Dallas Stars @ Tampa Bay Lightning – Game Preview

The Dallas Stars have won two straight games and will look for a third when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight.  Tampa Bay won the previous matchup this season by a score of 5-3 at the American Airlines Center.  Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00pm CT and you can find the game on Fox Sports Southwest or 1310AM/96.7FM the Ticket.

Records and Scores

The Dallas Stars (29-26-10) are coming off an emotional win over the Florida Panthers and need to keep the streak going if they want any shot at making the playoff race a little more interesting.  Most people left the Stars for dead after they lost at home to Anaheim last Sunday, however Dallas has won two games in a row and are still just hanging around.  The Stars enter the day 8 points back of the Winnipeg Jets, who hold the final playoff spot in the West.  Winnipeg is struggling right now and that spot could be there for the taking.

The Tampa Bay Lightning (40-20-6) have also won two in a row and are in the thick of the race for not only their division, but the entire NHL as well. They are currently two points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the Atlantic Division lead and five points back of the Anaheim Ducks for the President’s Trophy race.  Tampa Bay is coming off a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs and they continue to get scoring from just about everywhere.  They have nine players with at least 11 goals this season and Tyler Johnson is having an absolutely incredible sophomore season.  They will be a threat to win the Stanley Cup this spring.

Storylines

Stars just barely hanging on

The Stars lost their top scorer and went on to lose 6 of 7 games.  They traded one of their top goal scorers for prospects and a draft pick.  It seemed as though it was time to look ahead to the future and that this season was a lost cause.  One thing the Stars haven’t lost at any point this season is the amount of effort they put into each and every shift this season.  That effort has paid off the last two games and they hope they will continue to be rewarded for being the hardest working team each night.  You can go back and watch every Stars game this season and see that the effort is there and that is at least something to build on.  They are eight points out with less than 20 games left, but they aren’t quite done yet.  One thing is for sure, that team is going to leave it all on the ice by the end of the year.

More from Dallas Stars News

• Dallas Stars Traverse City Tournament: Who had great performances?
• Grushnikov and Stankoven lead Dallas Stars to 6-3 win over Columbus
• Dallas Stars prospects look to wrap up tournament with a win
• Burn the tapes: Dallas Stars prospects lose 5-1 to Toronto Maple Leafs
• Dallas Stars look to continue success today against the Maple Leafs

Tampa Bay just can’t lose at home

The Lightning have lost a total of seven games at home this season, with just six coming in regulation.  The Nashville Predators are the only team in the NHL with more home wins than the Lightning.  This makes their race to the top even more important.  They currently sit just two points back of the division and conference lead and five points back of the league lead.  There might not be a team that can take advantage of home-ice better than the Lightning come playoff time, so these games continue to be important for them.

Injury Report

For the Dallas Stars, Tyler Seguin (knee) practiced on Friday and could be ready to play as soon as Tuesday.  Trevor Daley (knee), Travis Moen (upper body), and Valeri Nichushkin (hip) are all out.

For the Lightning, Matt Carle (abdominal) and J.T. Brown (upper body) are out.

Projected Lines

Dallas Stars

Here is the lineup the Stars ran initially on Thursday, Ruff shuffled throughout the game however.

Jamie Benn – Jason Spezza – Patrick Eaves

Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt

Colton Sceviour – Vernon Fiddler – Ales Hemsky

Curtis McKenzie – Shawn Horcoff – Brett Ritchie

Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg

Jordie Benn – Jason Demers

Jyrki Jokipakka – Patrik Nemeth

Jhonas Enroth

Kari Lehtonen

Tampa Bay Lightning

Alex Killorn – Steven Stamkos – Ryan Callahan

Ondrej Palat – Tyler Johnson – Nikita Kucherov

Cedric Paquette – Valtteri Filppula – Jonathan Drouin

Brian Boyle – Vladislav Namestrikov – Brenden Morrow

Victor Hedman – Andrej Sustr

Braydon Coburn – Jason Garrison

Nikita Nesterov – Anton Stralman

Ben Bishop

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Prediction

The Stars need this one to stick around in the playoff race.  The Lightning need this one to keep the pressure on Montreal.  I think the effort will be there once again for Dallas, but the Lightning are just too good at home.  4-2 victory for the Lightning behind a pair of goals from Alex Killorn.  Check back here for a postgame recap.