Thursday, April 15, 2021 – 8:30 EST
American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
TV: Bally’s Sports Ohio – Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Defending Big D
Dallas Stars (15-14-12, 42 points, 6th Central)
vs.
Columbus Blue Jackets (15-20-9, 39 points, 7th Central)
The Jackets are in Dallas for a later-than-usual game tonight, after having fallen to the Blackhawks in a disappointing overtime in Columbus on Monday night. Perhaps a change of scenery coupled with the call-ups and fresh absences in the lineup will be good for the team as they look to ride out the season with as many wins and as few injuries as possible.
Player(s) to Watch
Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic
The pair from Winnipeg have been heating up in the last few games; Laine had a blockbuster game against Chicago with two goals, one coast-to-coaster – after a 15-game dry spell, he’s got three goals in his last three shots. Not too shabby! Now that he’s shown he can play as advertised, all he needs to do is keep it up. Roslovic’s got six points in the last five games, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep up the level of play he’s been demonstrating he’s capable of with this team.
Jackets Notes
Not sure about you guys, but I’m still processing my emotions having to do with the Nick Foligno, David Savard, and Riley Nash trades. I always struggle more with trades that don’t have an immediate payoff, i.e. immediately receiving a high-caliber player after the exodus of one of our high-caliber players. I guess you could say I’m not much of a delayed gratification gal. But I suppose I can be patient knowing that our playoff chances are all but gone, and knowing the draft will be interesting AF for us. Everyone better look out next year!!
The Other Bench
Roope Hintz is the man to watch tonight – he’s got eight points in the last five games. Jason Robertson has also been dangerous with four goals in the last five games. The Stars fell to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night in overtime (sounds familiar) so I’m sure they’ll come out swinging against the Jackets, especially since the playoffs aren’t nearly as out of reach for them as they are for us.
02/02/21 DAL 6 @ CBJ 3
02/04/21 DAL 3 @ CBJ 4
03/04/21 CBJ 3 @ DAL 2
03/06/21 CBJ 0 @ DAL 5
03/13/21 DAL 3 @ CBJ 4 (SO)
03/14/21 DAL 2 @ CBJ 1 (SO)
04/15/21 CBJ @ DAL
04/17/21 CBJ @ DAL
Stats
| Dallas | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.73 (18) | GPG | 2.50 (28) |
| 2.46 (5) | GAPG | 3.23 (27) |
| 24.6% (7) | PP% | 14.0% (28) |
| 78.3% (19) | PK% | 77.8% (20) |
| 51.8% (10) | 5v5 SAT % | 46.6% (29) |
| 51.5% (9) | 5v5 USAT % | 47.3% (26) |
| 7.2% (28) | 5v5 Shot % | 7.6% (21) |
| .931 (2) | 5v5 Save % | .913 (25) |
| Joe Pavelski, 16 | G Leader | Cam Atkinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand, 14 |
| Joe Pavelski, 22 | A Leader | Jack Roslovic, 20 |
| Joe Pavelski, 38 | P Leader | Oliver Bjorkstrand, 32 |
| Jamie Oleksiak, 35 | PIM Leader | Max Domi, 53 |
| 8-6-8 | Home / Road | 7-12-2 |
| 4-3-3 | Last 10 | 2-7-1 |
Projected Lines
| Oliver Bjorkstrand | Max Domi | Patrik Laine |
| Mikhail Grigorenko | Jack Roslovic | Cam Atkinson |
| Eric Robinson | Alexandre Texier | Zac Dalpe |
| Stefan Matteau | Josh Dunne | Kole Sherwood |
| Michael Del Zotto | Seth Jones |
| Vladislav Gavrikov | Scott Harrington |
| Dean Kukan | Andrew Peeke |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Jason Robertson | Roope Hintz | Joe Pavelski |
| Tanner Kero | Jamie Benn | Denis Gurianov |
| Andrew Cogliano | Radek Faksa | Blake Comeau |
| Justin Dowling | Jason Dickinson | Ty Dellandrea |
| Esa Lindell | John Klingberg |
| Jamie Oleksiak | Miro Heiskanen |
| Joel Hanley | Sami Vatanen |
| Jake Oettinger |
| Anton Khudobin |