2425 GDG 1.28 @ VGK
Dallas Stars
Vegas Golden Knights
Record
31-17-1 (13-10-0 Away)
31-15-4 (19-6-1 Home)
Rank
63 Points (2nd in Central)
66 Points (1st in Pacific)
Power Play
19.2% (29-for-151)
28.0% (33-for-118)
Penalty Kill
84.7% (111-for-131)
77.6% (83-for-107)
Last 10 Games
6-4-0
3-6-1

Five Points 5️⃣

  • The Dallas Stars face the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday night for the third and final time this season. Entering Tuesday's match, the Stars are 31-17-1 while the Golden Knights are 31-15-4.
  • Dallas is 7-8-4 all-time vs. Vegas, including a 3-4-1 record on the road.
  • The Stars have earned points in seven of their last 10 games against the Golden Knights (5-3-2). Over their last five games at T-Mobile Arena, the Stars have a record of 2-2-1 dating back to Dec. 12, 2021.
  • Forward Wyatt Johnston enters Tuesday’s contest riding a two-game point streak against the Golden Knights, earning three points (0-3—3) in those games. In all, Johnston has registered four points (1-3—4) in eight career game against Vegas. He leads Stars forwards in time on ice per game against Vegas this season with 20:14.
  • Captain Jamie Benn has tallied nine points (4-5—9) in 18 career games against Vegas. Of Benn’s nine points against the Golden Knights, four (1-3—4) have come on the road.

Stats Against Opponent ✍

Active Streaks
Leading Scorers
Miro Heiskanen (0-2—2, 2 GP)
Matt Duchene (5-5—10, 17 GP)
Wyatt Johnston (0-3—3, 2 GP)
Matt Dumba (3-7—10, 24 GP)
Roope Hintz (5-4—9, 13 GP)
Jamie Benn (4-5—9, 18 GP)

Players To Watch 👀

Stars forward Jason Robertson enters Tuesday's matchup having totaled 32 points (12-20—32) in his last 27 games played dating back to Dec. 1 against the Winnipeg Jets. His 32 points during that span are the most of any Stars skater and were tied for eighth in the NHL entering play Monday. Robertson also has multi-point efforts in eight of the last 14 games that he has played. In Dallas' last game against Vegas on Jan. 24, Robertson scored two goals — including the game winner — to bring his career total to 150. He is the 19th skater in franchise history to score 150 goals with the team.

Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel enters Tuesday's contest riding a six-game point streak (4-4—8) and has points in 10 of his last 12 games. Entering play Monday, Eichel ranks eighth among all NHL skaters in points (15-47—62) this season. In his career against the Stars, Eichel has tallied 13 points (7-6—13) in 17 games and has earned points in his last four consecutive games, totaling five points (4-1—5) during that span.

First Shift 🏒

The Stars had a few issues to start this season.

With Joe Pavelski retiring and both Robertson and Johnston navigating injuries in training camp, Dallas got off to a slow start on the power play, hanging near the bottom of the league at 16 percent. The lads in Victory Green also were struggling on the road with a 6-8-0 mark away from home shortly after Thanksgiving.

It was a confusing time for a team that had the best road record in franchise history (26-10-5) the year before and ranked sixth in power play success at 24.2 percent.

But starting on December 23, things started to change – and now a lot of early problems seem to be in the rearview mirror. As the Stars roll into Vegas for a big showdown on Tuesday, they are 7-2-0 in their past nine road games. They also have pushed the power play success rate to 25.5 percent over the past month.

It’s a nice reminder of just what this team can be when everything is clicking.

“That’s what good teams do,” coach Pete DeBoer said when asked about addressing problems and finding solutions.

The Stars have proven they are a good team. They have made it to the Western Conference Final two years in a row. They finished with the best record in the West last season. They have adjusted not only the recovery time needed by Johnston and Robertson, but also to losing Tyler Seguin (hip surgery) and Mason Marchment (face surgery) midseason. And they are battling once again for a top spot in the West.

Dallas sits fourth in the Western Conference at 31-17-1 with 63 points (.643 points percentage). It beat Vegas (31-15-4, 66 points) at home last week, so it will get to test out its road legs on Tuesday.

DeBoer said the coaching staff is always trying to resolve issues, and the start to the year was a challenge. But the group effort between coaches and players has been a satisfying one so far.

“That’s what we do,” DeBoer said. “We come in every morning and look at areas that are in a good place, you want to keep them in a good place. And areas that aren’t, you have to improve. That’s daily. This won’t be the last time something creeps in and part of that is recognizing it before it gets too far down the road.”

Both Robertson and Johnston have learned quite a bit already. Pavelski played on a line with Robertson and served as the billet family for Johnston. So while both players were dealing with a lack of preparation because of physical limitations, they also had to find a way to step up with one of their leaders gone. In the past 17 games, Robertson has 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) and Johnston has 20 points (5 goals, 15 assists).

That’s a big reason for the power play success, and also a big reason Dallas is tops in the league in that span at 12-4-1.

“We knew that eventually we would break out of it,” Robertson said. “We talk about it, but you have to put the work in. There is confidence there. I think the new year helped. Everyone turned the page, and we have been better. I’m sure we’re going to have another tough moment, but we know we can recover from it.”

DeBoer said the mental aspect is real, and that individuals can help each other.

“Confidence is such a big part of the game, particularly in some of those areas,” DeBoer said. “Those are things we manage on a daily basis.”

And while urgency is a real part of the human condition, so is calm.

“I think patience is a big part of it…and knowing the group,” DeBoer said of how the coaches handle adversity. “It’s not my first year with the group, so I know what they’re capable of. I know the personnel. I think that allows you to have a little more patience.”

That said, there are a lot of new faces, and a lot of new issues. In recent games, rookie Lian Bichsel has been paired with veteran Dumba on defense, while veteran defenseman Brendan Smith has been moved to forward. All three are new additions to the roster.

That’s part of the new guys learning from the old guys.

“With key personnel out, the fact we haven’t lost three in a row, the fact we’ve been able to stop the bleeding…a big part of that is leadership,” DeBoer said.

Losing Pavelski hurts in that area too, but captain Benn has stepped up, and so have players like Esa Lindell, Heiskanen, Duchene and Hintz.

“What I’ve been really impressed with is our leadership,” DeBoer said. “What we’ve been through in the first three months, there’s been a lot of adversity with our road record and power play, those things could have easily gone off the rails if you don’t have great leadership to stay the course and keep messaging what the coaches are messaging.”

Key Numbers 🔢

7

Stars forward Evgenii Dadonov has seven multipoint outings in his past 19 games. Dadonov has 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in that span.

.920

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger is 5-2-2 with a 2.26 GAA and .920 save percentage in nine career regular season games against Vegas.

20

Dallas has allowed the fewest power play goals against at 20. Vegas is tied for fifth at 24, and also has allowed the second fewest power play opportunities at 107 (Dallas is 11th at 131).

He Said It 📢

“Smitty has done a really good job up front, giving us some physical presence and when he gets in on the forecheck, he’s disruptive. I think he’s been really good there…He’s wired to go north. And in our structure, that’s probably not the No. 1 thing for a depth defenseman, so this fits his personality.”

-Stars coach Pete DeBoer on moving defenseman Smith to forward and liking the results so far

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.

Upcoming Games 📅

Opponent
Date
Time
Location
Stream
January 31
7:00 PM CT
American Airlines Center
February 2
5:00 PM CT
American Airlines Center
Anaheim Ducks
February 4
9:30 PM CT
Honda Center

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