The Dallas Stars look to continue their recent home success when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on New Year’s Eve.
Dallas is 6-1-0 at American Airlines Center during December, including a 5-4 overtime win against the Blackhawks on Friday night in the first of a five-game homestand.
After the Blackhawks, Dallas, which is 6-1-1 in its past eight games overall, will host Montreal, Colorado and Nashville.
“I think the key is not looking too far ahead and not overlooking any of these teams,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer told the team’s website. “As long as we keep our heads in the right space and approach each game as we have recently.”
Things got off to a promising, if shaky, start on Friday night. The Stars fell behind 2-0 in the first period but rallied and led the Blackhawks 4-2 in the third. Chicago stormed back to force overtime before Roope Hintz completed a hat trick with eight seconds left for the win.
Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn each had a goal and an assist, and Jason Robertson had two assists for the Stars. Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves in his sixth straight start since Jake Oettinger’s lower-body injury.
Hintz has four goals and three assists in a five-game point streak.
“He’s doing what he does,” linemate Robertson said of Hintz. “Skating in the middle of the ice, using his speed, driving the middle of the lanes, getting rewarded. I thought we were a lot more connected today than it has been the last couple of weeks, months.”
Chicago looks to end the calendar year on a high note after dropping three of its past four games and seven of nine.
Tyler Johnson scored twice and forced overtime in the final minutes of regulation. Jason Dickinson and Cole Guttman each had a goal and an assist on Friday for the Blackhawks, who have lost 10 straight road games (0-9-1). Petr Mrazek made 30 saves.
“I thought we showed a lot of good push, we never quit,” said Dickinson, who cut the deficit to 4-3 at 8:58 of the third period. “They score that goal in the third and we could have packed it in and said, ‘Oh, we’ll come back and get them Sunday.’ But we kept the line, we kept pushing, we kept trying.”
Connor Bedard played a career-high 23:51, including the overtime session, but saw his five-game point streak (three goals, five assists) end.
For Chicago coach Luke Richardson, it’s a matter of his team staying consistent after a solid start to the game.
“If we could play like we did in the third period and the start of the first, you’re looking at two points in this league a lot of times,” Richardson said. “So, we got to spell that out and make sure it sinks in and you learn your little bit of lessons along the way.”
Blackhawks forward Taylor Raddysh exited Friday’s game with a left groin strain early in the first period. He was placed on injured reserve and the team recalled forward Boris Katchouk from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League.
–Field Level Media