The Dallas Stars defeated the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night in the first of a back-to-back West Coast swing by a final score of 5-3. With the win on Thursday in the Shark Tank, the Stars stay on pace with the rest of the scorching-hot Central Division and move to 23-7-5 on the season. (For those keeping track, yes, the Minnesota Wild traded for Quinn Hughes. The Central Division is in fact STACKED.)
Special teams were on display for the Stars while in San Jose, finishing the night a perfect 1 for 1 on the power play and 3 for 3 on the penalty kill. Partnered with a birthday special showing for Jake Oettinger, stopping 34 of 37 shots from a youthful and quick Sharks team. The Sharks finished the night leading the Stars in hits, shots on goal, and shot attempts, but the Stars would control the outcome on the scoreboard with smart play and continued pressure from regulars on the stat sheet like Wyatt Johnston, Roope Hintz, and a major slip-up from Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic that would lead to a basically empty net goal from Justin Hryckowian. (If you are a goaltender…tend the goal.)
The Stars head to Anaheim on Friday night to take on the surprisingly spicy Ducks, who currently sit 2nd in the Pacific Division and have had one of their hottest starts to the season in years. For those of us in Central Standard Time, get your naps in. Puck drop is set for 9 PM.
It’s that time of the year when Christmas lists are stacked high for Jolly Old St Nick to wiggle his robust toosh down the chimney to deliver toys for all the good boys and girls, and the Stars list has a few key items to push them to the next level for 2026.
New Legs for Tyler Seguin
It was reported this week that Tyler Seguin underwent successful surgery on his torn ACL and will be reevaluated after the Olympic break, but man, can we just get him some new legs? The current ACL injury sadly adds to a growing list of lower-body injuries that Seguin has suffered in his career, which just recently lapsed the 1,000-game mark. (The Stars held a ceremony for Seguin, who should have been in his jersey, but was in a suit and tie.)
At this point, can we just get the poor guy a new set of legs?
Anger Management Classes for Mikko
Apparently, Mikko Rantenen is a “bad guy” now. Let’s set him up with a few anger management classes so the league will see that he’s just misunderstood. As of Friday, Mikko Rantenen leads the league in PIMS with 69, along with Logan Stanley of the Winnipeg Jets. Mikko is also on a production tear, currently sitting with 46 points on the season, behind 14 goals and 32 assists. Good enough to put him at the fifth spot overall in the league. You take the good with the bad.
A Kitchen for Jim Nill
With the Dallas Stars having the chance to gain Tyler Seguin’s full amount of salary available, Stars GM Jim Nill would have the opportunity to make a tidal wave-type splash come the trade deadline. I have covered a few names like Blake Coleman, Nazim Kadri, and Rasmus Andersson as potential trade targets this season, but with how Nill works, it’s likely he is on the phone with multiple organizations to see if there is any room for a deal with a top defenseman and or a top 6 winger/center. Over the last three seasons, Nill has earned the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, thanks to the midseason acquisitions he has made. Most recently, the trading and long-term signing of the aforementioned Mikko Rantenen, but even before that, names like Mikael Granlund, Cody Ceci, Chris Tanev, Max Domi, and Mats Zuccarello all came to Dallas in trades to push for the Cup, thanks to Jim Nill being hot on the phones. With the possibility of having more cap space at the deadline than he has had in recent years, Nill could put on the chef’s hat and come up with one of the tastiest deals to date.
Give Jim Nill a shiny new kitchen and LET HIM COOK.
A New Home, or just like… some peace?
I could go off on a 5-page tangent about how slimy the new ownership of the Dallas Mavericks is, but it’s Christmas, so for the sake of being a good boy, I shall refrain. That being said, can we just figure out this arena situation? Better yet, can the Mav’s just relax or get out? The Stars have called downtown Dallas their home since they landed here in 1993, with their first arena being Reunion Arena before moving to the American Airlines Center in 2001.
The word on the street is a move to Plano, and while that would benefit me personally, not being far from the city of Plano, downtown Dallas needs to have sports teams calling it their home. It makes little to no sense why the two organizations cannot co-exist, and quite frankly, it puts a sour taste in the mouths of both the Stars and Mavs. So, can we just all get along here? Just dump millions of dollars into the AAC, and everyone wins. Easy enough, right?
Bright & Shiny New (old) Logo
Stars fans cried long enough for it, and it finally happened. The Dallas Stars announced the new third jersey in November, and fans quite literally can’t get enough of it. (Setting NHL merchandise records.) Now that we have “The ’99” third jersey, the fans are in an uproar once again. This time? Just make the thirds the focal point of a full rebrand. It’s that simple. The D-Star has run its course, and while the “victory green” was a decent attempt at a full rebrand, Stars fans, young and old, are fully obsessed with the 90’s logo and star pattern on the jersey. As they rightfully should be. Even if you keep the current color scheme and simply rebrand the away jerseys to include a star pattern and a retro logo, fans will be delighted.
The list could go on and on, but I think these are a few key points that Stars fans can get behind. Especially the robot legs for Seguin.
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