Domi to sport Victory Green for the first time at United Center

The series of events for Max Domithe Chicago Blackhawks and the Dallas Stars this season has been an electrifying one.

Domi was in the dressing room for Chicago the night he was traded to the stars on March 2nd. While the two teams waited until the end of the game to finalize the trade, Domi thought he might have to play his old team that night and it made for an interesting wait. It was his birthday too.

“All in all it was a bunch of emotions and I’m just grateful that they sent me to a place where I have a chance to win the Stanley Cup,” Domi said Tuesday morning as he tuned into the game prepared against his old team for the first time. “I am very honored to jump on the bandwagon with a team that has done so well this year.”

Dallas won that game 5-2 and also has a 6-4 win over the Blackhawks this season. However, in Chicago’s 4-2 win in Dallas on February 22, Domi had two goals and an assist Jake Oettinger. The Stars goalkeeper said Domi would need to reverse that against his old team.

“I told him he owes us two points for lighting one up for me, so he can start with that tonight,” Oettinger said.

Video: Oettinger on a strong end to the season

Domi has integrated very well into his new team. The 28-year-old winger has one goal and three assists in 11 games since joining Dallas. He was undercut by the fact that his two future linemates, Tyler Seguin And bricklaying marchhas been struggling with injuries but coach Pete DeBoer said he likes what Domi brings.

“He was great, as advertised,” said DeBoer. “He’s great in the room, the guys dress him up. He has great energy when he comes onto the rink. And then on the ice he has a high level of skill and a high level of competition. He was a really nice addition.”

Domi said the process had been challenging but he expected it. He joined Carolina last season and has seven points in his last 19 games. He then had three goals and three assists in 14 playoff games.

“The way you look at it if you’re traded at deadline the last 20 games are obviously important but you’re just trying to get comfortable with the team system and build some chemistry with some guys and when it really counts is it’s Game 1 of the playoffs,” he said. “I think we’re getting there.”

Getting Seguin back from injury is important and the fact that the team is in a dogfight in the Central Division with nine games to go is also huge.

The Stars are 2-3-1 in their last six games and suffered a disappointing performance at home in a 3-1 loss to Vancouver on Saturday. DeBoer shuffled the third and fourth lines and will bet Joel Hanley for Nils Lundkvist on defense on Tuesday.

“We obviously weren’t happy with the last game, and it wasn’t just one line or one particular type,” DeBoer said. “I think it was a bit of a disappointing performance from the team that we have to react to. So I’m looking forward to tonight.”

Video: DeBoer talks about the matchup against Chicago

The Stars fell to third at the Central as both Minnesota and Colorado played great hockey. Dallas trained longer and harder on Monday, and DeBoer said he believes the players understand the situation.

“We didn’t have a lot of practice time with our schedule and I think every time we can practice you can focus on getting some details back into your game,” DeBoer said. “It’s always something when you don’t have any training time. It was nice to get one. I think it was an important exercise considering the game we’re coming from.”

Chicago (24-43-6) is currently ranked 30th in the league. Friday’s opponent Arizona (27-26-13) ranks 27th. Dallas plays seven of their last nine games against non-playoff teams.

“The way you separate the big teams is the ones that bring it on every night no matter who they play,” Oettinger said. “Chicago and Arizona are obviously not in the playoffs, so we have every reason to be the hungrier team every night for the rest of the season. So it’s up to us to do that. We have no excuses. If we take care of the business and play the way we can, we should win those games.”

key numbers

2.42

Chicago ranks last in the NHL at 2.42 goals per game. Dallas ranks ninth in goals conceded with 2.75.

44

Dallas ranks third in the NHL for opening goals with 44 games. Chicago ranks fourth in 44 games for allowing the first goal.

17

stars forward Jason Robertson has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in 14 career games against Chicago. He has 91 points on the season and is two points away from Mike Modano for most points scored in a Dallas Stars season.

He said so

“We have a great division, a lot of great teams in our division. We didn’t expect anything less than that things would get tight here until the finale. [Minnesota] and Colorado played great so we have to keep up. We want to be the best team in the division and give ourselves the easiest path to the final. We want home ice and all that stuff and that’s what these last nine games are for.”

– Oettinger on battling Minnesota and Colorado for first place in the Central Division.

Expected Lineup

Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Benn-Johnston-Dadonov
Domi Faksa Seguin
Kiviranta-Glendening-Dellandrea

Heiskanen-Miller
Lindell-Hakanpää
Suter-Hanley

Oettinger
murray

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or the Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has been covering the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.