Stars face Panthers for 2 in Finland

In a match that feels as fitting as a worn-out sauna bench, the Dallas Stars bring their ‘Finnish Mafia’ to home ice, that is, Finland.

As part of the 2024 NHL Global Series, the Stars will face the Florida Panthers in Finland for a two-game matchup on Friday and Saturday at the Nokia Arena in Tampere.

The Finnish trio of The Stars Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell And Call HintzCollectively known as the ‘Finnish Mafia’, return to their home country along with the Panthers center Aleksander Barkovwho last season became the first Finnish player to captain a Stanley Cup-winning team. It’s only fitting that these two Finnish heavyweight teams are playing across the pond in Finland.

Both the Stars and Panthers are off to a good start this season. Dallas has won seven of its first nine games, including a 4-2 victory over Chicago on Saturday. The Stars converted the struggling power play to open a 3-0 lead over the Blackhawks before holding off a late charge. The Stars also recorded a rare 5-2 victory last Thursday in Boston, where they had not won since 2018.

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Panthers have been equally impressive this season. He has won four of the last five games and sits atop the Atlantic Division. The champions managed to win despite Barkov and Barkov’s injuries early in the season Matthew Tkachuk. Both players are expected to play in the Global Series.

Star storyline to watch: Of course it has to be the Finnish mafia. Heiskanen added a pair of assists in his last game against the Blackhawks and is riding a two-game losing streak after going winless through the first seven games of the season. He will run a power-play offense that will likely need to contribute to staying with the high-powered Panthers. Hintz has scored four goals and four assists in nine games this season. Add in Lindell and there’s no doubt this trio will be excited for these two games.

Dallas Stars lineup

Jason Robertson (21) – Roope Hintz (24) – Logan Stankoven (11)
Mason Marchment (27) – Matt Duchene (95) – Tyler Seguin (91)
Jamie Benn (14) – Wyatt Johnston (53) – Evgenii Dadonov (63)
Mavrik Bourque (22) – Sam Steel (18) – Colin Blackwell (15)

Miro Heiskanen (4) – Matt Dumba (3)
Thomas Harley (55) – Ilya Lyubushkin (46)
Esa Lindell (23) – Nils Lundqvist (5)

Jake Oettinger (29)
Casey De Smith (1)

Key statistics: Both goalkeepers Jake Oettinger (1.84 GAA) and Casey DeSmith (1.69) are in the top four in the NHL in goals against average. Look for the duo to likely break up in Finland. The Stars have allowed the fewest goals (17) in the NHL this season.

Florida Panthers Lineup

Evan Rodrigues (17) – Aleksander Barkov (16) – Sam Reinhart (13)
Carter Verhaeghe (23) – Sam Bennett (9) – Matthew Tkachuk (19)
Eetu Luostarinen (27) – Anton Lundell (15) – Jesper Boqvist (70)
AJ Greer (10) – Patrick Giles (36) – Mackie Samoskevich (25)

Gustav Forsling (42) – Aaron Ekblad (5)
Niko Mikkola (77) – Dmitri Kulikov (7)
Uvis Balinskis (26) – Nate Schmidt (88)

Sergei Bobrovsky (72)
Spencer Knight (30)

Of all the Finnish players skating in the Global Series, Panthers is ahead Anton Lundell perhaps the one to keep an eye on. Lundell has 12 points from 11 games this season and has taken a nice step forward in the absence of Barkov and Tkachuk due to injuries. Lundell, who signed a six-year contract with the Panthers this summer, has four multi-point games under his belt this season.

Things to look at

Panthers on the attack

Florida has one of the best two-line punches in the NHL. Sam Reinhart And Sam Bennett are both top 20 in the NHL in scoring. The Panthers have outscored their opponents 14-6 in their last three games, all on the road. Barkov appears to be back from an early-season lower-body injury that sidelined him for eight games. He added a goal and assist in his return Monday in a 5-2 win over Buffalo. Tkachuk continues to do Tkachuk things, including one of the most Matthew-Tkachuk-esque goals you’ll see:

Star penalty murder

Dallas boasts the highest-ranked penalty killing unit in the NHL at 93.1%, allowing just two PP goals this season. Goaltending and strong puck play have helped this unit, but the Stars also haven’t taken many penalties this year – only 60 PIM, which is one of the few in the league. Fewer penalties means fewer chances.

Matt Duchene

Star center Matt Duchene is off to one of his best starts to the season through the first nine games. Duchene, who is 18^e season in the NHL, has scored 11 points (six goals and five assists) so far this year, including a pair of goals Saturday in the win against Chicago. Duchene has scored five goals in his last four games and was named the NHL’s third star of the week on Monday.

How to watch

Both games will be broadcast on Victory+ and you can hear the radio call on The Ticket. Please note the start times for each game: Friday at 1:00 PM CDT and Saturday at 11:00 AM CDT.