When: Saturday, October 12 at 7:00 PM CT

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: Victory+

Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

Live Stats: NHL Game Center

Tickets: Single Game / Rentals

Local Parking: AAC Parking Options

Arena Bag Policy: Frequently Asked Questions

Green Carpet Walk: PNC Plaza at 3:30 PM

Party on PNC Plaza: 5:30 PM South Entrance

Five Points 5️⃣

• The Dallas Stars face the New York Islanders Saturday night at American Airlines Arena for the first time this season. Entering Saturday’s match, the Stars are 1-0-0 while the Islanders are 0-0-1, kicking off the regular season.
• The Stars have recorded wins in four of the past six home games (4-1-1) against the Islanders and have a 6-2-1 record over the past nine against them at American Airlines Center.
• Dallas holds an all-time mark of 46-55-21 against New York, including a 25-25-10 mark at home. Dallas has won four consecutive home openers dating back to the 2020-21 season.
• Forward Tyler Seguin paces active Stars in assists (16) and points (8-16—24) and ranks second in goals (8) in 27 career contests against the Isles.
• Goaltender Jake Oettinger brings a 3-1-0 record, 1.97 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in four career appearances into Saturday’s matchup with the Isles.

Stats Against Opponent ✍

Players To Watch

Forward Logan Stankoven recorded three points (0-3—3) Oct. 10 at Nashville, becoming the second rookie in franchise history to have a three-point night in the team’s season-opening contest. Dallas forward Mason Marchment tallied two goals in the Stars first game of the season, becoming the first player in franchise history to record two goals in multiple season-opening contests (also Oct. 13, 20222 at Nashville).

First Shift

Home ice advantage wasn’t such a big deal for the Stars last season.

Dallas went 26-10-5 on the road – a new franchise record. The Stars were 26-11-4 at home, so not too shabby. That said, the lads in Victory Green were 6-3 in road playoff games and just 4-6 at home in the postseason.

And that could be concerning.

But is it a trend worth noting? The Stars say they aren’t too worried.

“We were still pretty good in both places,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “We love playing in front of our home crowd at American Airlines Center, so I don’t read a lot into that.”

Robertson said he remembers having slow starts at home, and said that is something the team can address.

“I do think we were not good in first periods at home,” Robertson said. “We were dialed in on the road, and we weren’t at home. There does seem to be more focus on the road, probably because of the environment, and at home you’re more relaxed.”

So as the team plays home games Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, they definitely can at least be aware of the trend. Dallas was fourth in scoring at home last year at 3.71 goals per game and 20th in goals against at 3.07. They were second in road scoring at 3.46 (as most teams tend to score lower on the road) and third in goals against at 2.63. That difference in GAA is significant and seems to indicate the team does play looser at home. But center Matt Duchene said he’s not aware of a different mindset.

“Maybe we were a little looser at home defensively at times last year, but this is a different year,” Duchene said. “I think we want to put the same game on the ice no matter where we are.”

Asked if that’s difficult to do, Duchene said, “It’s not hard. It shouldn’t be. We go out there with the idea of playing the same game, of being consistent.”

Duchene said most teams are better at home than on the road, so last season was an aberration. And as DeBoer said, both numbers are pretty good. Dallas ranked first in road record last season, but was eighth at home. That’s not a reason to panic. Heck, you can talk about their record against the East (18-11-3) as the Islanders come to town, or their record against non-playoff teams (33-7-2) as they get Seattle and San Jose in this stretch. The bottom line is the Stars are working to be a good team this year, and they know they have to grow into that team.

“Every year there’s something different,” Robertson said. “We’ll see what it is this year. Hopefully, it’s not anything bad.”

Key Numbers

54.0 percent

Dallas was second in the NHL in faceoff winning percentage at 54.0 percent last season. The Stars won just 34 percent (20-38) of their draws Thursday in the season opener at Nashville.

18.7

The Islanders led the NHL in blocked shots per game last season at 18.7 per game. Dallas ranked 23rd at 14.7.

40

Dallas ranked 19th in scoring first last season at 40 times in 82 games. The Stars had the second best winning percentage when the opponent scored first at .548.

He Said It

“It’s Roope’s time now to lead. He’s ready for that and he’s earned that.”

-Stars coach Pete DeBoer on the decision to give Roope Hintz the alternate captain’s `A’ that was vacated when Joe Pavelski retired

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 Twitter @MikeHeika.

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