Dallas Stars @ Calgary Flames – Game Preview

The Dallas Stars are showing new signs of life, and they hope these signs will continue when they take on the Calgary Flames, who have lost their last six games, on Friday night. This will be the first of three meetings between the two teams, with the other two games scheduled for late March. The game will be broadcasted on TXA-21. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 PM CST from the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Records and Scores

The Dallas Stars, though on a hot streak recently, cannot let their record of 12-13-5 weigh down their motivation. They currently sit in sixth place in the Central Division with 29 points. Their most recent game was a 2-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night, a game where Kari Lehtonen held the Stars in the game and Tyler Seguin flipped the bird to a Canuck player. So, it was a pretty fun one to watch. The Dallas Stars will look to grab two more valuable points against the Flames Friday night.

The Calgary Flames hold onto a record of 17-14-2, good enough for 36 points and fifth in the Pacific Division. Though fifth sounds awful, if they win against Dallas, they will skyrocket to second place in the division. Things are tight, but the Flames are not doing anything to help their cause after losing their last six contests, including their most recent one as a 5-2 decision against the New York Rangers.

Storylines

Do NOT take your opponents lightly

The Dallas Stars are currently on a two-game winning streak, stumping both the New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks with their witty and strategic style of play. They now get set to take on Calgary, a team that has struggled recently, and a win would mean three straight wins and six points closer to a playoff spot than they were last Friday. The last thing the Dallas Stars want to do is take a look at the standings and the previous games of Calgary and use it as an excuse to not worry or take anything too seriously. Lindy Ruff has been cautious all year about trying to make sure his team does not take an opponent lightly because of their recent lacking play, and so far he has done a pretty good job. The Stars could definitely use a win, and it will all depend on if they come out with their guns ablaze and ready to play or not.

Some more goals would help evade the funk

The Calgary Flames are 0-6-0 in their last six games, and have not seen a point added to their total since December 4th. Through this span, they have seen losses to some bad teams and some good teams. But the real catch is how they are losing. The Flames are averaging 1.67 goals per game, while the opponent is averaging 3.33 goals per game. The Flames outshot their opponent in five of their six most recent losses, but simply cannot find the back of the net. With the Dallas Stars pointing out that Kari Lehtonen, as a change of plans, will start in net against the Flames on Friday night, Calgary will have to work extra hard to put a goal past a man who has not given up a goal 61:07 of play. They will need Jonas Hiller to be on as well if they are expecting to slow down Dallas’ fast-paced offense.

Injury report

The Dallas Stars will be without F Valeri Nichushkin (hip) and D Patrik Nemeth (arm laceration) for extended amounts of time. F Patrick Eaves remains out for another four weeks or so (leg). F Ryan Garbutt is still serving a suspension and F Travis Moen continues to play scratch after coming back from an injury. F Rich Peverley remains on non-playing IR.

The Calgary Flames will be missing F Mikael Backlund (undisclosed injury; on IR) and D Ladislav Smid (upper body).

Projected lines

Dallas Stars

Jamie Benn – Jason Spezza – Tyler Seguin

Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ales Hemsky

Curtis McKenzie – Travis Morin – Erik Cole

Shawn Horcoff – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour

Alex Goligoski (maintenance day but probable) – John Klingberg

Jyrki Jokipakka – Trevor Daley

Jordie Benn (illness but probable)- Jason Demers

Kari Lehtonen

Anders Lindback

Calgary Flames

Joe Colborne – Sean Monahan – David Jones

Johnny Gaudreau – Josh Jooris – Jiri Hudler

Curtis Glencross – Markus Granlund – Paul Byron

Mason Raymond – Matt Stajan – Lance Bouma

Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie

Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman

Raphael Diaz – Deryk Engelland

Jonas Hiller

Karri Ramo

Prediction:

The Dallas Stars continue to craft a beautiful run before Christmas, racking up a 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Friday night in Alberta, moving Calgary to seven straight losses and the Stars to three straight wins. Kari once again proves his efficiency in net, stopping 29 of 30. Let’s hope I’m right, for all Stars fans’ sakes. Go Stars.