Dallas Stars vs Winnipeg Jets Official Preview
The Dallas Stars ended their four game losing streak this past Saturday, and they’ll look to continue their winning ways as they take on the Winnipeg Jets tonight at the American Airlines Center. The Stars are currently eight points out of the Wild Card position and they have yet to win a game against a divisional foe this season. The game starts at 7:30 PM CT and can be seen on Fox Sports South West Plus or heard on the radio via 1310 the Ticket.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars (10-12-5) beat the Montreal Canadians 4-1 in their most recent game, which instilled confidence in a team that has appeared very unsure of itself this season. Tyler Seguin added two goals to increase his NHL-leading total to 21, while Cody Eakin and Ryan Garbutt scored to give Dallas the win. On top of the much needed secondary scoring was a stellar performance by starting goalie Kari Lehtonen. Dallas avoided giving up a soft goal in the game, while Lehtonen looked more like himself than he has in recent outings for the team. The Stars will look for another solid performance in net tonight against the Jets.
The Winnipeg Jets (14-9-5) have had a better start to the season than anticipated, and it’s greatly due to the play of their captain Andrew Ladd. The former Chicago Blackhawk has 21 points in the Jets’ 28 games played this season and he is in fourth place in the league for game winning goals with three. As for the team scope, the Jets were on a two game winning streak until the dropped their match-up with the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Sunday. Tonight the Jets will look to get back in the win column against the Stars.
Story Lines
The Texas Giant of Streaks
The Stars have had their fair share of ups and downs this season. They’ve managed to have great comebacks in games they shouldn’t have had a chance in, and they have given up leads to lose games in the third period that they should have won. Dallas can only hope that the team that showed up on Saturday will be the same one that hits the ice to take on the Jets tonight.
Is Evander Kane’s Head in the Game?
Jets forward Evander Kane had a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety yesterday to discuss his illegal hit from behind on Anaheim’s Clayton Stoner. The NHL suspended Kane for two games based on the fact that Kane has no previous suspensions, and Stoner was uninjured. The suspension will make him ineligible to play against the Stars tonight and against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. Kane has had a rather difficult campaign thus far, only accumulating 10 points (4G, 6A) in twenty games this season, but his offensive talent is something the Jets will surely miss.
Injury Report
Dallas Stars defenseman Patrik Nemeth (arm laceration) will be out for the remainder of the regular season. Forwards Rich Peverley (heart) and Valeri Nichushkin (hip) are also expected to be out long-term. Fellow forward Patrick Eaves sustained a broken bone in the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and could be unavailable for either 4-6 weeks or a few months depending on the severity. Eaves is expected to be re-evaluated in the near future.
Winnipeg is currently playing with a depleted blue line being that Zach Bogosian (lower body) and Tobias Enstrom (lower body) are both out; however, their status is listed as day-to-day. Yesterday the Jets placed defencemen Grant Clitsome (undisclosed) on injured reserve.
Projected Lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Colton Sceviour
Curtis McKenzie – Jason Spezza – Erik Cole
Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt
Travis Moen – Vernon Fiddler – Shawn Horcoff
Alex Goligoski – Trevor Daley
Jordie Benn – Jason Demers
Jamie Oleksiak – John Klingberg
Kari Lehtonen
Jussi Rynnas
Winnipeg Jets
Andrew Ladd – Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler
Patrice Cormier* – Mathieu Perreault – Michael Frolik
Adam Lowry – Mark Scheifele – Matt Halischuk
Chris Thorburn – Jim Slater – Anthony Peluso
Mark Stuart – Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot – Dustin Byfuglien
Adam Pardy – Paul Postma
Ondrej Pavalec
Michael Hutchinson
*Cormier is the AHL call-up replacement for Evander Kane, so his position in the line-up is uncertain. Here he is merely in Kane’s usual position on the second line, but it is likely he will be replacing a third or forth liner who will subsequently take the second line position.
Prediction
I think Dallas will play with the same tenacity they did in their win against Montreal and because they reminded themselves of what winning tastes like they’ll crave another win at home. Despite Winnipeg’s superior record, the loss of Evander Kane and the injuries to three of their blue liners will contribute to a Stars victory on home ice 3-2 in regulation.