The Chicago Blackhawks are in Dallas on Sunday night to take on the Stars for the third and final time this season.
Not much has changed for the Stars in the standings since the Blackhawks last saw them on Jan. 1: they remain second in the Central Division behind the Colorado Avalanche, with the Minnesota Wild still lurking close behind. Where things have changed is under the hood. Dallas has improved noticeably in its shot metrics over the past two months, moving from 31st to 26th in shot-attempt share (now 47.52 percent) while jumping from 24th to 12th in expected goal share (51.39 percent). The results have followed with the Stars’ having a 9-0-1 record in their last 10 games, with their only loss being a 5-4 overtime defeat to the Avalanche last Friday.
Up front, there are a couple of injuries that could impact the Stars down the stretch, particularly to Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz, who are both out with lower-body injuries. Rantanen, who leads the team with 1.28 points per game, was hurt at the Olympics, while Hintz (0.83) was injured in his first game back from the break against Colorado. Dallas is hopeful both will return before the playoffs, but those are some big holes to fill. Luckily for the Stars, they still have guys who are able to step up. Jason Robertson (1.19) and Wyatt Johnston (1.08) are producing at extremely high and steady rates, while Matt Duchene has seen a major surge in recent months, jumping from 0.38 points per game two months ago to 0.76 now. Sam Steel (0.47) has also been excellent since moving onto the second line, posting 10 points in his last 10 games, and Michael Bunting (0.51) was added to the roster via trade at the deadline to deepen the forward group.
On defense, the Stars remain loaded on the left side with their trio of Olympians: Miro Heiskanen (0.87), Esa Lindell (0.39), and Thomas Harley (0.54). The right side has been a bit shakier among the other regulars, so Dallas addressed that at the trade deadline by adding veteran defenseman Tyler Myers for extra depth.
Line combos may be a bit of a mystery for Dallas, given the injury of Hintz and the recent acquisitions of Myers and Bunting. Both were at practice on Saturday and seem set for their Stars debuts. The forward lines from that practice are below:
No Hintz, Heiskanen, Lindell, or Harley at practice today. I would guess maintenance for all but 24.
— Sam Nestler (@samnestler) March 7, 2026
Here are forward lines:
Robertson – Johnston – Bourque
Steel – Duchene – Benn
Bunting – Hryckowian – Erne
Blackwell – Bäck – Bastian
As for the Blackhawks, they’re coming off a 6-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, the worst team in the league — not great, obviously. Still, the Blackhawks were arguably the better team statistically, but it doesn’t matter how many quality chances a team generates if it can’t finish consistently and then help their netminder keep pucks out of the net.
On the offensive side of things, it’s not that the Blackhawks are devoid of players who can produce: it’s that they haven’t been hitting their marks as often as you’d want and when they actually need them to score. There is some hope for improvement, though. Frank Nazar had a strong showing against Vancouver with 3 points (1 G, 2 A), bringing him up to 6 points in his last 10 games. Hopefully that’s a precursor to a larger breakout. Ilya Mikheyev, whom the Blackhawks did not move at the trade deadline, also had a solid night with 2 points (1 G, 1 A) in the loss and now has seven points over that same span. Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi also have seven points in their last 10 games, while Connor Bedard leads the group with nine. That’s decent offense that, if it continues, could at least signal some progress for the team down the stretch.
On Saturday, the Blackhawks recalled Nick Lardis and Drew Commesso. After the trade deadline, the team now has room to keep Lardis up for a while if they want. As for Commesso, he’s up because Spencer Knight is still sick and did not travel with the team to Dallas.
hi Nick and Drew👋
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 7, 2026
📰 ➡︎ https://t.co/a4M7iaQyiy pic.twitter.com/CUQtjz5Rsw
With nothing to report from a morning skate, it’s unknown where Lardis will slot into the lineup, if he will at all. Below is the forward lineup from practice on Saturday, although that occurred before the call-ups, so it could still be changed.
Blackhawks forward lines in practice:
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 7, 2026
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Bertuzzi-Nazar-Teravainen
Mangiapane-Moore-Mikheyev
Slaggert-Donato-Lafferty
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Stars
46.45% (29th) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 47.52% (26th)
44.02% (31st) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 51.39% (12th)
2.63 (27th) — Goals per game — 3.42 (6th)
3.16 (20th) — Goals against per game — 2.68 (3rd)
46.7% (30th) — Faceoffs — 52.1% (6th)
19.3% (20th) — Power play — 29.9% (2nd)
85.6% (1st) — Penalty kill — 80.1% (13th)
(All stats from this season)
How to watch
When: 5 p.m. CT
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: CHSN
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720