Heiskanen Day-to-Day, DeSmith Likely in Net: Stars Close the Season Series at Columbus Tonight

By Nolan Frost, RF Sports Radio Stars voice

Stars fans, two nights after a 6-5 escape in Washington, Dallas is in Columbus with a question mark on the blue line. Miro Heiskanen is day-to-day. The Stars still have to play.

The facts

Dallas (9-5-1, 19 points, third in the Central) visits Columbus (6-7-0) tonight at 6 p.m. CT at Nationwide Arena on Prime Video, per the Stars' game day guide. It is the final meeting of the season after Dallas won 3-1 at home on Oct. 31. The Stars are 4-1-1 on the road and own a 90.0 percent penalty kill, per DallasStars.com.

Heiskanen left Tuesday's win at Washington with an upper-body injury after a hit into the boards by Justin Sourdif. He did not skate at Wednesday's optional practice in Columbus. Coach Glen Gulutzan listed him day-to-day and said, "He's going to be 'day to day' for a bit. We'll see how he responds today. It won't be long, so that's a good thing," per DallasStars.com. NHL.com's status report said he likely will not play Thursday. If he sits, rookie Trey Taylor is expected to draw in after making his NHL debut last Thursday (10:44 against Montreal).

Casey DeSmith is expected to start. He is 5-1-1 in his career against Columbus with a 2.28 goals-against average and .931 save percentage, per the club guide. After Heiskanen left Tuesday, Esa Lindell played 26:32 and Tyler Myers 21:19, while Thomas Harley had two assists. Jason Robertson enters off a natural hat trick, and Mikko Rantanen notched his 800th career point in that 6-5 win.

Dallas owns a .691 road winning percentage over the past two seasons, third in the NHL, and is 5-2-1 against the East this year, per the game day guide. Columbus is coming off a 7-2 win over Colorado, so the Blue Jackets' offense has life. Mikko Rantanen has 10 points in his last seven games against Columbus dating to 2022.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: missing Heiskanen even for one night changes the math. He leads the team in ice time at nearly 25 minutes a night. This is Harley's and Lindell's game to stabilize.

Columbus just scored seven against Colorado, so Dallas cannot treat this like a trap game after the Capitals thriller. I want clean exits, a quiet penalty kill, and DeSmith seeing the first shot. A road win without Heiskanen would say more about this group than the six-goal night in Washington.

If Heiskanen surprises and plays, great. Plan like he will not.

What to watch next

Watch the warm-up for Heiskanen and Taylor, then Saturday's home game against San Jose. For the Capitals recap, read our Nov. 4 Capitals recap, and follow the season on our Dallas Stars page.

Radio question: if Heiskanen sits tonight, can the Stars' blue line still win a road game in Columbus?

Sources: Dallas Stars - Game Day Guide: Stars at Blue Jackets; NHL.com - Status Report: Heiskanen day to day for Stars; Hockey.com - Stars at Blue Jackets: DeSmith in line to start; NHL.com - Robertson natural hat trick, Stars hold off Capitals 6-5.