Welcome back to What I’m Watching, where there are plenty of high-stakes games on tap this week.
Here’s what I’ve got my eye on.
Tuesday, 10/17—Stars at Golden Knights—9:30 p.m., Bally Sports Southwest
The Stars enjoyed a one-game buffer between the last game of last year’s Western Conference Finals loss to Vegas and their first crack at a rematch with the now-defending Stanley Cup champions. A few things have changed between now and then, but if you’re watching for an X-factor that could give Dallas the upper hand this time around, start with whether Thomas Harley and Nils Lundkvist can inject some badly needed playmaking to the bottom two defensive pairings.
Wednesday, 10/18—Rangers versus Astros, Game 3—7:03 p.m., FS1
We could build the entire piece around this series, but Wednesday feels like an obvious point of focus. For starters, it’s the first time Arlington will host ALCS baseball since 2011. Second, Max Scherzer is likely taking the mound for the first time since September 12. With Texas having stolen home-field advantage in the series opener, this could be the game that pulls the series in the Rangers’ favor for good.
Saturday, 10/21—FC Dallas versus LA Galaxy—8 p.m., Apple TV
The final game of the MLS regular season will be the most consequential, as Dallas sits in eighth place—the higher of the two wild-card spots—heading into a do-or-die tilt against Los Angeles. Here’s where the fun starts: FCD’s 43 points are tied with seventh-place Portland and ninth-place San Jose, and are just two ahead of Sporting KC and Minnesota, which means Dallas could climb as high as safely above the wild-card round or plummet out of the playoffs entirely. Win, and FCD is in. Anything less, and the stress begins.
Author
