Dallas has the opposite problem. The Stars are winning, but they keep losing centers. Matt Duchene had core surgery and is out until January at the earliest. Oskar Back just went on long-term IR, Sam Steel is out, Radek Faksa is day-to-day and Cameron Hughes is on IR. Esa Lindell is also on IR on the blue line. That leaves a lot of minutes down the middle for whoever is still healthy, against a Devils team that just scored 4 or more in 3 of its last 5.
There's also a game in between. Dallas hosts the New York Islanders on Sunday, so the Stars' form, their goalie usage and maybe their center depth chart will all have moved by Tuesday. As of now they've won 4 straight. The wins were a 3-2 at Colorado, a 4-0 shutout in Chicago, then 3-2 wins over Boston and Winnipeg at home. They can grind, but 3 of those 4 came down to a single goal, so there hasn't been much room for error.
The matchup on the ice is simple enough. The Devils have been scoring freely at Prudential Center. The Stars have been winning close, low-event games, with a short-handed middle of the lineup that hasn't cost them on the scoreboard yet. Puck drop at American Airlines Center is 7:00 PM CT. The biggest open question is in the New Jersey crease: the Devils didn't trade for Hellebuyck to keep him on the sidelines, and if he debuts here, this game gets a lot more interesting.
Both injury lists matter. New Jersey's says Hellebuyck is out with no timeline yet, and Seamus Casey is out 6-8 weeks after a knee procedure. Dallas's list is a center depth chart with names crossed off. Watch the Sunday lineup against the Islanders. It will show how the Stars plan to cover the middle, and the Devils will see it before Tuesday.