Stars Who’s Hot, Who’s Cold? Defense! Defense!

In this weekly segment ‘Who’s Hot, Who’s Cold?’, we look at who performed well and who struggled in the previous week of action for the Dallas Stars. 

Here are the four games the Stars played last week (Dec. 4-11)

Wild 6, Stars 5 (SO)

Maple Leafs 4, Stars 0

Stars 4, Senators 3 (OT)

Stars 3, Red Wings 2 (OT)

Record: 3-1-1

Who’s Hot? 

Roope Hintz

The Ace of Spades had to keep up with his linemate Jason Robertson, and that is exactly what he did. 

Hintz began the week with a hat trick against the Minnesota Wild, including the late game-tying goal that capped off a four-point night and a three-goal third-period comeback for the Stars. 

Hintz added two assists in the Stars first overtime victory of the season against the Ottawa Senators, finishing with three goals and six points in four games. 

Miro Heiskanen

Miro has continued to play on another level from most defensemen across the NHL. 

At the beginning of the preseason, it looked like Heiskanen would flourish under Pete DeBoer’s system. And flourish he has. 

Heiskanen tallied two goals in the first period of the Stars overtime victory against Ottawa, the first two goals of the game that allowed the Stars to take a 2-0 lead. 

The 23-year-old added an assist against Detroit and also played his highest and second-highest time on ice, skating for 30:05 against Minnesota and 29:56 in the overtime win over the Red Wings. In four games, Heiskanen averaged over 28 minutes per game. 

Nils Lundkvist 

Speaking of Heiskanen, Nils Lundkvist was paired up with the elite defender after returning from a three-game stretch of healthy scratches. DeBoer wanted him to get the chance to play with confidence and therefore chose to slot him next to Heiskanen, who can clean up the mother of all messes if need be. 

Lundkvist looked like he had a chip on his shoulder and wanted to prove that he belonged in the lineup every night. 

The 22-year-old scored a massive goal, tying the game late against the Ottawa Senators and allowing the Stars to win in overtime. Then, he followed that up with an even bigger goal, the late overtime winner against the Red Wings. 

Lundkvist finished the week with two goals and one assist in just three games. 

Who’s Cold?

Tyler Seguin*

This one comes with an asterisk for good reason. No, Seguin has not racked up the points lately. But he has been one of the Stars best players in nearly every game over the past week or two. 

Against the Senators, Seguin scored the overtime winner off of a great pass and hustle play from Wyatt Johnston but believed he played one of his worst games of the season. 

"It's a funny game," he said. "I feel like I'm playing well the last couple games, a lot of chances, no finish. Tonight, I thought I was s**t and scored the winner."

In the four games, Seguin recorded one goal and one assist. But the veteran is playing some fast and creative hockey and I believe is right on the cusp of producing at a high rate. 

Colin Miller

After Miller had begun producing at a much faster pace, he slowed down last week.  

Miller recorded one point in the shootout loss to the Wild but was held off the scoresheet in the other three games. He finished the week with a plus-1 rating. 

I truly believe that the Stars have higher expectations for Miller on the offensive end. He has been mostly solid defensively and has shown flashes of offense but this is a 30-year-old defenseman that recorded 41 and 30-point seasons in Vegas. He has one of the hardest shots on the team and needs to find a way to bring more on the other end of the rink. 

Jamie Benn – Wyatt Johnston – Ty Dellandrea

This third line for Dallas had been pretty lethal until last week. In four games, the trio accounted for just one goal and three points while maintaining a minus-2 rating between them. 

Benn scored a big power-play goal on Saturday against Detroit and Johnston added two assists in the win over the Senators, but that is it. The trio was separated on Monday against Pittsburgh, as Denis Gurianov took over at right wing and Dellandrea was bumped up to the second line.