When: Friday, November 1 at 1:00 PM CT

Where: Nokia Arena

TV: Victory+

Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

Live Stats: NHL Game Center

Tickets: Single Game

Arena Policies: Frequently Asked Questions

Special Event: Global Series

Five Points 5️⃣

• The Dallas Stars face the Florida Panthers Friday night at Nokia Arena in Finland for the first time this season. Entering Friday’s match, the Stars are 7-2-0 while the Panthers are 7-3-1. Tomorrow’s contest will be one of two matchups between the two teams, also playing in a back-to-back game on Nov. 2.
• The Stars have earned points in five of their past eight meetings against the Panthers.
• Dallas is 23-19-10 all-time vs. Florida, including a 10-9-6 mark at home and a 13-10-4 mark on the road.
• Captain Jamie Benn has nine points (3-6—9) in his past 10 games against the Panthers. Benn leads active Stars in goals (16), assists (17) and points (16-17—33) in 30 career games vs. Florida.
• Forward Matt Duchene ranks second among active Stars in goals (13) and third in points (13-14—27) in 29 games vs. Florida. He also shares first in power-play goals (3) and game winners (2).

Stats Against Opponent ✍

Players To Watch

Forward Mason Marchment spent two seasons with the Panthers (2020-22), registering 20 goals and 57 points (20-37—57) in 87 regular-season games. He added three goals (3-0—3) in 10 postseason contests with them. Marchment has four points (1-3—4) in four career games against the Cats.

Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart is coming off a two-point performance (1-1—2) on Oct. 28 against Buffalo, extending his active point streak to three games. He currently leads the Panthers with 16 points (7-9—16) which also has him tied for seventh across the NHL.

First Shift

The Stars were shuffling a couple of lines around this week in practice.

Robertson moved off his normal spot to the left of Roope Hintz and Benn jumped in there. Meanwhile, Robertson took Benn’s spot on a line with Johnston and Evgenii Dadonov. It was an interesting decision when you consider that Robertson has played the majority of his NHL career on a line with Hintz and the fact that Benn and Johnston seemed to have developed a strong chemistry.

That said, Robertson is off to a bit of a slow start with 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists) in the first 9 games while Johnston has 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) in that span. The Stars are 7-2-0 heading into Friday’s game against Florida in Tampere, but head coach Pete DeBoer said he believes the team can perform better.

“We’re winning games, but I think you’re always looking for a little bit more,” DeBoer said. “Everyone will shift around until we get some consistency.”

Dallas played its best game of the season last Thursday in Boston. They scored three power play goals en route to a 6-2 win. However, the Stars rank 17th in scoring at 3.11 goals per game and 16th in power play success at 20.1 percent. Robertson has averaged 1.13 points per game over the previous three seasons while playing on a line with Hintz and Joe Pavelski, so his 0.67 points per game – even on a short-term basis – does cause some concern.

DeBoer said he understands the challenges that Robertson has faced. In addition to losing Pavelski, he also had surgery to remove a cyst from his foot in the summer. That meant he couldn’t skate for several weeks and he missed all of training camp.

“There’s no doubt Robo has been behind. He didn’t get to train all summer. He had surgery and it’s a surgery where he had to be off his leg for six or eight weeks,” DeBoer said. “I’m not surprised he’s playing a little bit of catch up, and I think he’s getting better and better every night.”

Robertson missed training camp two seasons ago because of a contract dispute and bounced right back from it, but he has never had an injury like this and not been able to train. But he said he does sense progress.

“I think I’m still finding it,” Robertson said. “I’m still not where I want to be.”

But he understands the process. He knows the surgery was serious and he knows the recovery will take time.

“I do analyze things, but I still take it with a grain of salt, too,” he said.

Key Numbers

6

Stars forward Duchene tallied 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) in 3 games to earn the NHL’s Third Star of the Week.

28.2

Florida ranks third in the NHL at 28.2 hits per game. That’s actually down from the 28.3 hits per game that led the league last season. Dallas ranks 29th at 15.8 hits per game.

18-2-2

Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is 18-2-2 against Dallas with a 2.35 GAA and a .924 save percentage in his career.

He Said It

“You don’t have to say much or do much to get our guys prepared to play the Stanley Cup champions. That motivation is there. We know the task at hand. I think our guys are excited to take that challenge on.”

– Stars coach Pete DeBoer when asked if the distractions of being in Finland would affect his team as it plays the Florida Panthers over the next two days

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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