Dallas got through that Colorado home-and-home by splitting it, and it took some doing. The Stars lost 3-2 at home to an Avalanche team playing without Cale Makar. A night later they won the rematch 3-2 in a shootout at Ball Arena, where Roope Hintz scored the winner in the 4th round. Hintz had been evaluated by doctors after the first game and was day-to-day going into the second. He played anyway, and that sums up the week for a roster that's getting thin.
The Stars opened the season with a 5-0 win over San Jose and a 4-0 win at Buffalo, so the defense has looked like a contender's. The offense has been another story. They've scored 1, 2 and 3 goals in the 3 games since, and the reason is easy to see. Wyatt Johnston hadn't missed any of the 395 regular-season and playoff games since he made the team in 2022, and he sat out with an illness. He's hoping to be back for Chicago.
Look at the Dallas injury report and almost every name is a center. Matt Duchene is out about 3 months after core surgery. Johnston is out for now, Oskar Back is day-to-day, and Cameron Hughes is on injured reserve. If Johnston can't go, the lineup Dallas sends out for the 6:00 PM CT puck drop is a long way from the one it planned. Chicago is missing Andrew Mangiapane, but otherwise it has the healthier roster of the 2.
It's still a 2-5-0 team hosting a 3-3-1 team that had real expectations in October, and the Blackhawks gave up 4 to the Islanders and 5 to Carolina in their losses before Bedard came back. The real question is simple: how much does one player change a young team's ceiling, and how much does missing a few centers lower Dallas's? We'll know more about both after the Winnipeg game and once Johnston's status is settled.