Stars looking strong ahead of Blackhawks visit to Texas
In the 2010-11 season, the Stars fell agonisingly two points short of the playoffs as they lost to the Wild on the last day of season allowing Chicago to clinch the final playoff spot in the West.
The Hawks and Stars met three times last year with the Stars winning two of them. Games between Chicago and Dallas have been fast, frantic and physical in past seasons, especially last year when the Stars came back from three down in the first to win the game four to three which had to be a contender for game of the year. The two sides will meet in Texas to kick off their regular seasons on Friday night and it is sure to be an absolute cracker.
The Blackhawks, who have four Stanley Cups to their name, have had an average pre-season so far. They have played six games and recorded just two victories as they have beaten the Capitals and Red Wings however they will feel that they can have a good shot at the playoffs for a fourth straight year. The only thing that did worry me about the Blackhawks was their goaltending. Corey Crawford played over 50 games for the franchise last year and to his credit recorded a save pct of .924 but they didn’t have much in reserve. Having now added Ray Emery to their roster they now have a very decent goaltending unit and I feel this will improve their results dramatically.
In contrast, the Stars have had a very, very good pre-season winning five of their six games so far and scoring 25 goals in the process. Dallas have brought in quite a few new faces over the off-season including Boston right winger Michael Ryder. Canadian Brad Richards left the Stars as a free agent this year after a four year stint in Texas and will be a huge missing piece of the Stars especially on the powerplay in which he controlled so well. Richards is a 90 point man so this means that one of either Mike Ribeiro or Jamie Benn will have to step up at get 80+ points in the season. Defensively Dallas have added some big units and will look to be much more physical last year. Having Alex Goligoski for the duration of the season will be massive to the side as he is exactly what the Stars have been lacking since Sergei Zubov departed in 2009.
So, who is going to take it on Saturday night? Looking at it from a neutral point of view I am going to have to go with the Stars. With a solid and now proven goaltender in Kari Lehtonen, a much strengthened defensive unit and some very exciting forwards I think Dallas are going to have a much better season than a lot of people think. I am going to go for a hardly fought 3-2 victory in OT for the Stars.
The day after this encounter the teams meet again in Chicago meaning the losing side in Texas can gain revenge very quickly. Going to Chicago and getting a result is one of the harder tasks in the NHL, so the return leg in Illinois is perhaps where Chicago are going to pick up their first victory of the new campaign.
