Considering the success they have enjoyed in Dallas, and against the San Jose Sharks there in recent years, the Stars might be in good shape to rebound from their worst defeat of the young season.
The Stars will look for a fifth win in six home games Friday night when they face the Sharks, who will try to avoid a season-high sixth straight defeat — and eighth in a row at Dallas.
The Stars outscored their opponents 18-6 during a three-game winning streak they brought into their Tuesday visit to face the surging Winnipeg Jets. After Jason Robertson extended his career-high consecutive goal streak to six games by opening the night’s scoring in the second period, the Jets scored four times during the frame and handed Dallas a 5-1 loss.
“Not much silver lining to that one,” said Stars coach Peter DeBoer, a former Sharks coach. “It’s a pretty honest group. We’ll look at (what happened at Winnipeg) and respond the next game.”
The potential good news for the Stars is that they are 4-1-1 at home, with a 19-10 goal advantage. It’s also possible starting netminder Jake Oettinger (5-1-0, 1.40 goals-against average) could return to action for the first time since he sustained a lower-body injury vs. the New York Rangers on Oct. 29.
“The next step was reincorporating him into practice, which we did, and we’ll see how he feels.” DeBoer said Thursday.
Backup Scott Wedgewood stopped 86 of 92 shots during Dallas’ three-game winning streak with Oettinger out, but he yielded all four second-period goals at Winnipeg. He has surrendered 20 goals in five career games vs. San Jose.
Dallas owns a 27-10 scoring advantage during a seven-game home winning streak over the Sharks that dates to October 2015.
San Jose is in poor form at the moment, too, having allowed 21 goals during a 0-2-3 rut that includes a 5-3 road loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
The Sharks have lost 12 of their first 15 games, including three in shootouts, but nine of those defeats were decided by two goals or fewer.
“Just big-time mistakes that end up in our net, and it happens every single night,” Sharks veteran Logan Couture, who scored for the fifth time this season on Thursday, told The Mercury News. “We’ve got to find a way to avoid making the big mistakes.”
Though San Jose continues to struggle for wins, star defenseman Erik Karlsson had two more assists at St. Louis. Karlsson has recorded 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) — of his team-leading 21 — in the past six contests.
Karlson has notched two goals and nine assists during his past eight games vs. Dallas.
After the Sharks’ Kaapo Kahkonen made 28 saves against the Blues, James Reimer could start Friday in the back-to-back scenario. Reimer has a 3.68 goals-against average during an 0-2-2 rut that followed a 30-save performance during San Jose’s 3-0 victory at Philadelphia on Oct. 23.
Reimer stopped 48 of 50 shots while splitting his two starts versus Dallas last season.
Robertson recorded a goal and an assist in three games vs. San Jose last season. Meanwhile, Dallas’ Joe Pavelski only has one of each in four games against his former club since leaving San Jose following the 2018-19 campaign. Pavelski spent 13 seasons with the Sharks.
–Field Level Media