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| DALLAS STARS |
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18–8–6 (42 points; .656%) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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7:00 P.M. – MONDAY, DECEMBER 19 NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH |
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| TV: Bally Sports Ohio, ESPN+ |
Depending on which side of the debate you're on, the Columbus Blue Jackets winless road trip was either another blow in a spiraling season or a step in the right direction to the highest possible draft pick.
Columbus went 0-3-0 against Florida, Tampa Bay, and Boston — and was outscored 12-3 in the process. It wasn't horn-to-horn domination, though. The last two games, against the Lightning and Bruins, were one-score contests with less than ten minutes left in the final period.
The Blue Jackets now return home to the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena, where they've picked up eight of their ten wins on the season, for a Monday night matchup against the Dallas Stars.
Here's what to know when Dallas and Columbus meet for the first time in over one full year:
| CBJ | SEASON STATS | DAL |
|---|---|---|
| 2.77 | GOALS FOR | 3.63 |
| 4.07 | GOALS AGAINST | 2.75 |
| 15.5% | POWER PLAY | 25.8% |
| 77.6% | PENALTY KILL | 83.5% |
| 29.3 | SHOTS FOR | 31.9 |
| 35.4 | SHOTS AGAINST | 31.8 |
| 45.2% | CF% (EVEN) | 50.8% |
| 50.4% | FACEOFF % | 54.7% |
| PROJECTIONS | ||
| ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK | 39% | |
| ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER THE 538 | 44% | |
| CAESAR'S SPORTSBOOK BETTING | DAL -225 | |
| STARS: LAST THREE GAMES | ||
| SAT, 12/17 | @ HURRICANES | L, 5-4 OT |
| THU, 12/15 | @ CAPITALS | W, 2-1 |
| TUE, 12/13 | @ DEVILS | W, 4-1 |
| STARS: TEAM LEADERS | ||
| GOALS | JASON ROBERTSON | 23 |
| ASSISTS | JASON ROBERTSON | 23 |
| POINTS | JASON ROBERTSON | 46 |
TALKING POINTS: DAL
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The Blue Jackets are home after three straight on the road, but the Central division-leading Stars have been away from home even longer. Monday concludes a five-game road trip for Dallas, all against Metropolitan division opponents. After a loss to Pittsburgh to start the trip, Dallas is 2-0-1 against New Jersey (win), Washington (win), and Carolina (overtime loss).
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Jason Robertson had three assists in the overtime loss to the Hurricanes, bringing him to 23 helpers on the year and matching his goal total. Robertson's 46 total points leads Dallas by double digits over any other Stars skater. The 23-year-old is approaching star status (no pun intended), if not already there. He has 171 points in the first 160 games of his NHL career. For comparison, Rick Nash had 99 through the same number of games and Connor McDavid had 188 to start his Hall-of-Fame career.
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Robertson's youth is a good balance for a pair of elder statesmen for the Stars: 38-year-old Joe Pavelski and 37-year-old Ryan Suter. Both are still putting up impressive numbers: Pavelski is third on the team with 31 points (including 11 goals), and Suter is second on the team in time on ice amongst defensemen, checking in at nearly 22 minutes per game.
- The Stars have a tremendous penalty killing unit, led by defensemen Esa Lindell and Jani Hakanpaa. For the season, Dallas is third in the league with an 83.5% kill rate and are within 1% of Boston's league-leading 84.6%.
CBJ
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GAUDREAU WATCH
Johnny Hockey has played in all 30 Columbus games this season, and has 33 points to show for it. That has him on pace for 90 points, which would best Artemi Panarin's franchise record by three. He'll have to stay healthy (knock on wood), but Gaudreau has a real chance to set the team record.
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TOUGH WEEK, BUT...
With an average of 3.63, the Stars rank 4th in the league in goals per game average. Columbus' last two games were against the Lightning (3rd in the league) and the Bruins (2nd), so this is quite the tough stretch for the Blue Jackets. There is some light at the end of the tunnel, though. The Blue Jackets next two games are against Philadelphia (second-worst, 2.31 per game) and Chicago (worst-worst, at 2.31).
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HOT AND COLD POWERPLAY, RARELY WARM.
In the last 15 games, the Blue Jackets have no power play goals in nine of them — but multiple goals in five of the other six. The feast-or-famine carries over to the penalty kill, too. Columbus allowed two power play goals to the Bruins after killing 15 straight in the previous four games. Before that? Buffalo connected three times in five chances in a game that the 5th Line would rather just forget.
PROJECTED LINES
Updated: 10:45 a.m. // Subject to Change
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Johnny Gaudreau | 91 | Kent Johnson | 29 | Patrik Laine |
| 14 | Gus Nyquist | 96 | Jack Roslovic | 59 | Yegor Chinakhov |
| 50 | Eric Robinson | 7 | Sean Kuraly | 86 | Kirill Marchenko |
| 72 | Carson Meyer | 19 | Liam Foudy | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Vladislav Gavrikov | 47 | Marcus Bjork |
| 75 | Tim Berni | 44 | Eric Gudbranson |
| 23 | Jake Christiansen | 2 | Andrew Peeke |
| Starting Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | Elvis Merzlikins | 40 | Daniil Tarasov |
