Colorado Avalanche @ Dallas Stars – Game Preview

The Dallas Stars are coming home after a successful road trip north of the border to welcome the Colorado Avalanche to Dallas.  This is the third meeting between these two clubs with the Avalanche coming out victorious in the previous two contests.  This is a huge game for both teams as they continue to try to fight their way back into playoff contention in the Western Conference.  Puck drop is at 7:30pm CT and the game can be found on Fox Sports Southwest or on 1310AM/96.7FM the Ticket.

Records and Scores

The Dallas Stars (23-19-7) are coming off a dominant win over the Winnipeg Jets by the score of 5-2.  That was only the fourth win of the season over a Central division opponent for the Stars, however they are 4-2-2 in their last eight central division matchups.  The powerplay is scorching as they have scored six goals in the past two games with the man advantage.  The Stars powerplay has to be effective because the fact of the matter is, they are going to give up goals.  They are still in the bottom-five in terms of goals against per game but the powerplay can be the weapon used to counter some of the goals against.  The Stars come into play tonight four points back of eighth-place Vancouver, although the Canucks do have a game in hand.  The Winnipeg Jets lost their fourth straight game last night and find themselves just 7 points ahead of the Stars despite playing three more games.

The Colorado Avalanche (21-18-11) are fresh off a pretty successful home-and-home against the best team in the NHL, going 1-0-1 against the Nashville Predators.  The Avalanche are also right in the middle of the Western Conference playoff race as they have the same amount of points (53) as the Stars, however they have played one more game.  Like the Stars, the Avalanche have gotten better as the season has progressed.  A lot of people predicted the Avalanche to regress and they are attempting to prove the doubters wrong.  These two teams will meet up with each other two more times this month and it is likely they will have serious playoff implications.

Storylines

The Powerplay is finally looking like an advantage

The Stars powerplay has finally woken up from its slumber, or so it appears.  They have scored six times with the extra man over the past two games and the goals are coming from both units.  As I mentioned above, the powerplay has to be a weapon for the Stars especially considering how many goals they give up on a night-to-night basis.  For me, the difference has been John Klingberg.  Despite playing 15 fewer games than most of the regulars on the powerplay, John Klingberg has been on the ice for 17 of the 32 powerplay goals scored this season.  His zone entries, his poise at the blue-line, his slick passes, everything he does has made a tremendous impact on the powerplay and he belongs on that top unit.  If he continues to be there, I think the powerplay will continue to be a difference-maker for the Stars.

Look out for Matt Duchene

Matt Duchene is one of the those guys who always seems to score against the Stars and this year his goals have been absolutely life-sucking.  In the two previous games against the Avalanche, the Stars found themselves down by just one goal headed into the third period.  Certainly one goal isn’t insurmountable, especially considering the offense the Dallas Stars posses.  In both of those games, Matt Duchene instantly put a damper on the Stars third-period spirits.  In each game, he scored less than a minute into the third period and the Avalanche never looked back.  As with most nights, he is a must-watch player tonight.

Injury Report

For the Stars, Erik Cole practiced on the second line on Monday and is questionable for the game.  Val Nichushkin (hip), Patrik Nemeth (arm), and Rich Peverley (heart) are all out for Dallas.

For the Avalanche, Patrick Bordeleau (knee), Erik Johnson (knee), Jamie McGinn (back), Borna Rendulic (leg), Ryan Wilson (shoulder) and Jesse Winchester (concussion) are all out.

Projected Line Combinations

Dallas Stars

Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Eaves

Erik Cole – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky

Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt

Shawn Horcoff – Vern Fiddler – Colton Sceviour/Travis Moen

Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg

David Schlemko – Trevor Daley

Jordie Benn – Jason Demers

Kari Lehtonen

Jussi Rynnas

Colorado Avalanche

Gabriel Landeskog – Ryan O’Reilly – Nathan Mackinnon

Alex Tanguay – Matt Duchene – Jarome Iginla

Cody McLeod – John Mitchell – Dennis Everberg

Max Talbot – Marc-Andre Cliche – Danny Briere

Jan Hejda – Zach Redmond

Nate Guenin – Tyson Barrie

Brad Stuart – Nick Holden

Semyon Varlamov

Reto Berra

Prediction

The Stars are flying high right now and I think it continues against the Avalanche.  They finally get the better of the third period against Colorado with Ales Hemsky scoring the game-winner for the Stars and Dallas wins 4-3.  Check back here at Blackout Dallas for a postgame recap!