Jason Robertson will try to extend his points streak to 17 games when the Dallas Stars open a five-game homestand against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
Robertson has 17 goals and 12 assists during the streak, which is second-longest in the Stars and Minnesota North Stars histories. Brian Bellows had a 20-game point streak for the North Stars during the 1985-86 season.
“I told him, I’ve seen the goal-scoring ability, so the shot should impress the (heck) out of me, but it doesn’t,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “The blocked shot impresses the (heck) out of me.”
Dallas avoided losing three in a row for the first time this season with a 4-1 win at the St. Louis Blues on Monday, improving to 5-1-3 in its past nine games.
Roberston scored a goal to extend his point streak, and Scott Wedgewood came through with 23 saves. Wedgewood was a late substitute for Jake Oettinger, who was unable to play because of an illness.
“I would term it a flu, I guess,” DeBoer said after the game. “We’ve had it running through the team a little bit. We’ve had some guys have it. If it’s the same thing other guys have been getting, hopefully it’s a 24-hour thing.”
Anaheim is in a far different situation than the Stars, who came into play Wednesday leading the Central Division.
The Ducks have the fewest points in the NHL (14) and, the biggest goal differential (-37) and are ranked near the bottom of the league in both the power play and penalty kill.
Anaheim was 3-0 in games that ended in overtime this season before losing 2-1 at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. The Ducks dropped three in a row three times in November alone.
Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek told reporters earlier Tuesday that he expected the Ducks to have a record near .500 at this point of the season. Instead, the Ducks are 6-15-2 with just one regulation win in their first 23 games.
“It’s OK to be frustrated, it’s totally fine,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “It’s a natural human emotion.”
Anaheim forward Troy Terry knows what it’s like to have a 16-game points streak.
He produced one early last season before finishing with NHL career highs of 37 goals and 30 assists.
Terry scored the lone goal for Dallas in the loss to the Predators on Tuesday, his 10th of the season. He said he’s trying to lead by example both on and off the ice.
“It starts with myself, not getting frustrated and trying to fight that,” he said. “As a team, I know the work ethic and the battle in this group. When it doesn’t go our way, I think you see it in games, when we get down a goal, there’s no quit. So, just trying to keep taking positives and keep taking that road game mentality that we had (Tuesday) night and just bring that to Dallas.”
Anaheim defenseman Urho Vaakanainen made his season debut after recovering from an upper-body injury that occurred on April 29.
Vaakanainen played 14:52 against Nashville, recording a hit and two blocked shots.
–Field Level Media
