Two of the NHL’s top teams head to Europe for a two-game series that starts Friday and could also double as a Stanley Cup Final preview.
The Dallas Stars and the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are in Tampere, Finland, for the second and final leg of the 2024 NHL Global Series.
While Finland is home to just 5.6 million people, the Nordic country is a hockey powerhouse.
According to TheHockeyWriters.com, there are 37 Finnish players on NHL rosters, which equals more than 5 percent of all players. That includes center Roope Hintz of Tampere and defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell for Dallas. Panthers center Aleksander Barkov hails from Tampere, while center Anton Lundell, center Eetu Luostarinen and defenseman Niko Mikkola are also returning to their native country.
Dallas comes off a five-day break after winning its last two games. Last season’s Western Conference finalists are currently second in the Central Division behind the Winnipeg Jets. They arrived in Finland on Monday in preparation for the back-to-back contests.
The trip is a chance for the Stars to bolster team chemistry. Stars coach Pete DeBoer thinks that could pay dividends later in the season.
“It’s really hard to force those situations. They almost have to pop up organically,” DeBoer told reporters on Tuesday. “And this trip, I think, provided that. Guys are across the world and in a different country, and our Finnish players were so excited to show them some of the culture locally here. Our guys dove into it.”
Center Matt Duchene leads the team with six goals and 11 points overall. He tallied three goals and three assists last week in earning the NHL’s Third Star of the Week.
Dallas entered Thursday leading the league in goaltending with a 1.89 goals-against average in nine games. Both top netminder Jake Oettinger and his backup, Casey DeSmith, have a GAA under two and have saved nearly 94 percent of the shots they’ve faced.
Florida heads across the Atlantic having last played on Monday and a winner of three straight. The Panthers lead the Atlantic Division but have a goal differential of only plus-three through 11 games.
Center Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers with seven goals and nine assists. His scoring has come in all aspects of the game, with two goals and two assists on the power play and an NHL-best two short-handed goals.
The series may mark the Panthers debut of Tomas Nosek, whom the team placed on long-term injured reserve at the start of the season after suffering an upper-body injury in camp.
The 32-year-old Czech signed a one-year deal with Florida in the offseason after playing 36 games last season with the New Jersey Devils. Coach Paul Maurice told reporters Thursday that the Panthers plan to activate the nine-year veteran should he come through Friday’s morning skate in good order.
While the Panthers haven’t had as much time in Finland, Maurice, like DeBoer, believes the series will help the team down the road.
“This is going to be a fantastic series. … There’s one guy maybe on each team banged up, but you’re getting the best,” Maurice said. “Barkov and Hintz, those are just two really top-end guys, both playing center ice, very probably playing head-to-head. It’s going to be good hockey.”
