Dallas Stars vs Minnesota Wild Preview
The Dallas Stars ended 2014 on a high note and they’ll look to continue their winning ways to start off 2015. Their first task will be taking on the Minnesota Wild tonight at the American Airlines Center. The game starts at 7PM CT and can be seen on Fox Sports Southwest or you can listen to the call on 1310 the Ticket.
Records and Scores
Dallas (17-14-5) has begun to turn their season around having won seven of their last eight games. Most recently, the Stars beat the Arizona Coyotes rather impressively on New Years Eve 6-0. Kari Lehtonen earned his 30th career shutout and forward Brett Ritchie made his NHL debut and scored his first NHL goal. The win was one of Dallas’ most well-rounded of the season and their play of late has gone to show that they’re in charge of their own fate.
The Minnesota Wild (18-14-4) are coming into Dallas after playing last night versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. With their 3-1 victory against the Leafs the Wild are now one point ahead of Dallas in the standings. However, they lost their New Years Eve match-up against the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 and have been trending in the opposite direction of Dallas lately. Minnesota has only two wins their last eight games and has lost a lot of ground in the standings. They will try to tame a Stars team that has been playing their best hockey of the season tonight.
Story Lines
Marginal Errors
This season, just like in years past, the Western Conference has proven to be highly competitive. It only takes one winning streak to be back in contention and conversely one losing streak to be on the outside looking in. This has been very evident with the Stars who have been fighting to make up for their less than impressive start to the season. They are back over .500, finally got a win in their division, and have been buying into their team defense in recent games. Their play of late has allowed them to jump back into the picture; however, it takes very little to be completely out of it once again and that’s something Dallas will have to keep in mind.
Lehtonen is Back
The Dallas Stars are, without a doubt, an entirely different team when Lehtonen is on his game. His play has a direct influence on the rest of the team and it especially shows in the confidence of the skaters in the defensive zone. Throughout their streak Dallas has been working exceptionally well together to get the puck out of their zone and when they fail to do so they manage to block shots and have active sticks to prevent goals against. If Kari can continue his play there is no reason the Stars can’t continue their winning ways.
Young Guns
Dallas has taken full advantage of their young talent this season and have incorporated rookies for the first time in the last couple of years. Head Coach Lindy Ruff has been utilizing the youth and energy on the backend playing John Klingberg, Jamie Oleksiak, and Jyrki Jokipakka on an interchangeable, but consistent basis. Forward Brett Ritchie looks to be making a case for himself to become a regular within this line-up and it seems that he’ll have another chance to make an impression tonight. The friendly competition within the room will help to challenge veterans to improve their play due to the risk of lost ice time to rookies like Ritchie. Overall this competition will only make the Stars a better, more well-rounded team.
Injury Report
Dallas is without Patrik Nemeth (arm laceration), Valeri Nichushkin (hip), and Rich Peverley (heart) long-term, while Shawn Horcoff is day-to-day with an illness.
The Wild will play without Keith Ballard (facial fractures), Jason Zucker (illness), and Mikael Granlund (wrist) tonight.
Projected Lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Colton Sceviour
Erik Cole – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky
Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt
Travis Moen – Vernon Fiddler – Brett Ritchie
Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak – Trevor Daley
Jordie Benn – Jason Demers
Kari Lehtonen
Anders Lindback
Minnesota Wild
Zach Parise – Mikko Koivu – Jason Pominville
Thomas Vanek – Kyle Brodziak – Justin Fontaine
Nino Niederreiter – Erik Haula – Charlie Coyle
Ryan Carter – Tyler Graovac – Matt Cooke
Ryan Suter – Jonas Brodin
Marco Scandella – Jared Spurgeon
Nate Prosser – Christian Folin
Darcy Kuemper
Niklas Backstrom
Prediction
The Dallas Stars will be motivated to regain their one point advantage against the Wild and they’ll come out with a good start. The Wild, being a talented team, will keep the game close, but Dallas will ultimately come out on top and win 3-2.
How do you think 2015 will go for the Stars? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and be sure to check back for post game analysis after the game!