Montreal Canadiens @ Dallas Stars – Game Preview

The Dallas Stars continue to slip further into a slump and will get another chance at two points tonight when they take on the Montreal Canadiens after failing on their last four attempts. This will be the first of two meetings between the teams, with the second one coming on January 27th in Montreal, Quebec. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports – Southwest (FSSW), and you can also listen to it on 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 PM CST at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Records and Scores

The Dallas Stars cannot do much worse than they are right now. With a record of 9-12-5 and 23 points at the moment, they sit dead last in the fast-paced and hardnosed Central Division. Seventh out of seventh. All the way at the bottom. What looked like a happy rebirth occurring during the week of Thanksgiving at home where the Stars snagged seven of a possible ten points at home, has now turned into an ultimate flop. There are still plenty of games left to hop back into the playoff race, but it is going to take a lot from the team internally if they want to get there. Their most recent game comes as a loss against the Detroit Red Wings, where they were stomped in the third period and ended up in a 5-2 hole. They will look to gain two desperately needed points off of a struggling Montreal team.

The Montreal Canadiens seem to have some of the greatest luck in the world, unlike the Dallas Stars. With a record of 17-9-2 along with 36 points, they currently sit in second place in the Atlantic Division. Here’s the catch, though. The Canadiens have been stuck in a rut for a while, too. The only difference is, unlike the Stars, they still hold a playoff spot. The Canadiens have lost five of their last six, including their two most recent to Central Division teams. The Canadiens seem to be just a bit strewn (if only the Stars were so lucky), and four of the five losses have only been by a one goal margin. They will look to take advantage of this discombobulated Stars team and send them further down in the ranks.

Storylines

Going down?

The Dallas Stars are perusing the bottom of the Central Division, and no end seems near. They’ve gone through goalie after goalie after goalie, each finding a way to hand over five goals and lose the game. It’s become a habit for the Dallas Stars to hand over a game they are winning or to never give enough effort to come from behind and win. Whatever the cause is, they need to figure it out and solve it before things get any worse. The majority of the team is in the negatives regarding the +/- category, and all three categories of play (offense, defense, and goaltending) have yet to all be clicking on the same night. It’s a tough path to climb, and the Dallas Stars will have to start it up as soon as possible.

A bit of a bump

The Montreal Canadiens, after starting off the season ultra hot and taking control of first place in the Atlantic Division, have slowed up recently, losing five of their last six. Though they are 14th place in goals for and 10th place in goals against, they’ve suffered losses to Minnesota, Chicago, New York Rangers, and twice to the Buffalo Sabres. They have somehow managed to keep hold on one of the top spots in the Atlantic and the East itself, but if they cannot pick it up soon, they will find themselves in the same situation as the Stars.

Injury report

The Dallas Stars will be missing D Patrik Nemeth (arm laceration) and F Valeri Nichushkin for an extended amount of time. Patrick Eaves is also sidelined for a while after breaking a bone in his ankle/foot. Rich Peverley remains on the non-playing IR.

The Montreal Canadiens might be without Lars Eller, who is day to day with an upper body injury.

Projected lines

Dallas Stars

Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Colton Sceviour

Erik Cole – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky (though it looked like he will be the scratch from morning skate)

Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt

Shawn Horcoff – Vernon Fiddler – Travis Moen

Scratched: Curtis McKenzie (though he might take Hemsky’s spot tonight)

Alex Goligoski – Trevor Daley

Jordie Benn – Jason Demers

Jyrki Jokipakka (who skated late and is probably the other scratch) – John Klingberg

Scratched: Jamie Oleksiak (who will most likely take Jokipakka’s spot)

Kari Lehtonen

Jussi Rynnas

Montreal Canadiens

Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Dale Weise

Alex Galchenyuk – Tomas Plekanec – Brendan Gallagher

Jiri Sekac – Lars Eller – P.A. Parenteau

Brandon Prust – Manny Malhotra – Eric Tangradi

Andrei Markov – P.K. Subban

Sergei Gonchar – Alexei Emelin

Tom Gilbert – Mike Weaver

Dustin Tokarski

Carey Price

Prediction:

Not going to lie, but the Dallas Stars will need a lot of fixing if they want to walk away with a win tonight. The Habs will be coming off of a back-to-back that started with a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, but they are still more than capable of dismembering the Stars. I see the Canadiens sending the Stars into a tailspin and winning it 3-1 in Texas. Let’s hope I’m wrong. Go Stars.