Dallas Stars Look To Gain Valuable Points vs. Canadiens
The Dallas Stars are fresh off of the All Star Break and are hunting for valuable points to get them back into playoff contention. They will look to add two more points to their total on Tuesday night when they take on the Montreal Canadiens. This will be the second and final meeting between the two teams in the 2014-2015 regular season. The Dallas Stars took the first meeting in Dallas by a dominant score of 4-1 back on December 6th. The game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Southwest (FSSW). Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 PM CST from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars have not played in one week, but still sit on the outside looking in. They currently hoist a record of 21-18-7 with 49 points, good enough for sixth place in the Central Division. They are 3-2-0 in their last five, with their most recent game coming as a loss to the Boston Bruins at home by a score of 3-1, though the Stars put on a show by attempting 37 shots opposed to just 27 from the Bruins. The Stars may look to be in a bind, but two wins would put them in a wild card playoff spot. So a win tonight would lay some serious pressure on the three teams in front of them.
The Montreal Canadiens have it good right about now. They own a current record of 29-13-3 with 61 points, which is good enough for third place in the Atlantic Division. They rest just three points out of the top spot in the division and are looking to hop the line and get back to the top. Their most recent game comes as a 2-1 victory in overtime against the Nashville Predators a whole week ago. If they can keep up their pace, they will be back at the helm of the Atlantic Division in no time.
Storylines
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Injuries? Nonsense.
The Dallas Stars skidded into the All Star Break on fumes after a couple of different key players went down with injuries in different games. Going into the break, the Dallas Stars were missing four assets to their team, being Trevor Daley, Erik Cole, Brett Ritchie, and Patrick Eaves. Eaves had been missed long-term after breaking a bone in his lower right leg back in early December. Daley had an undisclosed injury that struck him after the Winnipeg game, causing him to miss the Stars last three games before the break. Cole was injured early in the game against the Bruins and was expected to be out quite a length of time. Ritchie missed the last three games before the break. All of these players had been producing well for the Dallas Stars and were valuable assets to the team, but the Stars future looked sketchy during the break, unsure of when they would come back. But Monday morning’s practice was a sign of new, fresh light. All four players were present for practice on the ice, and all look like they are ready to go besides Cole, who Ruff said was doing much better than expected. If these guys are injected back into the lineup, we could see some sparks start to fly on the upcoming Canada road trip.
Let the good times roll
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A Winning Habit
The Montreal Canadiens are playing red hot as of late. Over their last 12 matchups, they are 9-2-1, even though their goals for average is a mere 2.91. The Canadiens are being led by All Star goaltender Carey Price, who has performed spectacularly over the past several games. If the Canadiens are looking to move up, they will have to go through the Dallas Stars, who have already defeated them once this season, by a dominating score of 4-1 while painting Price in the process.
Injury report
The Dallas Stars look like they will be missing F Erik Cole (upper-body injury), F Valeri Nichushkin (hip surgery), D Patrik Nemeth (arm laceration), and Rich Peverley (non-playing IR).
The Montreal Canadiens will be without F P.A. Parenteau (upper-body injury).
Projected lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Brett Ritchie
Patrick Eaves – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky
Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt
Travis Moen – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour
Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg
David Schlemko – Trevor Daley
Jordie Benn – Jason Demers
(Jyrki Jokipakka and Jamie Oleksiak were called up Monday morning, so their status is unknown on whether either will play)
Kari Lehtonen
Anders Lindback
Montreal Canadiens
Max Pacioretty – Tomas Plekanec – Dale Weise
Alex Galchenyuk – David Desharnais – Brendan Gallagher
Jiri Sekac – Lars Eller – Christian Thomas
Michael Bournival – Manny Malhotra – Brandon Prust
Andrei Markov – P.K. Subban
Nathan Beaulieu – Sergei Gonchar
Alexei Emelin – Tom Gilbert
Carey Price
Dustin Tokarski
Prediction
I see the Dallas Stars blasting out of the All Star Break like hell on wheels. They march into the Bell Centre and drown the Canadiens with a threatening assault on offense and take the game, 4-2. Let’s hope I’m right, for all Dallas Stars fans sakes.