When: Monday, November 25 at 6:00 PM CT

Where: Lenovo Center

TV: Victory+

Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

Live Stats: NHL Game Center

Five Points 5️⃣

• The Dallas Stars face the Carolina Hurricanes Monday night at Lenovo Center for the first time this season. Entering Monday’s match, the Stars are 13-6-0 while the Hurricanes are 14-5-1. The teams face each other once more this season on Jan. 21 in Dallas.
• Dallas is 53-34-10 all-time vs. Carolina, including a 24-20-6 mark on the road.
• The Stars have points in five consecutive games against the Hurricanes (3-0-2) and in eight of their past 10 games played (6-2-2). Dallas has also earned points in six of its previous eight trips (4-2-2) to Lenovo Center (previously PNC Arena).
• Captain Jamie Benn leads active Stars in goals (16), assists (18) and points (16-18—34) in a team-high 32 career games vs. Carolina. He also leads the club in game-winning goals (3) and is the lone player with a shorthanded goal (2) against the Hurricanes.
• Forward Jason Robertson enters Monday’s game riding an eight-game point streak (4-10—14) dating back to April 26, 2021. He has tallied 18 points (5-13—18) in 12 career games against the Canes.

Stats Against Opponent ✍

Players To Watch

Stars forward Evgenii Dadonov has recorded goals in his last two games and has earned four points (4-0—4) in his last five games dating back to Nov. 14 vs. Boston. In his career against the Hurricanes, Dadonov has tallied seven points (5-2—7) in 15 games played, including his first NHL goal on Dec. 15, 2010.

Hurricanes forward Martin Necas has tallied 33 points (11-22—33) in 20 games played this season. Necas leads Carolina in assists and points, while ranking second in goals. He is also third in points and tied for third in assists across the NHL. Necas has already recorded two four-point games this season (Oct. 31 vs. Boston and Nov. 17 vs. St. Louis).

First Shift

If the Stars have an MVP in the 2024-25 season so far, it has to be Jake Oettinger.

Not only does the 25-year-old goalie rank among the NHL leaders in wins (11), GAA (2.23) and save percentage (.918), he continues to steer a Stars team that is trying to find its way.

After losing Joe Pavelski to retirement and trying to incorporate three rookie forwards, Dallas has slipped from third in the NHL in scoring (3.59 goals per game) to 12th (3.42). The power play, meanwhile, has fallen from sixth (24.2 percent) to 22nd (17.0 percent). But the team still is among the NHL leaders at 13-6-0 in large part because of the goaltending and team defense. Dallas ranks first overall in goals against (2.32) after ranking eighth last season (2.83), and the penalty kill has gone from eighth (82.0 percent) to fourth (85.7 percent) this season.

Oettinger has been a huge part of that.

Saturday’s 4-2 win in Tampa was a great example. The Stars weren’t on their game early, but Oettinger allowed them to move into the third period tied at 2-2, and his teammates picked him up from there.

“Our game is not where we need it to be, but we had a goaltender steal it for two periods and then he gave us a chance,” said Duchene, who had a goal and an assist in the game. “You have to have a goaltender stand up on certain nights and he was outstanding for us. He gave us a chance to win.”

Oettinger has done that for much of his career. A first-round pick in 2017, Oettinger has already logged 207 regular-season appearances and 47 more in the playoffs. That’s a significant advantage for a goalie. While others are just becoming a No. 1 goalie at 25, Oettinger has youth and experience mixed together.

“I know I have a lot of good things that have gone my way, so I want to take advantage of that,” he said. “I feel I’m in a good place and I can really take the next step forward.”

Already this season, the 6-6 goalie has gone head-to-head with Team USA goalies Connor Hellebuyck and Jeremy Swayman, and on Monday he faced one of his favorite goalies in Andrei Vasilevskiy. Mix all of the talk about winning a Cup, vying for a Vezina and trying to earn a spot on Team USA for the Four Nations Face-off in February, and there’s an awful lot on his mind.

“There’s a lot at stake,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Jake is off to a great start, I know he’s in the conversation for Four Nations and things like that. Maybe in the summertime he was further down the depth chart, but he’s worked his way up there. There are a lot of good things happening for him and he just needs to keep going.”

The most important role, of course, is serving as the rudder for this ship. Dallas has made the conference finals in each of its first two years under DeBoer, and everyone would like to build on that. So as the team has struggled with scoring and the power play, being able to address those challenges from the right side of the standings is a huge advantage.

Key Numbers

60.7 percent

Carolina ranks first in the NHL in SAT (shot attempt differential), a stat the league uses to show puck possession. Dallas ranks fourth at 53.5 percent.

11.0

Because the Hurricanes have the puck more often than not, they rank last in shots blocked per game at 11.0. Dallas ranks 30th at 12.8.

15.5

Also potentially tied to the SAT stat, in that you are not hitting much when you have the puck, Carolina ranks 31st in hits per game at 15.5. Dallas ranks 29th at 15.7.

He Said It

“We’ve got some tough games coming up and we should take it as a challenge. It’s always fun to play against these teams and we’ll show our best.”

– Carolina forward Martin Nečas on the fact the Hurricanes get the Stars, the Rangers and back-to-back games with the Panthers. Dallas, meanwhile, follows a game at Tampa Bay with Carolina, Chicago, Colorado and Winnipeg

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.

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