Dallas Stars Can’t Wing It Against Detroit Tonight
The Dallas Stars are looking wrap up a rocky three-game homestand with some success against the Detroit Red Wings tonight at the AAC.
After a rollercoaster ride of crazy ups and downs (and goals against) to wrap up the month of February, the Stars will try to end it on a good note as they take on the Red Wings on home ice tonight. The puck drops at 7:30 P.M., and you can catch all the action on Fox Sports Southwest and 1310AM/96.7 FM The Ticket.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars are working hard to make up for the month of January, and with 82 points have fought back within a point of the Blackhawks’ second-place in the league. With a 38-19-6 record, the Stars still have the Central division and the Blackhawks in their sight.
And despite a current two-game losing streak, it seems the perfect time to pull ahead. In the first season meeting of these two teams, the Stars came out on top on Detroit’s ice, 4-1. Hopefully, the Stars will feel poised to repeat this performance.
The Detroit Red Wings, at fourth place in the Atlantic division, have a 31-20-11 record and 73 points to show for it. Although the Stars have had the statistically better season thus far, the Red Wings are coming off a two game winning streak after beating the Avalanche in the 2016 NHL Stadium Series on Saturday.
Storylines
The good, the bad, but mostly the ugly
I won’t mince words about it. The Stars have let some rust settle on the cogs recently, both defensively and offensively. In their last five games, they have scored 16 goals, five of which were on the man advantage. However, they’ve allowed 25 goals in the same time span, including one shorthanded goal.
Antti Niemi was the only winning goalie in the last five games, but after only lasting one period in Thursday’s meltdown against the Jets, he’s not a sure thing either. So a fair share of the confidence we’ve enjoyed building up around the goaltending this season is crumbling.
Granted, it’s not simply goaltending. There is also this pesky little thing called defense. But whatever way you slice it, the Stars have slowed down and while a quick fix before the trade deadline may put a bandaid on the issue, it’s not certain that any moves would bring about long-term results.
But some of the good too
BUT… let’s do some simple comparison to incite at least a little cheer. Henrik Zetterberg and Dylan Larkin lead the Red Wings with their 41 and 39 points, respectively. Leave it to the dynamic Benn/Seguin duo to lift your spirits- they lead the Stars with their own 70 and 69 points, and have 32 goals each to show for it.
So, best case scenario, with Red Wings coming off of a big win Saturday and with their goalie Petr Mrazek expected to make his third straight start tonight, they could experience some fatigue and give Dallas the crack in the wall that they need to bounce back.
Tradewinds
Though Jim Nill typically likes to play his hand pretty close to his chest when it comes to trades, it’s no secret that the Stars could benefit from some fresh defensive blood and that Nill and company are sifting through some options.
On the other hand, Nill’s also pretty comfortable with the depth that Dallas has developed with its young players, and won’t make any momentarily convenient moves that will come back to bite him later.
That being said, with the trade deadline at 2 P.M. today, we’ll just have to wait and see what the implications of that will be (if any) on tonight’s match-up.
More stars: Dallas Stars Trade Piece Possibilities
Injury Report
The Dallas Stars lost Ales Hemsky in the first period of Saturday’s game, and because of that illness, he’s questionable for tonight. Patrick Eaves is under the weather, too, and won’t make an appearance tonight. However, Travis Moen (groin) may be back in action after missing eight games.
The Red Wings have placed both Drew Miller (knee) and Johan Franzen (concussion-like symptoms) on injured reserve, and will have to do without them in Dallas tonight.
Projected Line-ups
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn –Tyler Seguin –Jason Spezza
Antoine Roussel –Cody Eakin –Patrick Sharp
Valeri Nichushkin –Mattias Janmark –Travis Moen
Radek Faksa –Vernon Fiddler –Colton Sceviour
Alex Goligoski –John Klingberg
Detroit Red Wings
Henrik Zetterberg –Pavel Datsyuk –Justin Abdelkader
Gustav Nyquist –Riley Sheahan– Tomas Tatar
Brad Richards –Andreas Athanasiou –Dylan Larkin
Darren Helm –Luke Glendening –Tomas Jurco
Niklas Kronwall –Alexey Marchenko
Next: Has Jamaal Charles Lost a Step?
Predictions
There’s no time like the present to be optimistic. If the Dallas Stars can find some motivation and pull themselves together defensively, the offense should feel free enough to do their thing and put the Red Wings down 3-2.