Watch, listen, live stream and view the latest stats on the matchup against Utah
When: Monday, December 2 at 8:00 PM CT
Where: Delta Center
TV: Victory+
Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM
Live Stats: NHL Game Center
10-10-4 (4-4-2 Home)
30 Points (3rd Central)
17.3% (13-for-75)
82.1% (55-for-67)
Stars forward Mason Marchment is coming off of two multi-point contests, (2-1—3) Nov. 29 and (1-1—2) Nov. 25, earning six points in his last four games. Out of active Stars skaters this season, he sits at second in goals (10), assists (14), points (24) and plus-minus (+14).
Utah forward Dylan Guenther leads the Hockey Club in goals (10) and is second in points (21) through 24 games. Guenther is on pace to set a career high in points, with his current best at 35 points (18-17—35) in 45 games with the Coyotes in 2023-24. In his career against Dallas, he has registered one assist in four games played against the Stars.
On Friday, the Stars played a national television game that came with an 8:22 p.m. puck drop. They followed that with a matinee at home on Sunday with a 3:30 p.m. start time. Shortly after the game concluded, they flew to Utah where they will close out a back-to-back on Monday night.
It’s a challenge for the athletes, who try to be at peak form when the game starts, and therefore have to do a lot of adjusting during times like this.
“Yeah, you have to adjust,” said forward Jason Robertson. “Sometimes there’s a morning skate, sometimes there’s not, so you have to be ready. You’re probably not eating at a normal time, so you have to find that fine line. There’s a bit of a time change and you have to find your equilibrium.”
Robertson is one of the team’s most diligent users of video preparation, but because he does a lot of his review on the bench, he can fluctuate when the schedule changes. He can check things on the plane, he can check things in his hotel room, he can check things at the arena.
“Normally, I watch all of my shifts on the bench, but I like seeing them on the plane or watching them later,” he said. “It’s more on what I’m doing, so I can learn from that.”
Stars forward Tyler Seguin has been playing through some soreness and injury limitations, so he has not played on back-to-back nights this season. While coach Pete DeBoer has not confirmed a change, there is a good chance that Logan Stankoven (lower body) comes back into the lineup or the team goes with seven defensemen and 11 forwards because they have two healthy scratches on the blue line right now in Matt Dumba and Brendan Smith.
That’s part of the battle of back-to-backs. Seguin was asked if the NHL would consider “load management” the way the NBA does, and he frowned when the idea was broached.
“I think you can miss practices,” Seguin said. “But I think scoring 30 goals in this league is cool, and I think playing 82 games is almost like 30 goals.”
The Utah Hockey Club moved from Arizona this past summer, so this is the first trip for Dallas to Salt Lake City. That’s another challenge of playing in late night, afternoon, and back-to-back scenarios all bunched together. Utah is coming off a 6-0 win over Vegas on Saturday, so they will be well rested and feeling good. The Stars are expected to use goalie Casey DeSmith, who is coming off of two rough outings. He allowed six goals in a lopsided loss at Chicago on Wednesday, and Stars coach Pete DeBoer said the challenge is real for him.
“He’s got to dig in and find his game and we’ve got to play better around him, too,” DeBoer said.
That’s all part of surviving the schedule.
1
Seguin’s wraparound shot Sunday was the first on the season for the Stars. Dallas is tied for last in the League with 1 wraparound attempt.
53.0 percent
Utah ranks fifth in SAT (shot attempt differential) at 53.0 percent. Dallas ranks sixth at 52.7 percent.
.984
Stars DeSmith is 2-0-0 in his career against Arizona (Utah) with a 0.50 GAA and a .984 save percentage.
“[Connor] Hellebuyck had a lot to say about it. I thought we had some really good looks, including a breakaway, so sometimes you have to tip your hat to the goalie and the other team. We didn’t score on it, but it felt more dangerous than it did a week ago and we’ll continue to build on that.”
-Stars coach Pete DeBoer on the power play going 0-for-5 against Winnipeg on Sunday
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.
