Stars operating on a shift by shift mentality in final homestand

Stars (43-30-5, 91 points) vs. Kraken (26-45-6, 58 points)

The Stars have had their travel issues this season, and Friday brought another.
Dallas stayed overnight in Calgary after the game against the Flames on Thursday to better manage the time it takes to get through customs. However, Calgary had a snowstorm, and that - combined with some equipment issues - delayed the departure until 9 p.m. MT. The Stars touched down in Dallas a little after 2 a.m., and that caused them to cancel the morning skate at American Airlines Center on Saturday morning.
They did the same thing April 5 and took a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders at home, and then they traveled to Nashville March 8 on the day of the game and lost a 2-1 game.
Stars coach Rick Bowness said on both occasions the team's been resilient and seems to be able to handle adversity well. This might actually help a team that's lost three straight and could have the temptation to look at a four-game homestand as a way to bounce back.
Instead, the Stars will likely focus on the first shift on Saturday.
"Right now, we're taking it one game at a time," captain Jamie Benn said. "Trying to find a way to get a win here."

What to watch

The Stars called up Fredrik Karlstrom and placed him in his first NHL game Thursday and liked the results.
Karlstrom, 24, was a third-round pick of the Stars in 2016 and is in his first year in North America. He has 29 points (16 goals, 13 assists) in 65 games with the Texas Stars this season and was selected as a call up over players such as Riley Tufte, Riley Damiani and Ty Dellandrea.
"That kid was good," Bowness said, adding that the influx of young legs like Marián Studenič, Joel Kiviranta and Jacob Peterson added energy. "Marian was good, Kivi was good, those guys gave us speed and they helped our team [on Thursday]."
The Stars scratched Alexander Radulov and Denis Gurianov on Thursday, and Bowness said that's an option again Saturday against Seattle.
Karlstrom said he enjoyed the experience of stepping up to the NHL.
"The speed was a little bit faster, and the players are a little bit stronger, too," Karlstrom said. "Other than that, just being out there and playing was good."
Karlstrom had a drive to the net that ended up being an assist when Luke Glendening cleaned up the rebound. Karlstrom said he was just trying to play hard.
"I was trying to score myself, but it was a great play by him to follow it up," Karlstrom said. "Really good to get that rebound."

Lineup

Jake Oettinger returns in goal for the second consecutive game.
Here are the expected lines:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Raffl-Benn-Seguin
Studenic-Faksa-Kiviranta
Karlstrom-Peterson-Glendening
Suter-Heiskanen
Lindell-Klingberg
Harley-Hakanpaa
Oettinger
Wedgewood

Numbers

2.60

The Kraken rank 29th in the NHL in goal scoring at 2.60 goals per game.

95

Seattle has allowed 95 third-period goals, eighth most in the NHL. Dallas has allowed 90, 11th most.

5

Joe Pavelski has the most points by any player in a single game against the Kraken this season (5).

He said it

"It's in our own hands, and there's nobody to blame but us. I think we're excited about the opportunity."-- Oettinger on the team's need to win at home to earn a spot in the playoffs
Great seats are still available for tonight's game against the Seattle Kraken! Get your tickets now!
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.