Dallas Stars at Tampa Bay Lightning: game preview
DallasStars2026-27: 1-2-0 · 2 pts · 2025-26: 50-20-12 · 112 pts · 3rdat
Tampa BayLightning2026-27: 2-1-0 · 4 pts · 2025-26: 50-26-6 · 106 pts · 5thSix points apart last season
Dallas finished last season 3rd in the league on 112 points. Tampa Bay finished 5th on 106.
Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.
Meeting number 64
Across 63 completed games, Tampa Bay lead the head-to-head 34-22-7.
Last 5 meetings
See all: Last 5 meetings →The table on each 2025-26 meeting night
League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 30 Oct 2025, Dallas were 10th in the league and Tampa Bay 19th. By 18 Jan 2026 it was 5th and 2nd.
Tampa Bay out-attempted Dallas 127 to 87
Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.
Dallas Stars
Tampa Bay Lightning
Dallas have created the better chances, last 10 games
Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.
This season: 3 games for Dallas, 3 for Tampa Bay. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.
Last 10 games: 10 games for Dallas, 10 for Tampa Bay.
2025-26: 82 games for Dallas, 82 for Tampa Bay.
Power play and penalty kill, season and series
This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.
All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings
Dallas
Small sampleTampa Bay
Small sampleSkaters to watch
Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.
Who has stopped this matchup
Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.
Dallas crease
DAL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 9 Feb
No appearances against Tampa Bay in the last meetings.
Tampa Bay crease
TBL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 9 Feb
No appearances against Dallas in the last meetings.
Scoring rates point to about 6.0 goals
No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.
Goals in the last 5 meetings
Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.
Scoring rates
Dallas2.002.003.402.76
Tampa Bay2.672.333.542.82Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.
7 on the injury lists
Dallas · injuries
Tampa Bay · injuries
Latest moves
See all: Latest moves →Assigned D Cameron Bertucci to Texas (AHL).
Placed F Matt Duchene on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Sept. 29. Recalled Fs Arttu Hyry and Colin Blackwell from Texas (AHL).
Signed G Casey DeSmith to a two-year contract.
Placed C Jansen Harkins on waivers.
Placed D Michael Callahan on waivers.
Placed D Michael Callahan, G Mads Sogaard Nielsenon, LD Maxim Groshev, LW Jakob Pelletier and C Nicholas Abruzzese on waivers.
Dallas · 2026 draft
See all: Dallas · 2026 draft →Tampa Bay · 2026 draft
See all: Tampa Bay · 2026 draft →
Updated after every final