Dallas Stars In Slump Mode, Have Chance To Beat Sharks
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars are apparently still recovering from the turn of the New Year after being dismantled 4-2 by the Anaheim Ducks last night. They will try and return to their winning ways tonight against the San Jose Sharks.
The Dallas Stars could not complete a rally against the Anaheim Ducks late on Friday night and fell 4-2. That was their first game back after a five-day break, and the Stars did not prove themselves. They have only won one of six contests so far in 2016. Nonetheless, they have another chance to snag two points tonight when they head to the Shark Tank to take on the San Jose Sharks.
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 9:30 p.m. from the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars are no doubt struggling at this point, and it is time to be worried. After an ugly struggle with the Anaheim Ducks last night, the Stars fell to 29-12-4 with 62 points. Though they have two games in hand, the Stars are two points back of the Chicago Blackhawks for the Central Division and Western Conference lead. Their most recent affair came as a 4-2 trouncing from the Ducks. They are 1-4-0 in their last five.
The San Jose Sharks, on the other hand, are heating up fast after a slow start. The Sharks are 22-18-2 with 46 points, which is good enough for third place in the Pacific Division. They are close to falling out though, which would also mean losing out on a playoff spot. Their most recent game comes as a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in the shootout. They are 4-1-0 in their last five contests.
Storylines
Is it time to panic? Yes, it is definitely time to panic.
Wow. What has happened to the Dallas Stars? It seems like just yesterday, the Stars were gliding through their schedule, knocking off each and every challenger that came their way. They once sat atop the NHL as a whole, looking down on every other team in the league. Now, they don’t even have the most points in the Central Division or Western Conference.
Even a five-day break did not help. The Stars are in serious trouble, and something is definitely wrong. They have lost their last six on the road, and could make it seven tonight. Whatever the problem is. it must be fixed before it is too late. The Central Division is simply too tight for error. Every team goes through a slump, but this one has lasted long enough.
Sharks in a tough position
The San Jose Sharks are quite possibly in the easiest difficult situation ever: simply don’t suck as much as the other Pacific Division teams and they’re in the postseason race. The Sharks have 46 points this season, which is good enough for eighth place in the Western Conference. Yet, when you break it down by division as the playoff seeding does, they are third and currently own a spot.
It does not seem fair that the Stars and Sharks are both in playoff position, when the Stars have 16 more points than San Jose. But the seeding is what it is, and the Central Division clearly outmatches the Pacific Division in just about every area of play. In the end though, anything can happen and the Stars cannot afford to take the Sharks lightly. They seem to have done that with Anaheim last night, and they paid for it.
Injury report
The Dallas Stars will play with a completely healthy lineup tonight in San Jose.
The San Jose Sharks will be minus the services of LW Raffi Torres (knee) and RW Dainius Zubrus (upper body).
Projected lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Sharp
Mattias Janmark – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky
Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Valeri Nichushkin
Travis Moen – Vernon Fiddler – Patrick Eaves
Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg
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- Burn the tapes: Dallas Stars prospects lose 5-1 to Toronto Maple Leafs
- Dallas Stars look to continue success today against the Maple Leafs
San Jose Sharks
Tomas Hertl – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Matthew Nieto – Patrick Marleau – Joel Ward
Joonas Donskoi – Logan Couture – Tommy Wingels
Melker Karlsson – Chris Tierney – Mike Brown
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Prediction
The Dallas Stars need a win. Other times this season a win would have been nice, but it is officially crucial. I have the Stars rallying big this game, beating the Sharks 4-1. It’s just about the only shot at recovery that they have left.