When the Dallas Stars travel north of the border to play their Central Division rival Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, it will be under circumstances that no fans were expecting.
The Stars enter the game with a Central-leading 8-3-1 record having won three games in a row. Winnipeg comes into the contest on a six-game point streak (5-0-1) and an overall record of 7-3-1.
I certainly didn’t have these two teams as the top two in the division, even this early in the season, and I’m guessing most other fans didn’t expect this either. With that said, Tuesday’s game will be played with first place on the line.
The Jets and Stars will battle for the Central Division lead on Tuesday.
Dallas has struggled on offense in recent years, but that has not been the case so far in the 2022-2023 season. In three games last week, the Stars scored 18 goals.
Individually, Big D has three players recording a point per game through the first 12 games, and two other players have double-digit points. Jason Robertson is leading the charge for the Stars with 18 points (eight goals and ten assists).
I didn’t think Jamie Benn had much left in him, and I had questions about Tyler Seguin as well, but they are both playing well, and Dallas is thriving as a result.
On the other side, the Jets came into this season feeling like a lost team. As it turns out, that is not the case. Defense is leading the way for Winnipeg, as goaltender Connor Hellebuyck looks like himself after a bad season in 2021-2022.
He’s posted a 6-2-1 record with a 2.09 goals against average and a .936 save percentage.
The defense is playing so well that it’s generating offense too, evidenced by defenseman Josh Morrissey‘s team-leading 11 points (one goal and 10 assists) through 11 games played.
These are two teams that no longer felt like contenders, yet here they are, playing as well as any team in the NHL through the first month of the season.
Both clubs are a long way away from establishing themselves as true threats to win the Cup this season, but right now, an early Central Division lead is within reach for each of them.