Dallas Stars Playoff Hopes on the Line Against Edmonton Oilers
The Dallas Stars head to Edmonton to take on the Oilers tonight in hopes of building on their current winning streak. The puck is set to drop at 8:30PM CT and can be seen on TXA 21 or listened to via 1310 the Ticket.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars improved to (36-28-10) with their most recent win against the Calgary Flames in a shootout Wednesday night, 4-3. Dallas has been on a roll lately winning four in a row and seven of their last eight to put them eight points out of the last wildcard spot with eight games remaining. Dallas has a game in hand on the Winnipeg Jets, the team that currently holds the second wildcard position. The Stars will need every point they can get as well as some help from teams ahead of them in order to make a return to post-season play, but if they continue to perform as they have lately it’s very possible. Dallas will look to collect two more points tonight against the Oilers.
The Edmonton Oilers (21-40-13) beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 Tuesday night for their twenty-first win of the season. Although the Oilers aren’t going to make the cut for the playoffs this season they’ll still have an influence over which teams make it. They face off against eight playoff hopeful teams for their last match-ups of the 2014-2015 season and that many points can surely change the playoff picture. Edmonton will aim to put a damper on Dallas’ run of late tonight.
Story Lines
Shooting Stars
Dallas has been producing a lot of goals lately, while protecting their defensive end as well and it has lead to a rather large accumulation of points. Jamie Benn has been leading the team during its latest stretch having seven points (4G, 3A) in his last four games, while defenseman Alex Goligoski has contributed three assists in his last three games. Ales Hemksy, a rather streaky player for Dallas thus far, is also hot right now with four points in his last three games. The contributions down the line-up have been a large factor in Dallas’ success and it will be a factor in the final eight games of the regular season.
Never Down and Out
Although the Stars have lost more than their fair share of leads this season, they’ve begun to protect them better during the month of March. Dallas has been dreadful in third periods this season, but they’ve found a way to not let that destroy forty plus minutes of hard work. The Stars have tightened up defensively late in games and it speaks volumes to their effort and commitment to finishing strong. Overall the Dallas Stars’ team confidence is at an all-time high for the season and that is a great trend going into the last leg of the season.
Where Kari Goes, the Stars Go
Regardless of how talented other players on a team are a bad goalie, or their poor play, can be detrimental to a team’s success. That statement is the epitome of the Dallas Stars’ season thus far and it is finally taking on a more positive light. Kari Lehtonen has won seven of his last eight starts boasting a 1.875 GAA in that stretch. He’s also been able to stop numerous breakaway opportunities and odd man rushes as well as a penalty shot to Chicago’s Brandon Saad during that time. Ultimately Dallas’ success is almost entirely dependent on the play of Lehtonen and he has proved just how true that is with his excellent play in the last few weeks. The Stars will look for a continuation of stellar performances by Lehtonen both tonight and in the remaining games.
Injury Report
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Detroit Jock City
The Stars will be without Valeri Nichushkin (hip) who will play tonight for the Texas Stars as a part of his conditioning stint that will end next week. They will also be missing Travis Moen (upper-body), while Trevor Daley (lower-body) is questionable. Daley is on the trip with the team and could be a possibility.
The Oilers won’t have Matt Fraser (concussion), Viktor Fasth (knee), or Andrew Ference (upper-body) in their line-up tonight.
Projected Lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Tyler Seguin
Patrick Eaves – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky
Antoine Roussel – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour
Curtis McKenzie – Shawn Horcoff – Brett Ritchie
Jyrki Jokipakka – Alex Goligoski
Patrik Nemeth – John Klingberg
Jordie Benn – Jason Demers
Kari Lehtonen
Jhonas Enroth
Edmonton Oilers
Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Teddy Purcell – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov
Taylor Hall – Anton Lander – Andrew Miller
Luke Gazdic – Matt Hendricks – Rob Klinkhammer
Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Martin Marincin – Keith Aulie
Mark Fayne – Nikita Nikitin
Ben Scrivens
Richard Bachman
Prediction
The Dallas Stars will make it five straight wins as they beat Taylor Hall and the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 to pick up another valuable two points.
Who do you think will come out with two points tonight? Leave your predictions in the comments.
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