Pre-Game Notes (9): One last game before crossing the pond

Hockey is just one game away from completion for the Dallas Stars in the month of October as the team hosts the Chicago Blackhawks in Dallas before taking six days off and heading to Tampere, Finland.

The games have been close together so far for the Stars, who have played every other day since the start of the season, with the exception of an extra day off before Tuesday's Buffalo Sabers game. This all stems from the Stars' trip to Finland on November 1st and 2nd to play the Florida Panthers in the NHL Global Series. They have a break before and after the trip, so the start of the season was full of games. Despite the busy schedule, Dallas is 6-2-0 so far in the starting lineup and still has some growing pains in finding its complete game.

For example, Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen just scored his first point of the season in a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Previously, Thomas Harley was the only Stars defenseman with points, recording a goal and three assists this year.

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Head coach Pete DeBoer's message of playing more physically and with new intensity seemed to resonate with the team in Thursday's win over Boston, and now the Stars look to continue that level of play in a very winnable game against the Blackhawks. It wasn't always easy for Dallas to play against Chicago, especially in Dallas, where thousands of transplanted Blackhawks fans always show up for their team. The Blackhawks have been a dynasty for a long time, but have certainly had their problems since the dissolution of the core.

Even with new superstar Connor Bedard entering his second season, the Hawks haven't gotten off to a good start, starting at 2-5-1 and currently riding a three-game losing streak. The team has certainly improved from last year's bare-bones roster of Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi, Ilya Mikheyev, TJ Brodie, Pat Maroon, Laurent Brossoit and former Stars forward Craig Smith.

Chicago played the first half of a back-to-back game Friday night at home against the Nashville Predators and lost 3-2. Starting goaltender Petr Mrazek made 31 saves on 34 Preds shots, but Brady Skeji scored Nashville's game-winning goal on the power play in the third period. Thanks to Smith's third goal of the season and Bedard's second goal, the Hawks led 2-0.

Expect Brossoit to play in net for Chicago tonight. Brossoit spent last season supporting Connor Hellebuyck in Winnipeg.

What you should pay attention to:

• Despite the struggles against Chicago in the Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews era, the Stars have actually won 10 of their last 12 games against the Hawks, including four of the last five in Dallas.

• Jason Robertson has 22 points in just 19 career games against the Blackhawks. Robertson has four goals and two assists so far this year.

• Matt Duchene leads the Stars with nine points in eight games so far this year. His play has been excellent so far and like last season he's off to a great start.

• After picking up his first point against Boston, Heiskanen could be hoping for more tonight as he has scored a point per game in his last 13 meetings with the Blackhawks.

Projected lines:

Robertson-Hintz-Stankoven
Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
Benn-Johnston-Dadonov
Steel Back Blackwell

Dumba Heiskanen
Harley Lybushkin
Lindell-Lundkvist

Oettinger
DeSmith

It's the annual Halloween Game of the Stars where fans are asked to dress up for the game and show off their spooky side.

Puck Drop will take place at 7:00 p.m. CDT and can be viewed on Victory+ locally and ESPN+ in out-of-market areas.

Be sure to bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and more.

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