Dallas Stars Continue Playoff Push vs. Washington – Preview
The Dallas Stars will look to continue their push in the Western Conference wild card race tonight when they face off with the Washington Capitals, a team that is currently fighting to keep their wild card spot intact. This will be the second and final meeting between the two teams this season. The Stars won the first meeting in a high-scoring affair by a score of 5-4 in Dallas. If you can remember, neither goalie was rather sharp that game. Tonight’s game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Southwest Plus (FSSW+), and you can also hear it on 1310AM/96.7FM The Ticket. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 PM CST from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars have strung themselves together a bit of a streak, but they have a long way to go before they can start to talk playoffs again. The Dallas Stars currently hoist a record of 31-27-10 with 72 points, good enough for last place in the Central Division, though only one point separates them from sixth. They sit sixth in the wild card race, but only rest seven points out of the final spot and nine points out of the first spot. The sad thing is, the five teams in front of them need to melt down along with the Stars winning in order to make the playoffs. Their most recent game came as a 5-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes last night. They are 4-1-0 in their last five games, but have yet to gain ground, which could be discouraging.
The Washington Capitals are doing average over the last few games, but can afford to lose a few and still be in good shape. They hold a record of 36-22-10 with 82 points, good enough for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division and first in the wild card race. Their most recent game came as a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. The upside is that they have had a day to rest while the Stars are on the second half of a back-to-back. They are 3-2-0 in their last five games.
Storylines
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App Trigger
Dallas Stars need a somewhat different look to Friday the 13th
The Dallas Stars are playing on another Friday the 13th, the second one in the last two months. Except this time, they will hope that Lady Luck does not entirely abandon them like she did last time. On Friday February 13th, the Dallas Stars took on the Florida Panthers. While Lady Luck helped the Stars to a 2-0 victory over the Panthers, she did not help the Stars individually. Tyler Seguin was table-topped by a gutless hit from Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, which eventually sidelined him for three weeks that drastically affected the Stars playoff run. Patrick Eaves also took a puck to the face just moments after the Seguin injury, benching him with a concussion for two weeks. The loss of two of the Stars top six forwards was nothing short of drastic and it resulted in a major, if not fatal, shot to their playoff push. This time, they will hope they have the tenacity to hold their own individually as well as capitalize with a victory.
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Stars and Sticks
Capitals offense turning up the heat in March
The Capitals offense has been on fire so far to start the third month of the year. Though their record is 3-2-0 so far in the month, you most certainly cannot blame the performance of their front three. So far in the month, the Capitals are averaging 32.8 shots per game. Not only are the shots impressive, but the quality must be pretty gosh darn good, considering their goal average is 3.40 goals per game. This offense will face either Kari Lehtonen, who had a very awkward night against the Hurricanes, or Jhonas Enroth, who contributed to letting a third period lead slip away against the Tampa Bay Lightning less than a week ago. With a majority rookie defensive corps, there is plenty of cause for worry.
Injury report
The Dallas Stars will be minus the services of D Trevor Daley (lower body), F Travis Moen (upper body), and F Valeri Nichushkin (hip). D John Klingberg (upper body) will most likely be a game time decision. F Rich Peverley (heart) remains on the non-playing IR.
The Washington Capitals will be missing F Jay Beagle (upper body), D John Erskine (neck), D Mike Green (upper body), D Brooks Orpik (lower body), F Michael Latta (upper body), G Eddie Pasquale (hip), and D Dmitry Orlov (wrist).
Projected lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Tyler Seguin
Antoine Roussel – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky
Curtis McKenzie – Shawn Horcoff – Brett Ritchie
Patrick Eaves – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour
Alex Goligoski – Jason Demers
Jordie Benn – Patrik Nemeth
Jamie Oleksiak – Jyrki Jokipakka
Jhonas Enroth
Kari Lehtonen
Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Marcus Johannson
Curtis Glencross – Jay Beagle – Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Brooks Laich – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson
Nate Schmidt – John Carlson
Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen
Tim Gleason – Cam Schilling
Braden Holtby
Justin Peters
Prediction
Sad as it may seem, it is not likely that the Stars will be able to keep the streak alive, especially on a back to back. This season, the Stars are 2-7-1 on the second half of a back to back. The Dallas Stars will fight hard in this one, but the Capitals will prevail with a 4-3 win. Let’s hope I’m wrong, at least for playoffs sake.
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