Stars @ Penguins, Game 29: Lines, Notes, How to Watch

Dallas Stars at Pittsburgh Penguins

6:00 PM CT: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

How to Watch: Bally Sports Southwest Extra 

The Dallas Stars meet the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time this season, kicking off a five-game road trip through the Eastern Conference.

Dallas is coming off a very successful homestand. In five games, the Stars went 3-1-1, taking seven of a possible 10 points and earning their first two overtime wins of the season (2-5). 

Dynamic Duo: Nils Lundkvist and Miro Heiskanen have been skating on the same pair in each of the three games since Lundkvist was a healthy scratch. Lundkvist has scored two massive goals in those games and Heiskanen scored twice in the Stars overtime win against the Senators. 

Read More: Nils Lundkvist Stays in the Spotlight, Stars Outlast Wings in OT

Head Coach Pete DeBoer will be mixing things up a bit in Pittsburgh on Monday. 

Denis Gurianov was moved up the lineup mid-game on Saturday. DeBoer said it was one of his best games and that he wanted to reward his performance. That move has been solidified as Gurianov will skate on the third line with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston. 

"I said Gurianov had his best game since I've been here so I want to see if he can follow that up & build some momentum on it, or not…primary thing is, wanna give Denis an opportunity to build on it,” DeBoer said."

Dallas recalled forward Riley Tufte on Monday morning to provide an extra body on the five-game trip. Tufte is not expected to play tonight. 

Starting goaltender: The Stars have been riding Jake Oettinger, who started all five games on the homestand. With a back-to-back Monday and Tuesday, Oettinger will play tonight, likely meaning that we will see Scott Wedgewood in New Jersey. 

Oettinger is 11-3-3 with a .915 save percentage. 

Stars Projected Lines

• Jason Robertson – Roope Hintz – Joe Pavelski
• Mason Marchment – Tyler Seguin – Ty Dellandrea
• Jamie Benn – Wyatt Johnston – Denis Gurianov
• Joel Kiviranta – Radek Faksa – Luke Glendening
• Miro Heiskanen – Nils Lundkvist
• Ryan Suter – Colin Miller
• Esa Lindell – Jani Hakanpaa
• Jake Oettinger
• Scott Wedgewood

Penguins Scouting Report 

The Penguins are one of the hottest teams in the NHL. Over their last ten games, they have recorded points in nine, going 8-1-1. Pittsburgh has won five straight games. In that span, they have scored 21 goals (4.2 per game). 

Captain Sidney Crosby leads the Pens with 17 goals and 28 points while the duo of Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith have produced an elite .918 save percentage, third-best in the NHL.