The Dallas Stars will be looking for a 60-minute effort when they return home to face the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
Dallas wrapped up a brief two-game road trip with a 5-2 loss in Minnesota on Thursday, two nights after squeezing out a 4-3 win in Winnipeg.
“That was a little bit in the making,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said of the defeat in Minnesota. “You don’t play great in Winnipeg. Your specialty teams win you the game. Specialty teams were in effect (Thursday); you get a shorty and a power-play goal. But when you’re taking on that much water 5-on-5, you’re just not playing well.”
Miro Heiskanen had a goal and an assist, and Jason Robertson also found the back of the net against the Wild as the Stars had their 13-game road point streak (9-0-4) end. Jake Oettinger made 27 saves for Dallas, which had won four straight.
“We probably got what we deserved,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “I thought Jake was great and made a lot of big saves, but it wasn’t a good enough 60-minute effort.”
Robertson paces the Stars with 20 goals through 32 games, while Mikko Rantanen has a team-leading 29 assists and 42 points in 31 contests.
Oettinger, Saturday’s likely starter, is 14-5-2 with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage in 21 games this season. In nine career games against Florida, Oettinger owns a 1-6-1 record.
Saturday is the second and final meeting of the season between the Panthers and the Stars. Brad Marchand scored in regulation and added the shootout winner as Florida edged Dallas 4-3 in the previous meeting Nov. 1.
Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart had the other goals that day for Florida, while Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves. Rantanen had a goal and an assist, while Justin Hryckowian and Wyatt Johnston also scored for the Stars. Sam Steel added three helpers in the loss.
Florida travels to Dallas as part of a four-game, six-day road trip, looking to bounce back from a 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
Noah Gregor and Mackie Samoskevich scored for the Panthers, who had their three-game win streak and four-game point streak come to a halt.
Daniil Tarasov made 36 saves for Florida, which is 5-7-0 on the road this season.
Thursday’s loss was the second game of a back-to-back for the Panthers. Florida edged the Utah Mammoth 4-3 on Wednesday night.
“We were in it for a period, and that was really it,” Gregor said about the loss to the Avs. “It is tough coming to a building like this on a back-to-back. They’re obviously first place in the league for a reason. They’re really hard to play against, but obviously not a great result.”
Marchand has a team-leading 16 goals and 31 points through 29 games this season.
Bobrovsky, expected to start Saturday, is 12-8-1 with a 2.98 GAA and an .882 save percentage this season.
–Field Level Media
