Dallas Stars Welcome Canadiens In Final Game Of Homestand
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars are back in action tonight after three days of rest. They will play the Montreal Canadiens as they wrap up a three-game homestand.
It’s once again game day after plenty of much-needed rest for the Dallas Stars. They will square off tonight against one of the Eastern Conference’s best in the Montreal Canadiens.
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 7:00 p.m. from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars enter tonight’s contest with a 16-15-7 record and 39 points. Things are pretty tight in the standings. Dallas is currently in a four-way tie for ninth in the Western Conference and sit three points out of the final wild card spot. Their most recent game was a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on New Year’s Eve and they are 3-1-1 in their last five games.
The Montreal Canadiens are 23-9-6 with 52 points. They sit first place in the Atlantic Division and are fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Their most recent game came last night when they defeated the Nashville Predators 2-1 in overtime. They are 2-1-2 in their last five contests.
Storylines
Dallas is in a tight spot
Things are pretty tight right now in the Western Conference standings. In fact, they really couldn’t get any tighter. As of Wednesday morning, the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames held the two wild card spots with 42 points each. Behind them is where things get interesting.
The Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, and Winnipeg Jets are all tied at 39 points. So there’s very little room for error, especially when you have three teams around you that could pounce at the slightest misstep.
It may seem like a simple task, but the Stars must keep on winning. It’s never good to go into the second half of the season hoping that other teams will drop and make room. If the Stars keep winning, the rest will take care of itself. It always does. But that only happens if Dallas can snag a win against Montreal and carry it into the upcoming road trip.
No captain in tonight’s contest
For the first time since April 13, 2014, the Dallas Stars will play a game without their captain. After tweaking his foot on New Year’s Eve against the Florida Panthers, Jamie Benn will sit out of tonight’s contest due to injury.
Without him, the Stars will once again be trying to find their offensive power without a key piece. Against a Montreal team that is very strong on defense, that could turn out to be difficult.
“It’s obviously a different lineup,” said head coach Lindy Ruff at morning skate. “When you take out one of your best players, it’s an opportunity for somebody else to step in and get a big chance and some bigger situations.”
Capitalize at home while you still can
Everyone knows that the Dallas Stars have not been very good on the road this year. Their record of 5-9-4 when away from the American Airlines Center speaks for itself. That’s why this most recent homestand over the past three weeks was so critical to the Stars’ season.
Dallas has played at home in seven of the last eight games, and went 4-2-1 over the span. They also won their sole road game in Arizona, so 5-2-1 if you want to talk about the whole thing.
While this homestand has been great to the Stars and their position in the standings, all good things must come to an end. That includes home ice advantage.
After tonight’s game against Montreal, the Stars will be on the road for six of the next eight games. Maybe this homestand helped fully turn their season around, or maybe it only applies to home ice. Either way, the Stars will need to capitalize tonight before hitting the road if they hope to have any momentum going into St. Louis.
Stars suffering against the East
The Stars are a humbling 1-6-2 against the Eastern Conference. In years past, they have held their own and managed the East rather well. But this year, they just cannot seem to find a spark. Their only win against the East was on December 17 when they snapped the Philadelphia Flyers’ ten-game win streak.
They are also 0-2-0 against the Atlantic Division after losing in their most recent game to the Panthers. So these odds aren’t weighing heavily in the Stars’ favor tonight. But who needs odds?
Roussel, Johns could play tonight
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During an interview at morning skate, Antoine Roussel said that there is a “good chance” that he plays in tonight’s game. Roussel has missed the last four games due to an upper body injury that he sustained during the game against the St. Louis Blues on December 20. Roussel has skated in 34 games for Dallas this year, scoring five goals and tallying 12 assists, along with a +5 rating.
Meanwhile, Stephen Johns will be making his return to the lineup after missing the last four games as well. He missed the LA game on December 23 due to injury, but missed the three most recent games as a healthy scratch. In 27 games this year, Johns has three goals and three assists, along with a rating of -1.
Lehtonen hopping in the crease again
After posting a goals against average of 1.79 during December (his best in a given month since the 2013-14 season), Kari Lehtonen will get the nod tonight against the Canadiens. He is 8-7-2 against the Canadiens in his career, posting a 2.62 GAA and .909 save percentage.
Injury report
The Dallas Stars will be without RW Ales Hemsky (hip) and LW Mattias Janmark (knee), who are both still on injured reserve. They will also be without captain Jamie Benn (foot). LW Antoine Roussel (upper body) is questionable.
The Montreal Canadiens will be minus the services of F David Desharnais (knee), F Alex Galchenyuk (knee), D Andrei Markov (lower body), D Greg Pateryn (ankle), and D Andew Shaw (concussion-like symptoms).
Projected lines
Dallas Stars
Patrick Sharp – Jason Spezza – Tyler Seguin
Curtis McKenzie – Radek Faksa – Brett Ritchie
Jiri Hudler – Cody Eakin – Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel – Devin Shore – Adam Cracknell
Dan Hamhuis – Stephen Johns
Kari Lehtonen
Montreal Canadiens
Max Pacioretty – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
Paul Byron – Torrey Mitchell – Alexander Radulov
Artturi Lehkonen – Tomas Plekanec – Brian Flynn
Bobby Farnham – Michael McCarron – Daniel Carr
Carey Price
Next: What Has Happened Since Jamie Benn Was Last Hurt?
Prediction
This is yet another big game for the Dallas Stars and it will be interesting to see if they are up for the challenge, especially without their captain. Still, I’ll take the Stars finding a way to oust the Canadiens by a score of 3-2 in overtime.