The Dallas Stars will strive to bring their road momentum back home when they welcome the Utah Mammoth on Friday night.
Dallas wrapped up a four-game road trip with a 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night, extending its point streak to four games (3-0-1) and road point streak to 10 (7-0-3).
Vladislav Kolyachonok scored the game-winner, and Roope Hintz and Esa Lindell also scored for the Stars, who are 8-1-1 over their last 10 games.
“All in all, it was a great road trip,” forward Tyler Seguin said. “The boys were on fumes at the end, but we found a way to win.”
Jason Robertson, who has 11 goals and seven assists over his last nine games, saw his seven-game goal streak and eight-game point streak come to an end in Seattle.
The 26-year-old paces the Stars with 14 goals and 31 points through 24 games this season. His 14 goals are tied for third amongst NHL leaders entering Friday’s action.
Jake Oettinger, the Stars’ likely starter against the Mammoth, is 10-4-2 with a 2.74 goals-against average and .900 save percentage in 16 games this season.
Friday is the first of four meetings between Dallas and Utah. The Stars won three of four contests between the teams last season.
Utah travels to Dallas to open a six-game, nine-day road trip. Utah is 5-6-2 on the road this season and 3-4-3 in its last 10.
The Mammoth wrapped up a four-game homestand with a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
Barrett Hayton, Michael Carcone and Kailer Yamamoto found the back of the net for Utah.
Utah’s penalty kill surrendered two goals on three Canadiens power-play chances in the loss.
“I think we played a good game, but unfortunately, we got beat on our strength,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “Our (penalty kill) has been our strength since the start of the season.”
Logan Cooley, who leads the Mammoth with 13 goals in 24 games this season, picked up an assist in the loss. Cooley has four goals and two assists over his last two games thanks to a four-goal explosion Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Mammoth’s blue line got a boost against the Canadiens as Sean Durzi returned after missing 21 games with an upper-body injury. Durzi logged 21:34 of ice time and had three blocked shots in the loss.
“He made good plays with the puck, he was focused, he was urgent,” Tourigny said. “He did a good job. But the toughest game when you come back is always the second one. The first one, you have all the energy and everything. He passed the test, no doubt about it.”
On Thursday, the Mammoth recalled forward Kevin Rooney from AHL affiliate Tucson and placed defenseman Olli Maatta (upper-body injury) on injured reserve.
Karel Vejmelka, Friday’s expected starter, is 10-6-2 with a 2.84 GAA and an .886 save percentage in 18 games this season.
–Field Level Media
