Dallas Stars (12-5-3, 27 pts) at Vancouver Canucks (9-10-2, 20 pts)
Venue: Rogers Arena
Date: Thursday, November 20
Time: 10:00 pm ET / 7:00 pm PT

TV: ESPN+ / Victory+ / Sportsnet
Radio: 
Dallas Stars – Sportsradio 96.7 FM
Vancouver Canucks – Sportsnet 650 AM

DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Dallas Stars -1.5 ML -155
Vancouver Canucks +1.5 ML +130
O/U 6.5

Dallas Stars News and Notes:

After a dominant five game winning streak, the Dallas Stars tasted defeat for the first time in a week and a half after a tough 2-3 loss to the New York Islanders. Besides that hard-fought game, the Dallas Stars have been utterly dominant with a 12-5-3 record and the second-most points in the entire Western Conference, just behind the Colorado Avalanche. This performance is with some big-time injuries to some big-time players like Matt Duchene, Thomas Harley, and Ilya Lyubushkin, but they are staying strong and once again are one of the favourites to go deep in the NHL Playoffs. Along with Mikko Rantanen top five in the league in points as well as Jason Robertson making it two Dallas Stars with over 25 points, the Stars are clearly not lagging behind in the slightest.

Vancouver Canucks News and Notes:

The Vancouver Canucks, however, are slowly drifting into no man’s land with no clear direction towards the playoffs or a rebuild. Sitting with a 9-10-2 record and no momentum leaning in either direction, Vancouver needs to make a move as soon as possible. They have plenty of hot hands, scoring five goals in a 5-8 loss against the defending champion Florida Panthers on Monday and scoring six goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday in that 6-2 victory, but they simply can’t stay consistent. Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes are slowly moving up the league’s point standings, along with Hughes tied for second in the league in assists, but the Canucks are going to have to thrive in the deeper sectors of their squad if the want to make a run for a wild card spot.

Dallas Stars Projected Lines:

Steel-Johnston-Rantanen
Robertson-Hintz-Seguin
Back-Hryckowian-Bourque
Benn-Faksa-Blackwell

Lindell-Heiskanen
Bichsel-Petrovic
Capobianco-Kolyachonok

Oettinger
DeSmith

Vancouver Canucks Projected Lines:

Kane-E. Pettersson-Sherwood
Garland-Kampf-Boeser
O’Connor-Raty-DeBrusk
Reichel-Sasson-Karlsson

Hughes-Hronek
M. Pettersson-Myers
E. N. Pettersson-Willander

Lankinen
Patera

Players to Watch:

Dallas Stars:

Jason Robertson has been one of the top offensive threats this season with 25 points on the year as well as the lone two goals in the 2-3 loss to the New York Islanders in his last matchup. However, while he went pointless in that Islanders game, Roope Hintz has had a point in every single game since coming back from injury on November 6th against the Anaheim Ducks. Hintz has been a quiet yet effective part of the Dallas Stars with 16 points on the year so far. Don’t count out the veteran forward Tyler Seguin either. With 12 points on the season and two straight multi-point performances in his last two games, he’ll be a sneaky factor that the Canucks may not be focused on.

Vancouver Canucks:

With such a top-heavy roster like the Vancouver Canucks, it can be difficult to find some of the depth pieces performing well, but I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t spotlight Drew O’Connor in his recent one. O’Connor has been so consistent off the third line for the Canucks with five points in his last six games and a goal in his last two. With heavy-hitting scorers like Sherwood, Pettersson, and Boeser garnering so much attention, O’Connor could sneak under the Stars’ noses and keep his hot streak going. Not to mention captain Quinn Hughes, with an assist in his last six games and ten assists in his last three games. Although he didn’t appear against the Carolina Hurricanes on November 14th, he has been on an absolute tear with setting up the offense and contributing on the scoreboard as well.

Injury Report:

Dallas Stars:

D Thomas Harley – DTD
D Ilya Lyubushkin – DTD
RW Kyle McDonald – IR
C Chase Wheatcroft – IR
D Luke Krys – IR
C Matt Duchene – LTIR
LW Adam Erne – LTIR
D Nils Lundkvist – LTIR

Vancouver Canucks:

C Filip Chytil – IR
C Teddy Blueger – IR
G Thatcher Demko – IR
D Guillaume Brisebois – IR
D Jett Woo – IR
D Derek Forbort – LTIR
LW Nils Hoglander – LTIR

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