For just the second time all season, Jim Montgomery and the Bruins will take to the ice with the sour taste of a loss in their last outing in their mouths.

And there’s no denying that it was an ugly one. On the wrong end of a 5-4 final Saturday night in Detroit, the shorthanded Bruins saw a 2-0 lead evaporate — and blew a separate, third-period lead, too — on their way to their first regulation loss of the campaign. Now, the good news within that ugly contest is that it took until Game No. 11 for the Bruins to suffer their first regulation loss of the season, with the team now 9-1-1 on the season.

But the bad news is that it won’t get any easier for the club, as they’ll try to prevent this from becoming a losing streak when they travel to Dallas to go up against the Central-best Stars, who enter Monday’s contest at 7-2-1 on the year.

• This will be the first of two head-to-heads between Boston and Dallas this season. The Bruins swept last year’s season series with the Stars, and captured a win in Dallas with a thrilling overtime finish back in February.

  Here are four players to watch for when the B’s and Stars get underway…

• Brad Marchand

  

  Nov 2, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at the TD Garden. (Brian Fluharty/USA TODAY Sports)

• Offensive success at the Stars has been a bit hard to come by for the Bruins in recent seasons, but one guy who’s been able to bring it against Dallas is B’s captain Brad Marchand.

  In fact, entering tonight’s contest, Marchand has scored four goals (three of which have come at even strength) and added an assist in seven meetings against the Stars since the start of the 2018-19 season.

  The Bruins are going to need Marchand to help kickstart a Boston offense that has probably been a bit too reliant on David Pastrnak to carry them every night throughout the first month of the season.

• David Pastrnak

  

  Feb 14, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) waits for the face-off in the Dallas Stars zone during the first period at the American Airlines Center. (Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports)

• Another player with strong numbers against the Stars, the righty-shooting Pastrnak comes into tonight’s contest with four goals and eight points in his last seven meetings with Dallas. Pastrnak is also looking to ride the wave of a one-goal, two-point effort in his last outing this past Saturday in Detroit.

  Pastrnak was especially good against the Stars last year, with two goals and four points in two meetings.

  The game in Dallas featured Pastrnak’s best work, too, as he had an assist on the game-tying goal in the third period of and then scored the overtime winner to seal the deal on the two points for the B’s.

• Mason Lohrei

  

  Oct. 3, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei (6) gets set for a face-off during overtime against the Washington Capitals at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

• After a strong outing in his NHL debut against the Maple Leafs last week, things got a little bit trickier for Mason Lohrei as the scene shifted to Detroit this past weekend.

  No longer given the benefit of last change and the Bruins protecting the first-year pro as best as they could, Lohrei left his second NHL game with a minus-1 rating, and the Bruins out-attempted 28-12, outshot 15-7, and outscored 1-0 during Lohrei’s 18 and a half minutes of five-on-five play. And spoiler, it won’t get any easier with the Bruins once again lacking the benefit of last change and against a Stars team with more offensive skill.

  How Lohrei responds to his first bit of adversity here will be a huge sign in regards to where he is at with his development, and just how truly NHL ready he is for this year’s Bruins club.

• Wyatt Johnston

  

  Oct 30, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) in action during the game between the Dallas Stars and the Columbus Blue Jackets at American Airlines Center. (Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports)

• A standout from the second half of the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft, don’t sleep on Wyatt Johnston.

  The Stars’ second-line center (and at just 20 years old), Johnston comes into action with three goals and seven points through 10 games this season. He’s done almost all of that damage on home ice, too, with two of those three goals and six of those seven points coming in the house soundtracked by Pantera.

  Wyatt Johnston steals the puck and rips it upstairs! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/br23Xoclf0

  — NHL (@NHL) October 22, 2023

  You can also expect a little extra pep in his step tonight as Johnston comes into this head-to-head without a point in three straight games. Johnston scored one goal in last year’s season series with the Bruins.

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