The Dallas Stars opened a six-game homestand on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins, and the timing matters because their early-season split is still hard to ignore. Dallas came home at 1-2-0 at American Airlines Center, even though it entered the matchup with a 3-1-1 mark everywhere else.
That is the kind of imbalance the Stars would rather solve before a long stay at home turns into a problem. Their road results have been better, but Tuesday put the focus back on the building where they need to start stacking points if they want the first month to settle down.
Arttu Hyry is part of the reason Dallas has some momentum at all. He scored twice in Saturday night’s 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks for his first career multi-goal game, giving him three goals this season and offering a quick reminder that the Stars are getting production from more than one line.
The Bruins bring a different kind of pressure. David Pastrnak entered Tuesday on a five-game point streak dating back to Oct. 8 against the Utah Mammoth, with 12 points through nine games this season. He also passed Brad Marchand for sole possession of fourth place on the Bruins’ all-time goals list with his 423rd career goal on Oct. 16 against the Anaheim Ducks, and he came in with 22 points in 21 career games against Dallas.
That history matters because Pastrnak had also built an eight-game point streak against the Stars dating back to Oct. 25, 2022. For Dallas, the challenge was not just facing one of the league’s most dangerous scorers, but doing it while trying to turn American Airlines Center into the kind of place that matches the rest of its start.
Glen Gulutzan made clear on Saturday in Chicago that the home stretch was not something he was eager to welcome, saying, “No, I don’t look forward to it, not with this team.” The remark fit the split on the standings sheet. Dallas has been steadier away from home than in its own building, and the six-game homestand begins as a test of whether that gap is temporary or already becoming a pattern.
The Stars do not need a perfect answer on Tuesday. They need the next few home dates to start looking more like the road version of their season, because a homestand this long can either reset a team or expose what still needs fixing.
