It’s now or never for the Dallas Stars. They will face off in Nashville tonight against the Predators in hopes of scoring two points and starting up a win streak.
The Dallas Stars finally broke their four-game losing streak with a victory at home yesterday afternoon. Their efforts will be that much more important if they can manage to come up with two points today against the Predators.
Puck drop is set for 5PM CT from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.
Records and Scores
Dallas is now 22-24-10 after their 5-2 victory yesterday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Patrick Eaves once again came up big for the Stars, scoring two goals in the win. Now Dallas will try to keep their energy up as they travel to Nashville to take on the Predators.
Nashville is 26-21-8 after their 7-4 loss yesterday to the Florida Panthers. The Predators will hope for a better outcome in their back-to-back showing at home as they host the Stars tonight.
Storylines
Back-to-Backs
Both the Stars and the Predators played in games yesterday afternoon. The only difference is Dallas won and Nashville lost quite handedly. How that will factor into the outcome of today’s game will only be noticeable once as the puck drops, but travel could be a factor.
Dallas Stars
The Stars had to travel to get to Nashville after their game yesterday at home. The Predators, on the other hand, got to sleep in their own beds last night.
Although hockey players in the NHL are almost certainly accustomed to travel, given how integrated into the league it is, that does not change the impact it could have on the Stars. Being tired and the potential for a slow start could be very negative for a team as fragile as Dallas tonight.
That is especially true considering how rough the month of February has been for them. Ultimately, though, it is just something the team will have to overcome.
Returns Around the Corner
Dallas announced that Ales Hemsky, who has been held to one game this season due to a knee injury, will return before the season’s end.
While this will not have an immediate impact on the team, it plants a seed of hope moving forward.
After the start to the season that the Stars had, hearing that Hemsky will return and have an opportunity to prove he is deserving of a new contract with the team will boost energy.
No. 83 is not the only player the Stars will see on the ice before the season comes to an end, though. Jason Spezza is making the trip with the team and could play on it if he is feeling up to it.
Spezza has not played since the beginning of the month when he sustained an upper-body injury. He was subsequently placed on injured reserve and has missed a total of four games thus far. It is unclear if he will be ready to go tonight, but he is an option for the Stars.
Injuries
The Dallas Stars will not have Johnny Oduya (ankle), Jamie Oleksiak (hand), Mattias Janmark (knee) or Ales Hemsky (hip) in tonight’s match-up.
Nashville will play tonight’s game without Harry Zolnierczyk (undisclosed).
Line Predictions
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel – Tyler Seguin – Brett Ritchie
Devin Shore – Radek Faksa – Patrick Sharp
Curtis McKenzie – Adam Cracknell – Lauri Korpikoski
Nashville Predators
Filip Forsberg – Ryan Johansen – James Neal
Pontus Aberg – Mike Fisher – Craig Smith
Colin Wilson – Calle Jarnkrok – Viktor Arvidsson
Cody McLeod – Vernon Fiddler – Austin Watson
Roman Josi – Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm – PK Subban
Matt Irwin – Yannick Weber
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros
Next: Reasons to be Excited About the Dallas Stars
Prediction
Dallas will keep the ball rolling and be victorious in their visit to Nashville as they beat the Predators 4-2.