Dallas Stars Look To Start New Win Streak vs. Canucks

The Dallas Stars gave their fans a short-lived scare Tuesday night when they fell into a 3-0 hole in the first period against the Anaheim Ducks and threatened to lose their second straight. The Stars surged back in the final forty minutes though, and came out on top with a redeeming 4-3 win. They will look to carry that success into their first matchup of the year against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

The game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Southwest (FSSW), and you can also hear it on 1310AM/96.7FM The Ticket. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.

Records and Scores

The Dallas Stars continue to glide through their early regular season campaign. Though they have suffered severe losses to the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers, they are perfect otherwise. The Stars sit with a record of 7-2-0 which is good enough for 14 points and third place overall in the NHL. Their most recent game comes as a redemptive 4-3 win over Anaheim, and they are 4-1-0 in their last five contests.

The Vancouver Canucks, on the other hand, are finding ways to get points in most of their games. They currently sit with a record of 4-2-3 which is good enough for 11 points and second place in the Pacific Division. Their most recent game saw them knock off the undefeated Montreal Canadiens with an embarrassing 5-1 victory. They are 1-2-2 in their last five games.

Storylines

It does not get much better than this

The Dallas Stars seem to already be in cruise control for the 2015-2016 season, and that is perfectly alright. They are on pace for 63 wins and 126 points, which is an astonishing pace. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are leading the offense with 14 points, which puts them on pace for 126 points a piece. Can they share the Art Ross and Hart trophies?

The defense and goaltending experience some minor hiccups every few games, but that is only expected and easily countered. The Stars are taking the NHL by the reins and it will be interesting to see how they carry it into November, which is where they fell apart last season.

Dethroning the big kids

The Vancouver Canucks are finding ways to stick around in games until after the third buzzer, carrying games into extra time. But on the downside, they are not finding ways to close those games out. Still, they pick up a point and are building some momentum towards a second straight playoff year.

But the Canucks did something Tuesday night that no other team has done this season. They not only beat, but made a mockery of the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 5-1. The Canadiens were 9-0-0 going into the game and had yet to slip up against any opponent. They had set a new record for longest winning streak to start the year throughout NHL history. But the Canucks made a point that anyone is beatable, so the Stars need to stay alert.

Injury report

The Dallas Stars will be minus the services of LW Curtis McKenzie (lower body), RW Brett Ritchie (wrist), RW Patrick Eaves (lower body), and LW Travis Moen (upper body).

The Vancouver Canucks will be without LW Chris Higgins (foot), G Jacob Markstrom (hamstring), Lw Brandon Prust (ankle), and D Dan Hamhuis (lower body).

Projected lines

Dallas Stars

Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Tyler Seguin

Valeri Nichushkin – Jason Spezza – Patrick Sharp

Antoine Roussel – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour

Mattias Janmark – Radek Faksa – Ales Hemsky

Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg

Johnny Oduya – Jason Demers

Jyrki Jokipakka – Jordie Benn

Antti Niemi

Kari Lehtonen

Vancouver Canucks

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Radim Vrbata

Sven Baertschi – Bo Horvat – Jannik Hansen

Alexandre Burrows – Brandon Sutter – Jake Virtanen

Adam Cracknell – Jared McCann – Derek Dorsett

Alexander Edler – Chris Tanev

Matt Bartkowski – Yannick Weber

Ben Hutton – Luca Sbisa

Ryan Miller

Richard Bachman

Prediction

This one will definitely be an entertaining one with two powerhouse clubs in the Western Conference. But with the Stars still riding a high note from Tuesday night’s win and being able to pen Jason Demers back in the lineup, the Dallas Stars will top the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 tonight.

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