Dallas Stars @ Vancouver Canucks – Game Preview
08The Dallas Stars are all set to finish their road trip in western Canada tonight against Vancouver. Puck drop is scheduled for 9:00pm CT and the game can be found on Fox Sports Southwest or 1310AM/96.7FM the Ticket.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars (36-29-10) continue to fight for a playoff spot down the stretch and nothing is going to be easy. They currently sit eight points back of the Winnipeg Jets for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Stars are in the position of basically needing to win their remaining games in order to even have a chance at the playoffs and the way they have been playing lately shows that isn’t an impossible task.
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The Vancouver Canucks (43-27-4) are not out of the woods yet, as they currently sit second in the Pacific division but are also three points away from being out of the playoffs all together. Their most recent game was a loss to the Colorado Avalanche and the game was never very close. Especially with the Kings and the Flames playing so well, the Canucks are like the Stars in that they have very little room for error.
Storylines
Jamie Benn within striking distance of NHL’s top scorer
Nobody has been on a better run of production since the All-Star break than Jamie Benn. He currently has 71 points which is just 4 points back of the NHL leader, Sidney Crosby. Much like last season’s stretch run, Benn has put a lot of responsibility on himself in order to get this team to the playoffs. He wants to be back there again and while it is a long shot, he is doing everything he can to keep them at least in the discussion. This season he has been setting up teammates even more, his 44 assists are good for 9th in the NHL.
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Puck Prose
Eddie Lack keeping Canucks alive
With Ryan Miller missing for over a month now, Eddie Lack has been the guy that has kept the Canucks alive in the Pacific Division. Lack actually has just 10 fewer appearances than Miller and also sports better statistics than Miller. The Canucks have won 8 games in the month of March, and 7 of those wins came with the Canucks giving up two goals or less. Vancouver fans were concerned when Miller went down but Lack has picked up the slack.
Injury Report
For the Stars, Trevor Daley (lower body) is questionable for tonight. Val Nichushkin (hip) is doing a conditioning stint in the AHL and Travis Moen (upper body) is out.
For the Canucks, Zack Kassian (back) and Brad Richardson (ankle) are both day-to-day. Ryan Miller (knee) is out.
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
Vancouver Canucks
Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Alexandre Burrows
Chris Higgins – Nick Bonino – Radim Vrbata
Shawn Matthias – Linden Vey – Derek Dorsett
Ronalds Kenins – Bo Horvat – Jannik Hansen
Alexander Edler – Chris Tanev
Dan Hamhuis – Yannick Weber
Luca Sbisa – Kevin Bieksa
Eddie Lack
Jacob Markstrom
Prediction
Stars are on fire and they desperately need to make up for last night. 4-2 over the Canucks as Jyrki Jokipakka gets his first NHL goal. Check back here for a postgame recap!