The Dallas Stars kicked off a four-game road swing with a win. Now the red-hot Stars will look for another when they visit the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Thanks to a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, Dallas has won six of seven games overall and posted a 5-0-2 mark in its last seven road clashes.
It doesn’t matter where you look, the Stars are getting contributions across the lineup, but their biggest names have been tearing the league apart lately.
Forward Jason Robertson has scored nine times during a five-game goal streak and added three assists in his run. This spree followed a slump in which he scored only once in 14 outings.
“He’s been super confident, great with the puck, and great to see him continue that hot streak and just continue to do his thing,” said forward Colin Blackwell. “He’s got a gift that a lot of people don’t have.”
Mikko Rantanen is also on a five-game point streak, during which he has scored two goals and provided five assists.
It helps that goaltender Jake Oettinger is also rolling. He was at his best the final two periods against Vancouver, stopping the final 25 shots he faced while his team found the third-period goals to pull away.
“I wasn’t happy with the goals that went in,” Oettinger said. “I just tried to bear down. I thought we should have been up 2-0 after the first, so it was time to buckle down.”
The Flames sit last in the league standings but return home after a 6-2 road victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday that snapped a two-game losing skid.
Calgary, the second-lowest scoring club in the league, broke open the affair with four third-period goals to hit a season-high for goals in a game.
“It was a pretty complete game from us from start to finish,” said coach Ryan Huska. “And it was nice to see the guys score some goals, even a couple that were lucky. We haven’t seen a lot of those this year.”
Despite the team’s woes since the start of the season, the Flames are starting to find their footing. Forward Matt Coronato has scored in three consecutive games and defenseman Rasmus Andersson has found the scoresheet in three consecutive games (two goals, four assists).
Curiously, this game is the lone home date in a lengthy stretch. Having skated in their back-to-back games in Chicago and Buffalo before this meeting, the Flames next head to Vancouver to kick off a five-game road swing which includes clashes with both Florida-based teams, the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators.
“A lot of travel,” said forward John Beecher, who was claimed via waivers from the Boston Bruins during the most recent trip. “I’ve got to get used to the West Coast travel soon, and the longer flights.”
Calgary received some bad news on Friday when it was announced that rookie forward Sam Honzek would miss up to six months after requiring surgery due to an undisclosed upper-body injury. Honzek, the 2023 first-round draft choice, had collected two goals and four points in 18 games. Honzek was a strong candidate to be on Slovakia’s Olympic team.
The Stars have won the last three meetings between the clubs.
