Stars at Devils
Kyle Palmieri hopes to continue his torrid early-season scoring pace when the unbeaten New Jersey Devils host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Palmieri set a Devils record for the most goals by a player through the first three games of a season with six to help his team to a 3-0-0 start after scoring twice for the third consecutive contest in Sunday's 3-2 home victory over San Jose.
“At the end of the day, if you want to score goals, you have to go to the net and have a shot-first mentality,” New Jersey coach John Hynes told reporters of Palmieri. “He’s a guy that goes to the net and has a shot-first mentality. Some of our other guys can learn from him.” The Devils have outscored opponents 14-4 in the early going and are 10-for-11 on the penalty kill as they prepare to face a Dallas team that is a gaudy 7-for-12 on the power play through its first five contests. Defenseman John Klingberg scored the only goal with the man advantage for the Stars on Monday as they wasted a 38-24 advantage of shots in a 4-1 loss at Ottawa. Alexander Radulov saw his season-opening four-game goal-scoring streak come to an end Monday but notched an assist to tie Tyler Seguin for the team lead with 10 points.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Dallas), MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE STARS (3-2-0): Klingberg’s goal - his second on the power play this season - tied him with Radulov and captain Jamie Benn for the team lead with four while Seguin is next with three. Miro Heiskanen, a 19-year-old defenseman who was selected third overall in the 2017 draft, has recorded one assist and 12 shots in his first five NHL games while averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time. Ben Bishop surrendered three goals on 23 shots in the setback at Ottawa and could give way to backup Anton Khudobin, who won his debut with Dallas on Saturday by making 22 saves in the 5-3 triumph over Anaheim.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (3-0-0): Cory Schneider has been through a few full practices and is close to returning from hip surgery, but Keith Kinkaid has been solid in net while starting the first three games, posting a .949 save percentage. “Keith’s been great,” Palmieri told reporters. “He’s made some big saves, timely saves for us to keep us in games or give us momentum when things were getting a little sloppy. He’s done more than what you can ask of a starting goalie.” Travis Zajac has scored two goals and leads the NHL in faceoff percentage (67.9) among players who have taken at least 50 draws.
OVERTIME
1. Dallas C Jason Spezza, who notched his fourth assist in as many contests on Monday, is six games away from 1,000 in his career.
2. New Jersey LW Taylor Hall, the reigning Hart Trophy winner, has registered three assists and a plus-3 rating in his last two games.
3. The teams split a pair of meetings last season, with the home team winning each contest after the visiting club captured both in 2016-17.