Author: Brian Roe

After two scoreless periods, the Dallas Stars scored three goals in the final period of the regular season to beat the Minnesota Wild 3-0 on Saturday night.  The win locked the Stars into the first wild card spot and earned them a date with the Central Division champion Nashville Predators in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If the Stars have plans of playing beyond the opening round then Ben Bishop will need to be a major factor.  The Stars netminder returned to action Saturday night after missing the past four games and looked as strong as ever stopping all 24 shots he faced for his seventh shutout of the season.  The shutout lowered Bishop’s already stellar numbers this season as he finishes with a 1.98 goals against average and a .934 save percentage.

The NHL will announce its first round playoff schedule on Sunday morning and the Stars will likely play game one of the series on Wednesday or Thursday night in Nashville.  The Stars went 2-1-2 in five games this season against the Predators.  Dallas and Nashville have never met in the playoffs.

That all changes later this week when the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in Music City.

Brian Roe is the founder and head writer of The Roe Report.  He spent five years working for the Dallas Stars  and has been a contributor at Hockey’s Future, The Hockey Writers, NHL Intel, and more.  Follow Brian on Twitter @brianproe.

The Dallas Stars beat the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night 6-2 officially clinching a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Alexander Radulov led the way scoring two goals – his 28th and 29th of the season – while defensemen John Klingberg and Esa Lindell each had two points.

With the win, the Stars will play beyond the 82-game regular season for the first time since the 2015-16 season.  Dallas will most likely face the Nashville Predators or Winnipeg Jets in the first round.  There is possibility of playing the St. Louis Blues or the Calgary Flames as well.

The Stars will finish out the regular season this weekend with a Friday game against the Chicago Blackhawks and a Saturday game against the Minnesota Wild before hitting the road next week to start their journey in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Brian Roe is the founder and head writer of The Roe Report.  He spent five years working for the Dallas Stars  and has been a contributor at Hockey’s Future, The Hockey Writers, NHL Intel, and more.  Follow Brian on Twitter @brianproe.

The Arizona Coyotes beat the Minnesota Wild on Sunday meaning the Dallas Stars will have to wait until Tuesday for their next opportunity to clinch a playoff spot.  The Stars will officially clinch with a win or an overtime loss on Tuesday night.  The club and its fans will have a chance to celebrate together as the game is on home ice against the Philadelphia Flyers.

• Tyler Pitlick returned to the lineup on Saturday night playing in his first game since January.  The Stars coaching staff was cautious with Pitlick as he only played four minutes and 48 seconds.  Pitlick played on the fourth line with Jason Spezza and Val Nichushkin.

• Mats Zuccarello remains out but is a possibility to play in one of the next two Stars games.  Dallas would like to get him into the lineup in at least one regular season game before the playoffs begin in the next 10 days or so.

• Goaltending prospect Jake Oettinger made his AHL debut on Saturday night and was spectacular stopping 23 of 24 shots helping the Texas Stars win 4-1 over the Iowa Wild.  The former first round pick is our No. 3 ranked prospect and one of the best goaltending prospects in hockey.

Brian Roe is the founder and head writer of The Roe Report.  He spent five years working for the Dallas Stars  and has been a contributor at Hockey’s Future, The Hockey Writers, NHL Intel, and more.  Follow Brian on Twitter @brianproe.

• The Stars series of unfortunate events seem to continue over the last five days as the club lost wingers Mats Zuccarello and Andrew Cogliano to injury.  Zuccarello exploded onto the scene scoring a goal and an assist in two periods of hockey after being acquired from the New York Rangers.  He followed that up by blocking a shot, breaking a bone in his arm, having surgery on said arm, and will not miss a majority of the regular season.  Dallas is hoping he can miraculously return in four weeks.  Adding injury to injury, the modern NHL ironman, Andrew Cogliano, was injured two days later after taking a vicious hit from Vegas winger Ryan Reaves.  It’s the first time Cogliano has ever missed a game to injury in his NHL career.

• Zuccarello was hurt Sunday and the trade deadline was Monday afternoon.  The Stars did not make any other moves but did they try?  Various reports say they did and they were even tied to Los Angeles Kings winger Tyler Toffoli.  Ultimately the Kings held on to Toffoli – who would have been a solid addition for the Stars – and the Stars made not other additions.  Toffoli, 26, has 12 goals and 28 points in 64 games this season with the Kings.

• Jason Robertson is up to 42 goals and 99 points 53 games this season in the OHL.  Depending on the post-season option on both the OHL and AHL, Robertson could find himself in Austin later this spring with the Texas Stars.  Given the Stars lack of forward depth, Robertson is making a legitimate case for jumping straight to the NHL for the 2019-2020 season.

