(Photo credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images)

Losses have been rare for the Dallas Stars this season, a feat that's helped them to second place in the NHL's overall standings. But after closing 2025 with their third straight defeat, they'll look to open 2026 on better terms when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.

The Stars are coming off a 4-1 loss Wednesday to the Buffalo Sabres, dropping Dallas to 0-1-2 in their past three outings following a 12-2-1 stretch. It's Dallas' longest losing streak since the team dropped four games in a row (0-3-1) from Oct. 16-23.

'We weren't quite ready to play, which is the concerning or disappointing part,' Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said of the loss to Buffalo. 'The playing field for us is pretty level, meaning we've had a couple of good practices here, we've got good energy, we're at home, we haven't been traveling. Our energy levels should be high. That's the disappointing or concerning part.'

Dallas heads into Thursday's game looking to avenge a 4-3 shootout loss to the Blackhawks less than a week ago, on Dec. 27 in the first game out of the NHL's holiday break. The Stars have allowed four goals in each of their past three losses while totaling just seven goals.

'I think we've created enough to score, but then we have given up too much which we usually don't do, and I think we have to fix that and then get back on track,' center Roope Hintz said.

And though the Stars entered Wednesday with the second-best power play in the league, they couldn't convert on the two opportunities they had against the Sabres, managing just one shot on goal. They're 2-for-14 with the man advantage in their past four games.

'I think we have had trouble now on the entry, so I think we got to fix that and then get that power play back going and then go from there,' Hintz said.

The Blackhawks will look to snap out of a funk of their own, having lost eight of their past nine games (1-7-1), with their lone triumph being the last matchup against Dallas.

Most recently, Chicago fell 3-2 in a shootout to the New York Islanders on Tuesday. Teuvo Teravainen and Nick Lardis each scored late in the second period to erase a 2-0 deficit before all three Blackhawks shooters were stopped in the tiebreaker.

'You can look at it two ways,' Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. 'You can look at it (as a) good job recovering from a bad start, and you go out and play real good the rest of the way. ... I thought from just our heads being in it, I didn't think we were where we needed to be with the mental focus for that first 10 minutes. So, to me, you kind of let it slip away because you're not prepared to make sure that you play great hockey for 60 minutes.'

The Blackhawks' slump coincides with the loss of center Connor Bedard to an upper-body injury in the last second of a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 12. The 20-year-old recently started rehab skating, but a definitive timeline for his return has yet to be determined.

--Field Level Media