Dallas Stars Seek First Win of Road Trip in Pittsburgh
The Dallas Stars are trying desperately to get back into the win column. They have another opportunity tonight, this time against the defending champions.
The Dallas Stars will play in their third game of four on this week-long road trip tonight in Pittsburgh. They will take on the defending Stanley Cup Champion Penguins in a match-up with puck drop set for 6PM CT.
Records and Scores
The Stars (9-9-6) have been unable to avoid dipping in and out of a .500 record this season. This trend continued in their 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday night, which led them to a .500 record yet again. Tonight they will aim to get on a winning streak and earn their way back to above .500.
The Penguins (13-6-3) fell last night in a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders. They will hope for a better result tonight when they take on the Stars.
Storylines
Klingberg In or Out?
The Dallas Stars’ defense has been through a whirlwind of changes in the last month. No. 1 defenseman John Klingberg was benched for his second game in the last few weeks on Tuesday because his play has not been up to Dallas’ expectations.
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After the loss, though, the 24 year old may find himself back in the six blue liners yet again. Pittsburgh is a team with a lot of offensive power and young defenders with skating ability are needed to combat that. Fortunately for him, that is exactly the style of play that No. 3 brings to the table.
Although his play has been underwhelming thus far this season, Klingberg will need playing time in order to prove that he has improved. For that reason alone it seems likely that Lindy Ruff would put him back in the line-up and sit another player, possibly Julius Honka.
Special Teams Have Not Been Special
Dallas has struggled with their special teams execution on this road trip. The team gave up two power play goals against in Tuesday’s loss with the third goal being an empty netter at the end of regulation.
That is not what road teams need when they are heading into opposition’s home ice because it can cause a significant amount of obstacles. Dallas’ issues scoring this season have been vastly greater than anticipated, partly due to injury, but having a failing penalty kill only goes to make their job that much more difficult.
If the Stars wish to be back on top and earn their first victory on this road trip, they will have to look for better performances from their special teams.
Injuries
The Dallas Stars will play without Mattias Janmark (knee), Ales Hemsky (groin), Jiri Hudler (illness) and Johnny Oduya (lower-body) in tonight’s match-up.
The Penguins will be without Chris Kunitz (lower-body) tonight.
Line Combination Predictions
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Tyler Seguin
Patrick Sharp – Jason Spezza – Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel – Radek Faksa – Brett Ritchie
Curtis McKenzie – Devin Shore – Lauri Korpikoski
Jamie Oleksiak – Patrik Nemeth
Pittsburgh Penguins
Conor Sheary – Sidney Crosby – Patric Hornqvist
Jake Guentzel – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin – Nick Bonino – Phil Kessel
Tom Kuhnhacki – Matt Cullen – Scott Wilson
Matt Murray
Prediction
The Dallas Stars will get back in the win column with a 4-2 victory over the defending champs.