teams on an even footing when coming off the bye week. For example, Colorado and Dallas played their first post-bye week games against each other. The hockey was a shade better than a preseason contest, but not much more than that.
Thursday is Columbus's first game back after their bye week. It will mark the Stars' fourth game. You do the math. Given that, one would expect the Stars to try and jump on Columbus early and push the pace.
The Blue Jackets kept things at a very cautious pace in the two teams' meeting last month in Dallas and it worked to Columbus' benefit as it patiently hung around and hung around before scoring twice in 1:18 in the third period to steal a 2-1 win.
In the aftermath of that game, head coach Ken Hitchcock gave his mildly-famous postgame quote of "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I mean you've got to hammer it down." Which pretty much summed up that game and is a cautionary note heading into tonight.
In short, play your game not someone else's.
With Columbus banged up injury-wise, slumping points-wise and coming off the bye week, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Columbus look for a similar strategy to once again derail a Dallas team that is surging.
"I don't think you can forecheck Columbus and expect to get turnovers, their defense is too quick," Hitchcock said Thursday. "What we got to do is not turn the puck over ourselves.
"To me Detroit, Columbus are similar teams in that there's so much mobility throughout the lineup that you don't want to give them any easy transition. And that's what happened in the game in Dallas: We allowed them to really hurt us on the attacks and on the rushes and we've got to try and avoid that."
Speaking of the surge
Tonight is the third of four straight on the road against Eastern Conference competition this week and follows back-to-back wins in Boston and Detroit. The trip concludes Saturday afternoon in Buffalo.
Both games featured timely contributions from up and down the lineup and that aspect of the Stars' game will continue to be a major factor in A) Whether the Stars make the playoffs and what kind of run might be expected if they get there, and B) How far up the Central Division standings they might climb before the dust clears in early April.
Stephen Johns, after a nice rush engineered by Brett Ritchie and Remi Elie, had a goal in Boston. Radek Faksa tipped home the tying goal after Detroit had scored in the first minute of play. Martin Hanzal scored the insurance marker in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Red Wings. And of course, Jason Spezza returned from a one-game exile as a healthy scratch to score twice on the power play.
Those kinds of contributions will be key moving forward as they help take the heat off the Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov line, which can't be expected to deliver the mail every night (just most nights).
The sobering reality of winning two in a row is that Dallas jumped back into the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but remains just two points ahead of ninth-place Minnesota.
On the other hand, the Stars are also just four points in arrears of Winnipeg, the first-place team in the Central Division.
In short, rest on your laurels in this NHL at your peril.
Columbus happenings
Columbus was one of those teams for which the bye week came at an opportune time. After jousting with the rest of the powers in the Metropolitan Division, it managed wins in just four of their 11 games leading up to the bye week.
The power play continues to languish at 30th in the league and the penalty kill is also bottom third ranking 24th. Then there have been injuries and, recently, news that veteran defenseman Jack Johnson would like to be traded out of Columbus as he edges closer to free agency.
The Blue Jackets also picked up veteran forward (and former Dallas Star) Jussi Jokinen on waivers and he'll be in the lineup tonightt to try and inject some offense into the group. The good news for the Blue Jackets is that, not unlike Dallas, they emerge from the bye week solidly in a playoff spot, sitting in third place in the Metropolitan Division.
"You wake up in the morning and you're still right in the middle of things," said Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella. "Second half try to gain some consistency and just take it one day at a time. Not going to panic. Not going to overthink it. We're going to try and be a better team each and every night."
As for the Johnson situation, Tortorella said it's human nature to want to know about the future and whether there are other options. He insisted it won't impact his relationship with Johnson and it might actually help him elevate his play.
"I think he has to be one of the players, there's three or four, that need to get their game more consistent for us to have any chance in the second half as far as playing in the playoffs," Tortorella said. "And I'm counting on Jack. This doesn't change anything with me and my thoughts about him."
On another note, it looks like the Blue Jackets will go with Joonas Korpisalo, instead of starter Serge Bobrovsky, in goal against the Stars. Bobrovsky has struggled of late, even though he did get the win against Dallas last month.
Welcome to the NHL, Dillon Heatherington
A nice little bit of symmetry for Dillon Heatherington as the 22-year-old defenseman will make his NHL debut for the Stars against a Columbus team that drafted him 50th overall in 2013 before trading him to Dallas at the trade deadline a year ago for Lauri Korpikoski.
The 6-foot-4 defender, who has logged big minutes against top opponents in the American Hockey League, will draw into the Dallas lineup for his first-ever NHL game in place of another rookie, Julius Honka, who has been solid in recent days.
Heatherington will play with Stephen Johns, another defender who has come in for high praise from Hitchcock in recent days.
"It's unreal it's tough to put into words the feelings I'm feeling right now," Heatherington said.
He admitted it would be nice to stick it to the team that traded him. Either way, it'll be a memorable night for the young man.
"You work so hard for so many years to get the opportunity to play in the NHL," he said. "I don't know what it's going to be like.
"I'm just going to go out there and try and have some fun and really enjoy it."
Heatherington, a native of Calgary, will have his parents and brother on hand to see his debut.
"We're curious and excited for him and his family," Hitchcock said Thursday morning. "This is an exciting moment not just for Heater, but for the guys with the American League team because he's a popular guy there, he's a big-time player and he's one of these guys that's just worked his way up.
"He was really good in exhibition (play), he was really good during training camp and now, he's earned the right to come up and play some games."
Spezza revisited
As noted, Spezza returned from a rare scratch situation with a vengeance, scoring twice on the power play.
Hitchcock had elevated Spezza from his usual place on the second power-play unit to the top unit in place of Brett Ritchie because of an injury situation that required Ritchie's minutes to be managed.
Spezza will likely see time on the top unit again (he practiced with them Thursday morning), and playing with Devin Shore and Mattias Janmark, it will be interesting to see how Spezza performs in his second game back after being scratched.
Not surprising, perhaps, that Spezza got a burst of energy from the shock of being scratched and it was an emotional return not just for the well-liked, well-respected Spezza, but his teammates as well.
The test will be in tonight's game, and then on Saturday afternoon and so on.
Can he maintain the level of performance that will keep him in Hitchcock's good graces moving forward? Well, that's the million-dollar question, isn't it?
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. You can follow Scott on Twitter at @OvertimeScottB, and listen to his Burnside Chats podcast here.
