Surging teams battle as Miro Heiskanen, Stars visit Senators

The Dallas Stars have points in nine of their last 10 games (6-1-3) going into their road matchup against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

Over the last four games, it was defenseman Miro Heiskanen who drove the Stars' offense.

Heiskanen had a goal and eight assists in those contests. He helped set up both goals in Dallas' 2-1 home win over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday night.

That brought Heiskanen's point total to 14 in 16 games this season. He is showcasing why Team Finland named him to its preliminary roster for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy.

Stars teammates Esa Lindell and Mikko Rantanen were two of Finland's other preliminary roster selections, and Dallas' Roope Hintz is likely to be part of the team.

"We have played together -- especially Roope and Esa -- for a long time, now with Mikko too. It's easier to have someone with you all the time and to get (to the Olympics) together and play there," said Heiskanen, who played at the PyeongChang Olympics as an 18-year-old in 2018. "It for sure helps and it's nice to have them all."

But until the Olympics, his focus is on the Stars.

"I've tried to have my best season of my career (each year) and that's my goal," Heiskanen said. "Hopefully I can stay healthy the whole season, just try to be as good as I can, and help my teams win."

Wyatt Johnston has also been hot for Dallas with 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his last five games, including a goal on Sunday.

The Senators have a five-game point streak (3-0-2) and boast an identical 6-1-3 record in their past 10 after a 4-2 home victory over the Utah Mammoth on Sunday.

According to defenseman and alternate captain Thomas Chabot, the last two-thirds of that game is what the team has been shooting for. Ottawa outscored Utah 3-1 over the final 40 minutes.

"The way we played in the second and third is what we've been trying to achieve lately," Chabot said. "We stuck with it. We played our game the whole way, we gave ourselves our best chance (and) we got it done."

Ridly Greig had a goal and an assist, and Michael Amadio scored for the fourth consecutive game.

"He always plays a pretty solid game," Senators coach Travis Green said about Amadio. "He's a real smart player. He can play good and not play his best with his smarts. And I just think he's done a better job at being a little harder on the puck, on the walls."

Defenseman Jordan Spence, who has been a healthy scratch in nine games this season, also had a goal and an assist in the win over the Mammoth.

He has a goal and six assists in seven games and is plus-5 on the season.

"(Being a healthy scratch) gets to you mentally sometimes," Spence said. "But you've just got to take that aside and just focus on yourself every day when you come into the rink."

--Field Level Media