First shift

There are special games tucked into an 82-game season.

Saturday should be one of them.

The Stars are the reigning Central Division champions, have been picked by many hockey media to win the division again and are off to a good start with an 8-4-0 record. On the other hand, the Winnipeg Jets were the best team in hockey to start the season with a 13-1-0 record and first place in the NHL in several statistical categories. So when Dallas faces Winnipeg on Saturday at 2 p.m., the intensity will be extremely high.

“They’re a big team, division rival, and the hottest team in the league,” Benn said. “It’s never too early to count these four-point games.”

If the Jets win in regulation time, they will be 12 points ahead of the Stars in the standings. If Dallas wins, the difference will be eight points, hence the “four-point game”. And while there’s plenty of time to close those gaps, a 12-point lead at any point is pretty significant.

“These are the games you play for,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “It’s a four-point swing. We know the seriousness of the game.”

Winnipeg has the best defensive numbers in the league, allowing 2.14 goals per game. It’s a challenge for a Stars team that struggles to finish games and ranks 16th with 3.08 goals per game.

“I think we’re doing whatever it takes to score, but this is a game where we created enough chances to score four or five,” DeBoer said after a 3-1 win over Chicago on Thursday . “We need to start putting some pucks in the net.”

Among the players who are lagging behind their usual pace at the Stars are Robertson (4 goals, 3 assists), Wyatt Johnston (1 goal, 5 assists) and Miro Heiskanen (0 goals, 4 assists). Standing out against Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck could be difficult. The 31-year-old leads the NHL with a 10-1-0 record, 1.91 GAA and .932 save percentage. This is an impressive debut for a goaltender who has already won two Vezina Trophies.

In addition to fighting for first place in the Central division, Hellebuyck and the Stars goalie Jake Oettinger are two of the leading candidates to become Team USA’s No. 1 goalkeeper in February’s 4 Nations showdown.

“He was the cornerstone of America’s goaltending for a long time,” Oettinger said. “His consistency and level of play year after year have been truly impressive. I hope I can consolidate myself to be like him.

Oettinger is also a top-five goalie with a 6-2-0 record with a 2.26 GAA and .922 save percentage. Just as importantly, he has a 5-1-1 career record against Winnipeg with a 1.99 GAA, .924 save percentage and one shutout. Hellebuyck is 11-9-5 against the Stars with a 2.67 GAA and .916 save percentage.

“They got off to a good start and it will be good to see where we are,” Oettinger said. “We’ve had success against them in recent years, so we should be confident of getting there.”

Robertson has 12 points (9 goals, 3 assists) in 11 career games against the Jets, so he could be a candidate to watch for a big breakout. Either way, the Stars will know a lot more about their team around 5 p.m. Saturday night.

“There’s still a lot of hockey left to play, but when you play teams that play good hockey, it forces you to get to that level sooner,” said forward Sam Steel, who had a goal and an assist Thursday .

And the sooner the Stars can “get there,” the better it will bode for the rest of the season.