Dallas Stars Battle New York Islanders
By Marcus Gatto
Mar 1, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff watches the game against the Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center. Anaheim beat Dallas 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Stars will continue their homestand tonight as they try to beat one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams. The New York Islanders come to Dallas for the only time this season and bring superstars John Tavares and Jaroslav Halak along with them. This is the second and final meeting between the clubs this season. The Islanders took a 7-5 victory over the Stars on Long Island earlier this season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30pm CST and can be seen on FS-SW or heard on 1310 the Ticket.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars (27-26-10) disappointing season continues as they sit nine points behind the Minnesota Wild for 8th place in the Western Conference. The Stars have lost six straight games and have effectively taken themselves out of position to make a late season run at a playoff spot. Their most recent slide has included losses to San Jose, Winnipeg x2, Detroit, Colorado, and Anaheim. These losses have been especially frustrating because they were playing games against teams ahead of them in the playoff chase. These were great opportunities to make up some ground and the Stars squandered them.
The New York Islanders(41-21-2) continue their surprise season as they sit in 2nd place in the Eastern conference, only three points back of the Montreal Canadiens for top spot. The Islanders are coming off a rare 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday evening. They are currently being paced by their captain John Tavares who has 30 goals and 35 assists through 64 games this season.
Storylines
Considering the trade deadline just passed let’s take a look at what each team did.
Trade Deadline: Dallas Stars
-The Dallas Stars remained pretty quiet through the trade deadline by only making one move. They sent their 3rd leading scorer, Erik Cole, and a 3rdround draft pick in 2016 to the Detroit Red Wings for Mattias Backman, Mattias Janmark, and a second round draft pick in 2015. The Stars were expected to sell off more assets considering their current position in the standings. Defencemen Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley, along with veteran centre Shawn Horcoff were all thought to be in play. In the end, the Stars stood pat and only dealt Cole.
Trade Deadline: New York Islanders
-The New York Islanders were busy on trade deadline day. They are a clear contender in the Eastern conference and hoped to add some quality depth to help them in their playoff push. Having said that, the Islanders acquired former Buffalo Sabres netminder Michael Neuvirth, depth forward Tyler Kennedy from the Sharks, and former Dallas Star Dustin Jeffrey who was playing for the Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate in Utica. Neuvirth is a clear upgrade from former Islanders backup Chad Johnson and Kennedy should add some depth scoring to an already deep forward core.
Injury Report
The Dallas Stars are minus the services of F Tyler Seguin (knee), F Valeri Nichushkin (hip), and F Travis Moen (upper body) for a little while. D Patrik Nemeth (arm) is in the AHL getting back in shape and is expecting a call-up in the near future. F Rich Peverley (heart) remains on the non-playing IR.
The Islanders will be without Tavares’ wingman Kyle Okposo (Shoulder) tonight. Forwards Mikhail Grabovski (Upper Body), Eric Boulton (Lower Body), and Casey Cizikas (Lower Body) are all listed as day-to-day.
Projected Lineups
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn- Jason Spezza- Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel- Cody Eakin- Ryan Garbutt
Curtis McKenzie- Vernon Fiddler- Ales Hemsky
Colton Sceviour- Shawn Horcoff- Brett Ritchie
Alex Goligoski- John Klingberg
Jyrki Jokipakka- Trevor Daley
Jordie Benn- Jason Demers
Kari Lehtonen
Jhonas Enroth
New York Islanders
Anders Lee- John Tavares- Josh Bailey
Michael Grabner- Frans Nielsen- Ryan Strome
Nikolai Kulemin- Brock Nelson- Cal Clutterbuck
Matt Martin- Kael Mouillierat- Colin McDonald
Nick Leddy- Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey- Travis Hamonic
Calvin de Haan- Brian Strait
Jaroslav Halak
Michael Neuvirth
Prediction
It’s been six games since the Dallas Stars last won in St.Louis. Tonight they face one of the best teams in the NHL. They continue to be a rollercoaster type team and beat the Islanders 4-3 tonight. Expect the unexpected with this team, right?