DALLAS, TX – On Wednesday the first day of 2020, there is just one game on the NHL schedule, the Winter Classic at Cotton Bowl Stadium. All eyes are on the mid-season spectacle which has set the sport of hockey apart from the other major sports.
For Nashville and Dallas, it is a high-profile chance to turn the page on a less-than-stellar start to the 2019-20 season in which the find themselves looking up at the NHL’s best teams in the strongest division in the league.
Nashville entered the season coming off a disappointing first-round, six-game loss to the Stars in last Spring’s playoffs. A combination of injuries, lackluster play from star players and abysmal goaltending has left the Predators at 18-14-6 and 42 points through 38 games. That’s good for 7th place and looking up at pace-setting St. Louis who lead the division with 58 points.
Nashville has mustered some scoring from unlikely sources, netting 3.45 goals per game, landing them 6th in the league, but their goals against per game at 3.29 slots them 26th in the 31-team circuit. What has been an anchor for the club has failed them this season.
Their special teams are nothing to get excited about, either. On the man advantage, they are 25th overall with a 15.9% conversion rate while their penalty kill is 27th at 75.6%. Interestingly, their face-off winning percentage is 4th overall at 52.6%, but upon winning the draw, they seem to turn the puck over, rendering the attack relatively useless.
Nashville’s goal-scoring firepower comes from Roman Josi (14), Filip Forsberg (14), Nick Bonino (13) and Calle Jarnkrok (12), the only players in double-digits. Josi leads the team in points with 39 and along with fellow defenseman Ryan Ellis lead the team in plus/minus from the backline with +17 and +15 respectively.
Defenseman Roman Josi (#59) of the Nashville Predators
The ordinarily strong goaltending has failed them with top netminder Pekka Rinne failing to hit 0.900 save percentage. In 23 games played, he has started 22 of them going 13-7-3 with an 0.894 save percentage and a 3.02 goals against average. Heir apparent Juuse Saros has not satisfied the need for a worthy back-up to shoulder the load, appearing in 20 games and starting 16 of them going 5-7-3 with an 0.890 save percentage and a 3.23 goals against average. Neither have a shutout this season.
2016-12-19 NHL PHI vs NSH
Goalie Pekka Rinne (#35)
The lack of depth in the defensive corps and porous netminding has Nashville in a very difficult spot if they intend to make the playoffs.
In their only meeting of the season on December 14th in Nashville, after scoring the game’s opening goal, the listless Predators allowed four unanswered goals to Dallas in a 4-1 loss.
Dallas, on the other hand, entered the season coming off an exhausting second round, double-overtime, seven-game series loss to eventual Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis. Poised to continue where they left off and looking for scoring punch by adding veteran forwards Corey Perry (Anaheim) and Jim Pavelski (San Jose), the Stars struggled through the early part of the season with a dreadful 1-7-1 record.
The club then rattled off a 7-1-0 record in their next eight tilts and then went 17-4-2 in their next twenty-three games after that. Then, in early December, with things back on track and an 18-11-3 overall record, they sacked their coach, Jim Montgomery, for “unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League.” Dallas elevated Rich Bowness from assistant to interim head coach and lead the charge.
The longtime assistant has the Stars at 22-14-4, good for third place in the division, 10 points off the pace the Blues have set. The team is 4-3-1 since Bowness’ promotion. While their goals per game allowed is 2nd overall at 2.48, their goals scored per game is awful at 2.63 and 26th overall. They can kill penalties well with an 83.2% survival rate, but when tasked with the man-advantage, they are 23rd overall with a 16.5% conversion rate.
Dallas is led in goals this season by Roope Hintz (13), Tyler Seguin (11) and Alexander Radulov (11). Seguin leads in points (32) with Radulov right behind him (26) and defenseman Miro Heiskanen (22) contributing from the blue line. Radulov is the only Stars’ player with double-digit plus/minus with +14.
Left Wing Roope Hintz (#24) of the Dallas Stars
While the offense has struggled, it is the defense which puts the Stars in a position to compete and be a very tough opponent.
Ben Bishop has started every game he has appeared in, crafting a 13-9-3 record in 27 games posting a 0.925 save percentage and a 2.34 goals against average along with 1 shutout. The play of back-up goaltender Anton Khudobin has propelled the Stars to being in the position they are in, withing striking distance of division leaders St. Louis and Colorado. Khudobin has appeared in 16 games, starting 13 of them and posting a 9-5-1 record with a 0.929 save percentage and a 2.29 goals against average.
Ben Bishop #30 of the Dallas Stars makes a pad save.
The expected second highest attendance of any NHL game with more than 83,000 witnessing the spectacle in the most southern market to hose an outdoor match should be spectacular. Puck drop is at 2:00 PM Eastern Time at Cotton Bowl Stadium.
Dennis Morrell has a lengthy and fulfilling career in the great game as a hockey writer, photographer, goalie coach, player and currently active USA Hockey-certified referee skating over 1,000 games with the whistle. His passion for the game began in the early 70s with his first glance at skaters in Clayton’s Shaw Park. He can be reached at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.com and you can follow him on Twitter at DMMORRELL.
You must be logged in to post a comment.