When: Saturday, November 9 at 2:00 PM CT

Where: Canada Life Centre

TV: Victory+

Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

Live Stats: NHL Game Center

Watch Party: PGA Frisco

Five Points 5️⃣

• The Dallas Stars face the Winnipeg Jets Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre for the first time this season. Entering Saturday’s match, the Stars are 8-4-0 while the Jets are 13-1-0. The teams face each other once more this season on Apr. 10 in Dallas.
• The Stars have earned points in eight of their last 10 games against the Jets (7-2-1). The Stars have also won three of their last five contests at Canada Life Centre.
• Dallas is 32-19-5 all-time vs. Winnipeg, including a 14-11-3 mark on the road.
• Forward Tyler Seguin leads active Stars and ranks fifth among active NHL skaters in career scoring against Winnipeg with 54 points (29-25—54) in 49 games, including 28 points (15-13—28) in 24 road games. Seguin has points in seven of his past 10 games (5-6— 11) overall against the Jets. The 32-year-old has played more games against Winnipeg than any other opponent and has the most goals (29) against any team he’s faced.
• Forward Jason Robertson is averaging better than a point per game against the Jets in his career (9-3—12 in 11 GP). Robertson has points in all but three games vs. Winnipeg and has goals in six of the 11. Robertson recorded his first career NHL hat trick against the Jets on March 4, 2022 to become the fourth player in franchise history (1967-present) to cap a regular-season hat trick with an overtime goal and the first to do so since the club relocated to Dallas.

Stats Against Opponent ✍

Players To Watch

Stars forward Sam Steel is coming off a two-point performance in Dallas’ 3-1 victory over the Blackhawks on Nov. 7. Steel scored the opening goal and assisted on Tyler Seguin’s game-winning goal, to mark his first multi-point game this season.

Michigan native Kyle Connor ranks eighth in scoring across the NHL and leads Winnipeg with 19 points (9-10—19) in 14 games played. He started the season on a 12-game point streak, including a four-point game on Oct. 28 vs. Toronto. The first time he was held without a point was Nov. 5 vs. Utah.

First Shift

There are special games nestled into an 82-game season.

Saturday should be one of them.

The Stars are defending Central Division champions, have been picked by many in the hockey media to win the division again, and are off to a good start at 8-4-0. On the other hand, the Winnipeg Jets have been the best team in hockey to start the season with a 13-1-0 record and the top spot in the NHL in several statistical categories. So when Dallas squares off with Winnipeg in a 2 p.m. game on Saturday, the intensity will be sky high.

“This is an important one, division rival, hottest team in the league,” Benn said. “It’s never too early to count these four-point games.”

Should the Jets win in regulation, they will be 12 points ahead of the Stars in the standings. Should Dallas take it, the difference will be eight points, thus the “four-point game.” And while there is plenty of time to make up these gaps, a 12-point cushion at any point is rather significant.

“These are the games you play for,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “It’s a four-point swing. We know the gravity of the game.”

Winnipeg has the best defensive numbers in the league, allowing 2.14 goals per game. That’s a challenge for a Stars team that is struggling to finish plays and sits 16th in scoring at 3.08 goals per game.

“I think we’re doing all the right things to score, but that’s a game where we created enough chances to score four or five,” DeBoer said after a 3-1 win over Chicago on Thursday. “We’ve got to start sticking some pucks in the net.”

Among the players who are trailing their normal pace for the Stars are Robertson (4 goals, 3 assists), Wyatt Johnston (1 goal, 5 assists) and Miro Heiskanen (0 goals, 4 assists). Breaking out against Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck could be tough. The 31-year-old leads the NHL with a 10-1-0 record, a 1.91 GAA and .932 save percentage. That’s an impressive start for a goaltender who has already won two Vezina Trophies.

In addition to battling for the top spot in the Central Division, Hellebuyck and Stars goalie Jake Oettinger are two of the leading candidates to be the No. 1 goalie for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-off in February.

“He’s been the cornerstone American goalie for a long time,” Oettinger said. “His consistency and his level of play year after year has been really impressive. Hopefully, I can cement myself to be like him.”

Oettinger is also a top five goalie at 6-2-0 with a 2.26 GAA and .922 save percentage. Just as important, he is 5-1-1 in his career against Winnipeg with a 1.99 GAA, .924 save percentage and one shutout. Hellebuyck is 11-9-5 against the Stars with a 2.67 GAA and a .916 save percentage.

“They’re off to a good start and it will be good to see where we’re at,” Oettinger said. “We’ve had success against them the last few years, so we should be confident going up there.”

Robertson has 12 points (9 goals, 3 assists) in 11 career games against the Jets, so he might be a candidate to watch for a big breakout. Either way, the Stars will know a lot more about their team around 5 p.m. on Saturday evening.

“There’s still a lot of hockey to be played, but when you’re playing teams that are playing good hockey, it forces you to get to that level earlier,” said forward Sam Steel, who had a goal and an assist on Thursday.

And the earlier the Stars can “get there,” the better it will bode for the rest of the season.

Key Numbers

16

Stars captain Jamie Benn went 16-for-16 in the faceoff circle against Chicago Thursday. He’s just the sixth player to win 16 or more faceoffs without losing one since the league started keeping faceoff stats in 1997.

42.1 percent

Winnipeg leads the NHL in power play success rate at 42.1 percent. Dallas ranks fourth in penalty kill success at 86.8 percent.

18.3

Winnipeg ranks 26th in hits per game at 18.3. Dallas ranks 28th at 17.1.

He Said It

“It’s not just one guy. Wingers and D are involved. It’s the first battle of every shift, and you want to go out there and win it.”

-Stars captain Jamie Benn on the importance of winning faceoffs

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 (formerly Twitter) @MikeHeika.

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