Dallas Stars Preview: Stars Take On Boston Bruins
To push forward into playoff territory, the Dallas Stars need to keep their post-bye week slate clean and add another win to their homestand.
The Dallas Stars did not come back quietly from their bye week, cementing another win at home against the Coyotes to make the record for this homestand spotless so far. They’ll need to keep the ball rolling as they take on the Bruins in a matinee performance today.
Don’t miss the 11:30 AM puck drop from the AAC. You can catch all the action on NBC or 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars are ever-so-slowly improving upon their 24-27-10 record, although whether or not it is too little too late is yet to be seen for sure. However, in the middle of a five game homestand that stretched across the Stars’ bye week, they’ve stayed in the win column with huge victories over the Lightning in overtime, and then against over the Coyotes on Friday.
The Boston Bruins’ record so far this season is 31-24-6. After coach Claude Julien was fired earlier in the month, the Bruins looked to interim coach Bruce Cassidy, who’s helped earn a 5-1-0 record at the helm. The Bruins’ most recent win came at the expense of the L.A. Kings, who fell 4-1 on Thursday.
Storylines
The Eaves era is over
On Friday, the Dallas Stars traded Patrick Eaves to Anaheim for a conditional second round pick. The situation is a bit hard to swallow for most fans and players alike, as many of them recognized that such a trade was only made necessary by the team’s disappointing performance this season.
As it stood before he was traded, Eaves was also one of the Stars’ highest scorers and most consistent players, on track for a career-high season. Jim Nill stated that the trade was a tough one, but that he had to look out for the best interest of the team in the long run, and believed that bringing on another prospect could be the best way to go.
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Whether or not that proves true, we shall see. But the more immediate issue at hand is how the Dallas Stars’ play will change in response to the loss of Eaves. As a top scorer and all around go-to guy for the Stars, his departure could signal some trouble spots up ahead for the Stars’ offense.
In the meantime, the Stars have called up Remi Elie, a winger from the AHL, to perhaps fill the offensive void.
All or nothing
The Bruins, who recently returned from their bye week as well, dealt with back to back games. Although they dropped the first on Wednesday against Anaheim 5-3, they came back the next night to top the Kings 4-1.
After those games, today’s tilt will end the Bruin’s four game road trip which currently sits at a 2-1-0 record. The Bruins are tied with the Islanders for the last wildcard playoff spot in the East, so they will of course be on a mission to win in Dallas.
Home field disadvantage
Although this is the first of two in the Stars’ and Bruins’ season series, their past three seasons have been evenly split down the middle. The Stars have won all three games played in Boston, and the Bruins have won all three games played in Dallas.
If the Stars were playing in Boston, this would be a fine statistic. However, with the Stars defending home territory in a pretty much do or die playoff situation, they must turn the tables and not allow that trend to continue.
Injury Report
The Dallas Stars will go without Adam Cracknell (lower body), Mattias Janmark (knee), and Ales Hemsky (hip), while Johnny Oduya (ankle) is questionable for today.
The Boston Bruins will be playing injury free.
Projected Lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Brett Ritchie
Antoine Roussel – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Sharp
Lauri Korpikoski – Radek Faksa – Jason Spezza
Curtis McKenzie – Devin Shore – Jiri Hudler
Johnny Oduya – Stephen Johns
Boston Bruins
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Backes
Peter Cehlarik – David Krejci – David Pastrnak
Frank Vatrano – Ryan Spooner – Jimmy Hayes
Matt Belesky – Dominic Moore – Tim Schaller
Anton Khubodin
Next: Dallas Stars' Hopes Rest On Other Teams
Predictions
Like everyone else, I’d like to believe very much that the Dallas Stars really want this one enough to win it. For Strader, for Eaves, for themselves. So I have the Stars coming out on top with this one, 4-3.