Stars still see room for improvement coming off lopsided win

Stars (19-14-12, 50 points) at Red Wings (16-25-7, 39 points)

The beauty of coaching is you always want your team to be better.
So even though the Stars are coming off 5-2 win over the Red Wings and will face them for the third time in four nights on Thursday, there are always areas of improvement that can be studied.
Detroit was upset with its defensive play in allowing three first-period goals and several other great scoring chances early and wants to fix that as it returns to home ice.
"We were terrible defensively," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "The first half of the game, we competed like crazy in the offensive zone. We did a lot of stuff there. We worked hard, and then they'd come down and we gave up easy chances. … What happened isn't good enough."
So the Stars expect a different challenge tonight, and they will have to respond with even better play.

"I think we're going to see the type of game from them that we saw in the first game in the shootout," Stars coach Rick Bowness said of a 3-2 win over Detroit on Monday. "It's going to be a much tougher game, we realize that."
Bowness said the Stars hope to be better on faceoffs and in neutral zone details.
"We're pretty happy with the way we played," he said of the overall game. "We got that 3-0 lead early and then we didn't pay attention to details as much as we were, so I think attention to detail and faceoffs, decision making with the puck in the neutral zone, all things we want to do well."
Chicago beat Nashville in overtime on Wednesday, so both teams are still in a tight race with the Stars for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division. That means collecting points against the Red Wings continues to be very important.
"We are a team that likes to play meaningful hockey, so all these games mean a lot for us and I expect us to keep rising and keep pushing," said forward Jason Dickinson.

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On the road again

The Stars will play nine of the final 11 games on the road. It's a result of the team having eight games postponed because of COVID and weather, and it's just something Dallas will have to deal with.
"Well, we have known all along it was coming," Bowness said. "We knew we needed to have a successful homestand to get us back in the hunt, and it's not like the schedule is going to get any easier with the nine road games we have coming up, but we have known all along it was coming.
"The most important thing is to go step-by-step and get back in the hunt. We are back in the hunt and now we have to manage it the best we can."

Dallas is 6-0-2 in its past eight games and playing its best hockey in quite some time. Still. Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen missed last game with lower-body injuries, so there are challenges for every game. The Stars are 7-8-4 on the road this season, so they need to up that percentage in the coming weeks.
"Every game is always tough," said defenseman Andrej Sekera. "We just have to bring the grind mentality and play really good defense and wait for the opportunities to score goals if you want to open up games.
"With our strengths on the forecheck and playing good defense; playing a patient game at 1-0 or 2-1 and not high-scoring games. We will try to focus on that and bring our A-game every night."

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Khudobin to start in net

Anton Khudobin will be in net for the Stars.
He took a 3-2 shootout win on Monday against Detroit and is 3-0-0 on the season against the Red Wings with a 0.97 GAA and .953 save percentage.
Khudobin is 4-0-2 in his past six decisions, allowing 10 goals on 155 shots.

By the numbers

4

Stars forward Tanner Kero has four points (two goals, two assists) in six games against the Red Wings this season. He has six points total in 28 games.

8

In six career games against the Red Wings, Hintz has eight points (five goals, three assists) and is plus-6.

800

Stars defenseman Andrej Sekera has played 799 career regular season games in the NHL and is expected to play his 800th tonight. Sekera has 199 career assists, so he could also set another milestone tonight.

He said it

"You cannot fill Miro's hole. He is a special player, but we just have to make sure as a team we play the right way, no matter who is on the ice, whether it is Miro or not. We play the North game, the forecheck game and the game we are used to, and we definitely miss him, but sometimes guys will get injured and we just have to make sure we play together as a team." -- Sekera on what it was like playing without Heiskanen on Tuesday
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.