Brian Roe is the founder and head writer of The Roe Report.  He spent five years working for the Dallas Stars  and has been a contributor at Hockey’s Future, The Hockey Writers, NHL Intel, and more.  Follow Brian on Twitter @brianproe.

The Dallas Stars were busy Saturday on the ice losing 3-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes but much of the focus was off the ice with the club making two separate trades.  After trading for defenseman Ben Lovejoy earlier in the day, Dallas struck a second deal acquiring winger Mats Zuccarello from the New York Rangers in exchange for two conditional picks.

Zuccarello, 31, has 37 points in 46 games this season with the Rangers.  He has spent his entire career in New York but may only be in Dallas for a few months as he’s an unrestricted free agent this summer.

The two draft selections Dallas is sending to New York could be substantial depending on what happens in the next five months.  For now, the picks going to the Rangers are a 2019 second round pick and a 2020 third round pick.  If the Stars advance to the Western Conference Final round in the 2019 playoffs then the conditional second round pick becomes a first round pick in 2019.  If the Stars re-sign Zuccarello to an extension then the conditional third round pick will become a first round pick in 2020.

While it’s unlikely, the Stars could end up without a first round pick in 2019 and 2020 if they advance to the Western Final and Zuccarello re-signs.  Zuccarello and Lovejoy are both expected to play for the Stars tomorrow afternoon in Chicago, depending on their travel arrangements.

Brian Roe is the founder and head writer of The Roe Report.  He spent five years working for the Dallas Stars  and has been a contributor at Hockey’s Future, The Hockey Writers, NHL Intel, and more.  Follow Brian on Twitter @brianproe.

The Dallas Stars traded defenseman Connor Carrick and a 2019 third round pick to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in exchange for defenseman Ben Lovejoy.  The 35-year-old is a +1 with seven points and 77 blocked shots in 51 games with the Devils this season.  Lovejoy is a penalty kill specialist and currently in the top-5 in the NHL in shorthanded time on ice.

Lovejoy will likely start on the third pairing with Jamie Oleksiak and may get an opportunity to play with Miro Heiskanen at some point this season.  The newest Dallas defenseman won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016.

Lovejoy will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Brian Roe is the founder and head writer of The Roe Report.  He spent five years working for the Dallas Stars  and has been a contributor at Hockey’s Future, The Hockey Writers, NHL Intel, and more.  Follow Brian on Twitter @brianproe.

Tyler Pitlick had surgery on his wrist Tuesday and will likely miss the remainder of the regular season.  Pitlick has been out since Jan. 17 after Kings forward Dustin Brown attempted to drive Pitlick through the American Airlines Center glass.  Pitlick has six goals and 10 points in 43 games this season.

Brian Roe is the founder and lead writer of The Roe Report.  He spent five years working for the Dallas Stars and has been a contributor at Hockey’s Future, The Hockey Writers, NHL Intel, and more.  Follow Brian on Twitter @brianproe.

After scoring just one goal in the first two periods, the Dallas Stars exploded with a four-goal third period including three straight goals in 1:11 winning 5-4 over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.

Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz, Radek Faksa, Mattias Janmark, and John Klingberg all scored goals for the Stars.  Jamie Benn and Miro Heiskanen added two assists each and Ben Bishop made 38 saves.

The Stars have now won five straight games and remain all alone in third place in the Central Division with 60 points in 53 games.  Dallas returns to action on Thursday night another game against the Nashville Predators in Music City.

Brian Roe is the founder and lead writer of The Roe Report.  He spent five years working for the Dallas Stars and has been a contributor at Hockey’s Future, The Hockey Writers, NHL Intel, and more.  Follow Brian on Twitter @brianproe.

In one of the more puzzling moves in recent memory, the Dallas Stars reversed last year’s deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins re-acquiring defenseman Jamie Oleksiak in exchange for the same fourth round pick that was originally given to Dallas last year.

Oleksiak essentially played a full season with Pittsburgh since the original trade – skating in 83 regular season games with the Penguins – and put up a respectable eight goals and 25 points.  He has 11 points in 36 games with Pittsburgh this season.

The 26-year-old is expected to play on the Stars third pairing and kill penalties.  The move was made after the Stars announced defenseman Marc Methot is out for the season after undergoing another knee surgery.

Oleksiak is a former first round pick by Dallas when the club took the 6-foot-7 defenseman with the No. 14 pick in the 2011 draft.  Oleksiak is still young having just turned 26 years old last month.  He is signed through the 2020-21 season.

Brian Roe is the founder and head writer of The Roe Report.  He spent five years working for the Dallas Stars  and has been a contributor at Hockey’s Future, The Hockey Writers, NHL Intel, and more.  Follow Brian on Twitter @brianproe.