The Dallas Stars are riding a five-game winning streak and have won seven of eight games heading into Thursday's home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. But that hot streak pales in comparison to what forward Roope Hintz has achieved lately.
Thanks to his first career hat trick in a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, Hintz has scored 10 goals in his last nine games. It's a remarkable turnaround for a player who failed to score in the first 11 games of the season.
"Right now, it's going in," Hintz said. "I'm getting good passes from my linemates (Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson) and teammates, so that helps."
Pavelski has been lighting it up lately, too, with three goals and seven points in his last three games, but the way Hintz has been performing can't be overlooked for a team that has shot up the standings.
"(He) wants to shoot. Makes a lot of good little plays and competes. That's No. 1 -- he competes," Pavelski said of Hintz. "He's been playing great, and it's great to see the puck go in the net for him. He's one of the guys that drives this team."
The Stars are riding another eye-opening trend. They have scored in the opening two minutes in three consecutive games, becoming only the 13th team in league history to do that, and first since the New York Islanders in February 2015.
Even so, how the Stars were forced to hang on for the win against Carolina -- withstanding a third period in which they were outshot 17-5 before sealing the deal with an empty-net goal -- was a reminder how they must push to be better to climb into a playoff spot.
"Good teams find a way to win, and right now we're finding a way to win," coach Rick Bowness said.
The Blue Jackets arrive in Texas on the heels of Tuesday's 6-0 loss to the Nashville Predators. Columbus has surrendered a half-dozen goals in each of the first two games of a four-game road trip.
"We're three games into this where I feel we haven't been at our best," coach Brad Larsen said. "You remember there's other teams playing, and they played well, they capitalize, but now we get to see, how do we get this together?
"Practice is important. Every rep is important. Every face-off is important. Every play is important. That urgency has to go up. For our group, now we're going to have to manage this on the road."
It's not all bad news of late for the Blue Jackets. They have won five of eight games. However, a turnaround is needed in a tough situation, as Columbus has eight of its next 10 games on the road.
"The schedule is only going to get tougher, right?" forward Jakub Voracek said. "We are on the road a lot. We have to find a way, let's say if we don't have it, how to manage a game better. It comes with experience. It comes with adjusting.
"You know, we don't have that much experience on the team, but I think so far we have done a pretty good job in the season that we always stop the bleeding, so hopefully we are going to do it in Dallas."
--Field Level Media