NHL On Tap: Tkachuk season debut on hold when Senators host Stars

Welcome to the NHL On Tap. Three NHL.com writers will share what they are most looking forward to on the schedule each day. Today, their choices from the one game Sunday.

Wait for Tkachuk impacts Ottawa

Brady Tkachuk will not play for the Ottawa Senators when they host the Dallas Stars on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, TSN5, BSSW, NHL LIVE) and the wait for the forward who signed a seven-year, $57.5 million contract last Thursday will extend until possibly this Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. The Senators are 1-1-0 without him, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Wednesday and losing 3-2 in Toronto on Saturday. The Stars are coming off a 3-1 loss at the Boston Bruins on Saturday after defeating the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime Thursday. They need more consistency with their puck possession. They have had pockets of struggles in their first two games when the puck seemed like their enemy. Anton Khudobin will start for Dallas. The goalie made six saves in relief of Braden Holtby on Thursday. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer

Stars, Senators slow out of the gate

A trend that hurt the Stars and Senators too often last season again cost them in their respective losses Saturday. Dallas went the first 15:58 without a shot on goal and were outshot 17-5 in the first period against the Bruins, when defenseman Ryan Suter said fatigue was a factor while trying to get the puck through the neutral zone. The Senators failed to recover from trailing 2-0 at 8:06 of the first period against the Maple Leafs. Last season, the Stars scored 39 first-period goals, 26th in the NHL and only the Philadelphia Flyers (63) allowed more goals in the first than the Senators (62). "You can't feel your way into a game on the road, and we did that," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "At the end of the day, that was the difference, the 2-0 lead was the difference. We had some guys not play hard enough early, guys that have been in the League that have to lead by example for our young guys." -- Jon Lane, staff writer

Dallas needs spark on offense

The Stars continue their season-opening four-game road trip and are looking for their top offensive players to get untracked. Captain Jamie Benn has one assist; forwards Alexander Radulov, Tyler Seguin and Joe Pavelski have each been held without a point and combined for eight shots on goal in two games. Dallas needs to get going offensively in its bid to return to contender status, having missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season after advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019-20. -- Tim Campbell, staff writer

Sunday schedule

Dallas Stars at Ottawa Senators (5 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, TSN5, BSSW, NHL LIVE)
Khudobin will start for the Stars after Holtby made 37 saves Saturday. He's earned at least one point in each of his 10 games against the Senators (8-0-2 with a 2.17 goals-against average and .935 save percentage) and is 3-0-1 with a 1.97 GAA and .947 save percentage in Ottawa since joining the NHL in 2009-10. Dallas forward Roope Hintz (98) and defenseman Miro Heiskanen (97) are each closing in on 100 points in the NHL. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto draws into the Ottawa lineup and Victor Mete will be a scratch.