Dallas Stars Take on Florida Panthers: Preview

The Dallas Stars broke their six game winless streak two nights ago and they’ll look to get a winning streak going as they visit the Florida Panthers tonight. Puck drop is set for 6:30PM CT and the game can be watched on Fox Sports Southwest or you can listen to the call via 1310 the ticket.

Records and Scores

The Stars (28-26-10) beat the New York Islanders Tuesday night in overtime after a series of unfortunate events. Dallas not only lost defenseman Trevor Daley after a knee-on-knee hit by New York’s Matt Martin, but they also surrendered the tying goal with only 1.1 seconds remaining in regulation after a puck deflected off Stars’ defenseman Jordie Benn. Martin was given a one-game suspension for the infraction even though Daley is expected to miss “weeks” according to Lindy Ruff. Despite their misfortune the Stars came back to win the game 3-2 in overtime with a goal by Cody Eakin. Dallas will aim to continue winning with fewer mishaps tonight.

The Florida Panthers (28-23-13) currently sit two points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wildcard position in the eastern conference. They didn’t help their cause with a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in regulation Tuesday night, though. The Panthers will look to increase their points total with a win over Dallas tonight.

Story Lines

Kulikov and Seguin

The last time these two teams met the Stars sat five points out of the second wildcard position in the western conference and the team looked to be nearing complete health. All of that changed, however, when Florida’s Dmitry Kulikov illegally hit Dallas’ number one center Tyler Seguin causing him to sustain a knee injury that has kept him out of the last nine games for the Stars. Since the injury Dallas has dropped to nine points out of the final playoff spot and their chances of making the cut are slim. Kulikov was handed a light four-game suspension for the infraction, despite the brutality of the hit. Regardless, the jury is still out on whether or not Dallas will seek revenge tonight, but they’ll no doubt try to beat Florida.

Building Momentum

The trade deadline has come and past and Dallas was, unfortunately, a seller trading forward Erik Cole to the Detroit Red Wings for draft picks. While that doesn’t completely disregard the playoff hopes of the Stars it doesn’t show tremendous confidence within the organization that they’ll make a return to the post season. Regardless, Stars players are still fighting for the slim chance as well as contracts. Forward Shawn Horcoff will become an unrestricted free agent come season’s end and he has already mentioned conversations with Nill about a contract extension. Although it’s unlikely Horcoff will be making anywhere near the $5.5 million average he’s made for the last six years, he’s still fighting to continue wearing victory green. Other free agents include forward Patrick Eaves and back-up goaltender Jhonas Enroth.

Goalies?

In their 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs the Panthers were also hit with some unfortunate injuries. At first starting goaltender Roberto Luongo injured his shoulder in the first period and back-up goalie Al Montoya took his place. However, Montoya then injured his groin during the early minutes of the third period leaving the Panthers with two injured goalies. This prompted coach Rob Tallas, who hadn’t played in the NHL since 2001 as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, to get league approval and suit up to play goal. At that point Luongo convinced head coach Gerrard Gallant into allowing him to return to the game. Since then the Panthers have called up former Stars back-up Dan Ellis and rookie Sam Brittain from the AHL and ECHL respectively so they have options in goal. It was confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Ellis would in fact get the start versus the Stars.

Injury Report

The Dallas Stars will be without Tyler Seguin (knee), Travis Moen (upper body), Valeri Nichushkin (hip), and Trevor Daley (lower body). Rich Peverley (heart) is also unavailable and no update has been given on his condition.

The Florida Panthers will play without Dave Bolland (upper body) and Willie Mitchell (upper body). Goalies Al Montoya (groin) and Roberto Luongo (shoulder) are both hurt, Montoya is expected to miss a few weeks and Luongo is questionable for tonight.

Projected Lines

Dallas Stars

Jamie Benn – Jason Spezza – Patrick Eaves

Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt

Colton Sceviour – Vernon Fiddler – Ales Hemsky

Curtis McKenzie – Shawn Horcoff – Brett Ritchie

Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg

Jordie Benn – Jason Demers

Jyrki Jokipakka – Patrick Nemeth

Kari Lehtonen (expected starter)

Jhonas Enroth

Florida Panthers

Jussi Jokinen – Nick Bjugstad – Brad Boyes

Jonathan Huberdeau – Aleksander Barkov – Jaromir Jagr

Brandon Pirri – Vincent Trochekc – Jimmy Hayes

Scottie Upshall – Derek MacKenzie – Tomas Kopecky

Brian Campbell – Aaron Ekblad

Dmitry Kulikov – Erik Gudbranson

Steve Kampfer – Alex Petrovic

Dan Ellis (expected starter)

Roberto Luongo

Sam Brittain

Prediction

The Dallas Stars will continue their winning ways and get redemption for the Seguin injury in the form of a 4-2 win over the Panthers.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check back for the post-game analysis after the conclusion of tonight’s match-up.

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