Dallas Stars vs. Edmonton Oilers: Ken Hitchcock Returns to Dallas
By Summer LeBel
Last week, the Dallas Stars played the Oilers in their first game against former head coach Ken Hitchcock since his most recent departure from the team.
Tonight, Hitchcock returns to the American Airlines Center to face the Dallas Stars at home.
Last week’s game ended 1-0 in overtime, with the Stars losing after failing to provide any offense against Edmonton. It was also the start of Edmonton’s current three-game win streak.
Grabbing a loser point was a nice consolation prize, but this time, the Stars are going for both points.
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Tonight, Valeri Nichushkin will draw back into the line-up after his healthy scratch last Saturday. Brett Ritchie will also be in while Gemel Smith is out, and the Stars will need to accommodate the absence of Blake Comeau.
Comeau will miss his first game all season for the birth of his child, which is a pretty understandable reason to miss a game. This season, Comeau has provided some impressive penalty killing, but hopefully the Stars will play a more disciplined game tonight so it isn’t such an issue with him out.
On the good news front for the Stars, Martin Hanzal is looking like he may finally make his season debut this week. He was shut down last season due to back injuries and eventually had surgery on his spine, which he’s been recovering from for the first part of the season. There’s certainly going to be a question of where he slots into the line-up when he returns, but it’s always nice to have more options for Jim Montgomery to work with.
Game Information
Edmonton Oilers (13-11-2) at Dallas Stars (14-10-3)
7:30 PM CT – American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX
Home TV: FOX Sports Southwest (Josh Bogorad and Daryl Reaugh)
Away TV: Sportsnet West (Kevin Quinn and Louis DeBrusk)
Home Radio: Sportsradio 1310 AM and 96.7 FM The Ticket (Josh Bogorad and Daryl Reaugh)
Away Radio: 630 CHED (Jack Michaels and Bob Stauffer)
Online Streaming: NHL.tv, Fubo.tv
Last Season vs. Edmonton: 2-1-0
This Season vs. Edmonton: 0-0-1
Dallas Stars Projected Line-Up
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Jason Spezza
Devin Shore – Roope Hintz – Alexander Radulov
Valeri Nichushkin – Radek Faksa – Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark – Jason Dickinson – Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell – Miro Heiskanen
Gavin Bayreuther – Roman Polak
Joel Hanley – Taylor Fedun
Dallas Stars Injury Report
Connor Carrick: Carrick is still at least three weeks away or so, and will return hopefully by Christmas.
Martin Hanzal: Hanzal may be back in later this week or early next week, but he’s still on IR for the moment.
Stephen Johns: Johns hasn’t had an update lately, and he’s still out indefinitely.
John Klingberg: Klingberg is reportedly also tentatively scheduled for a return around Christmas, as with Carrick.
Marc Methot: Methot is getting more tests done, but he could be back in the next few weeks.
Edmonton Oilers Injury Report
Tobias Rieder: Rieder is still on IR for the next couple of weeks.
Andrej Sekera: Sekera is recovering from Achilles surgery and won’t be back until at least January.
Next. Comparing Last Year's Start Under Hitchcock to This Year. dark
Khudobin will get the start tonight (on Ben Bishop bobblehead night) and hopefully he can lead the Stars to a regulation win over the Oilers.