Dallas has its own mess from an 8-goal night. The Stars led the Jets 2-0 after 1 period and 3-2 midway through the 2nd. Then Winnipeg scored 6 straight, 5 of them in the 2nd period, including Mark Scheifele's power-play winner and 2 goals from Dawson Mercer. That was the 3rd straight game Heiskanen missed after taking a hit along the boards from Washington's Justin Sourdif. Without him, Dallas had no answer for Winnipeg's top 6.
The good news for Dallas is that Heiskanen has been skating on his own and is hoping to return this weekend, per Rotowire. The Stars host the Sabres on Saturday and the Panthers on Sunday, so whether he plays the front half of that back-to-back is the biggest open question about this game. Lian Bichsel went day-to-day after the Jets loss, and with Kyle Capobianco and Luke Krys also on IR, the Stars don't have much depth on defense. Matt Duchene is out for months after core surgery, which already thinned the middle of the lineup.
At 10-6-2, the Stars have had a better season than the Sabres, and they're 3-2 over their last 5. Two of those wins were one-goal games against Washington and San Jose. Buffalo's offense isn't the problem when it shows up: Josh Norris scored twice and Owen Power had 3 assists in the 5-2 win over Columbus. The problem is the defense, which has given up 4, 8 and 3 in the 3 games since. Puck drop is 7:00 PM CT at American Airlines Center. Whichever defense holds up best probably wins it, and Dallas may get its best defenseman back.
