Dallas Stars Looking For Comeback: Duck Season In Dallas
With a five-game winning streak ended on home ice against the Panthers, the Dallas Stars (6-2-0) will do whatever they can to recover and regain their composure against the Anaheim Ducks, who will be looking to redeem their 1-5-2 record and end their current 3 game losing streak.
With the Stars sitting at second place in the Central Division and the Ducks at last place in the Pacific, hopefully the outcome of this match up will be as obvious as it seems.
You can listen to tonight’s game on Fox Sports Southwest (FSSW) and listen to it broadcasted on 1310AM/ 96.7FM The Ticket. We’ll be waiting with baited breath for puck drop, scheduled for 7:30 at American Airlines Center.
Records and Scores
The Stars’ hot streak was snapped in two on Saturday in a disappointing loss to the Florida Panthers, who let the Stars get ahead first but kept up a relentless stream of goals which bested Dallas in the end, 6-2. This disastrous match saw the Stars coming up short in both goaltending and defense. But losses happen, and the real test will be to see if the Stars can get up and dust themselves off in time to meet the Ducks.
The Anaheim Ducks are familiar with struggle this season, having fewer collective goals on the season (6) than Jamie Benn does individually (8). They fell yesterday in overtime to the Blackhawks at United Center, 1-0. The question is, can the Stars continue to turn up the Central Division heat on the Ducks as they forge ahead?
Storylines
Making Do With Defense
As Jason Demers serves out the last game of his 2 game suspension for elbowing the Penguins’ Nick Bonino on Thursday, Lindy Ruff has disclosed that he will be bringing back Jyrki Jokipakka, who was a scratch last game.
Whether it will be Patrik Nemeth or Jamie Oleksiak who round off that defensive pairing is yet to be determined, but it is clear that Ruff is looking to shake things up for a hopefully better result on the defensive end tonight.
More From Blackout Dallas- Dallas Stars Defense: Who’s in and Who’s Out
Points of Interest
The disparity between the Ducks and Stars in terms of team bests is seemingly very telling. Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell are Anaheim’s point and scoring leaders, currently with 2 points and 1 goal each so far in the season.
Compare this to Dallas’ point leaders, the ever-illustrious Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, who have earned 12 points apiece. The Stars leaders in scoring are Jamie Benn, with 8 goals, and Jason Spezza, with 5. And with the way they have been playing, it’s really no surprise.
However, despite the point and goal difference, keep in mind that the Stars tend to struggle against opponents within their own Conference, and there is not a large enough distance that could be put between the two that would determine for sure the outcome of this game.
Injury Report
The Stars’ usual suspects are still out: Curtis McKenzie (lower body), Patrick Eaves (lower body), and Travis Moen (upper body) are all still recovering with different timetables. At practice Monday, Ruff projected Eaves to take the longest to be back to full health.
And while not exactly an injury, Jason Demers’ absence tonight in the last game of his suspension probably will feel a little injurious (not to mention unjust) to fans.
The Ducks will have to do without Simon Despres and Josh Manson, both out of the lineup with upper body injuries.
Projected Lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Sharp
Mattias Janmark – Jason Spezza – Valeri Nichushkin
Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ales Hemsky
Vernon Fiddler – Radek Faksa – Colton Sceviour
Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg
Patrik Nemeth – Jamie Oleksiak – Jyrki Jokipakka
Anaheim Ducks
Carl Hagelin – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry
Jiri Sekac – Ryan Kesler – Jakob Silfverberg
Andrew Cogliano – Rickard Rakell – Mike Santorelli
Patrick Maroon – Shawn Horcoff – Chris Wagner
Hampus Lindholm – Kevin Bieksa
Predictions
Hopefully the Ducks will continue to quack up and the Stars will come out strong and ready to move on from Saturday’s loss. The defense will be a little better prepared, and leaky goaltending, if it rears its ugly head, will be dealt with earlier than on Saturday.
It will be a back and forth struggle, since both teams have something to prove, but the Stars will pull ahead 2-1 in the third for an adrenaline-laced win.
Next: Dallas Stars Beast the East, Best In West
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