Dallas Stars Look For Redemption Against Devils
Licking their wounds from a four game losing streak, the Dallas Stars will travel back home to take on the Devils and try to reclaim their mojo against the Eastern conference.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 PM CT at American Airlines Center. You can catch the game broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest Plus (FSSW+), and1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars find themselves in the middle of a pretty ugly skid, with a 38-20-7 record on their season. After losing three straight at home and then biting the bullet in Nashville on Tuesday, the Stars are in some desperate straits, and unfortunately things won’t be getting any easier as they come down the homestretch for this season.
The New Jersey Devils are on a one game win streak after a 5-4 overtime defeat of the same Predators that tore into the Stars on Tuesday. With a 31-27-7 record, they sit a ways behind Dallas in points (69 to the Stars’ 83), but have 33 fewer goals against.
Storylines
Last time around…
The Stars and the Devils have tangoed once already this season, a matchup which saw the Devils winning 3-2 in overtime. The deciding goal occurred on a power play while Jamie Benn was in the box for hooking. Sharp and Sceviour were the goal scorers, and Niemi was in net to make 27 saves.
Lindy Ruff commented after the game on the back-checking ability of the Devils, which kept the Stars mostly at bay until they launched a signature resurgence in the third period. But, we already know the ending of that story: too little, too late.
People usually like the bad news first, right?
Sometimes bluntness is best. The Stars weren’t in a good place already; they seem to have lost the fight and the fire that propelled them to the top of the league early in the season. With teams like Washington and Chicago working hard to stay in the win column, the Stars have to step up their game if they are still harboring hopes of remaining a top competitor.
And now the Stars have, in a way, been kicked while they’re down. With Jordie Benn and Patrick Sharp out for injuries and Patrick Eaves out with illness, the team will have to work around these absences and keep their wits about them if they don’t want a losing season series against the Devils.
Another thing the Stars might have to do if they want to come out the victors is avoid pushing the decision into overtime. Although the Dallas Stars started off a dynamo team on three-on-three, their recent forays into overtime have resulted in unwise penalties, which resulted in losses. The Devils, however, are 8-1 in three-on-three this season. Rather than take their chances, the Stars should just show up early in the game and avoid jeopardizing a win in overtime.
More stars: Dallas Stars In Slump At Very Inconvenient Time
But to follow it up with some good news…
I’m a firm believer in the idea that you can spin anything positively if you put your mind to it. So let’s take a moment to look at the roster losses this way: the Stars are great at compensating for lost players. Several times in the season when they’ve lost key pieces, they’ve made up for it with added speed and fervor around the net. And with Brett Ritchie called up, perhaps Dallas will be able to work these recent misfortunes to their advantage.
Additionally, the Stars are 9-4-1 against the Metropolitan division this season, and are 7-6-2 since the All-Star break, which is just slightly better than the Devil’s 6-7-2. But hey, we’ll take good news wherever we can get it, right?
Injury Report
Back to the bad news. The Dallas Stars will be without Patrick Sharp (lower body), Patrick Eaves (illness), and Jordie Benn (lower body) tonight in New Jersey.
The Devils will also be missing some pieces, with Michael Cammalleri (upper body), Patrik Elias (knee) and Jiri Tlusty (upper body) all out and on injured reserve.
Projected Line-ups
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn –Tyler Seguin –Valeri Nichushkin
Mattias Janmark –Jason Spezza –Colton Sceviour
Antoine Roussel –Cody Eakin –Ales Hemsky
Radek Faksa –Vernon Fiddler –Travis Moen
New Jersey Devils
Reid Boucher –Adam Henrique –Devante Smith-Pelly
Sergey Kalinin –Travis Zajac –Kyle Palmieri
Joseph Blandisi –Jacob Josefson –Tyler Kennedy
Bobby Farnham –Stephen Gionta –Jordin Tootoo
Jonathon Merrill –Damon Severson
Predictions
Shall we balance optimism with realism? The Devils will score first and lead through most of the game, but with the added pressure of making up for lost players, the Stars will get an energy boost in the third and come back 3-2. Fingers crossed?