Dallas Stars Have Chance To Snowball Avalanche
The Dallas Stars are looking for a win- regulation, overtime, anything- but just can’t seem to get it. They’ll have another chance to snatch one up tonight against the Colorado Avalanche.
You can see it all tonight on Fox Sports Southwest (FSSW), or catch the broadcast on 1310 AM/ 96.7FM The Ticket. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 PM CT from the AAC, where we will all be in spirit!
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars have cemented a firmly mediocre season start for themselves. After their overtime loss in New Jersey, their record is 6-6-5. After a pretty decent road trip which saw them go 2-1-2, the Stars returned home to take on the Devils, hoping their homestand would see an improvement in the win column.
Although the Stars have been progressively playing better, things are still not just right. They’ll need to be vigilante against Colorado, as their last fifteen meetings have resulted in a 3-9-3 record for the Stars.
The Colorado Avalanche is coming off a 4-1 win over the Kings, which pushed their record to 7-8-0. Tonight will begin a three game roadtrip to follow the Avalanche’s four game, 2-2-0 homestand. The Avalanche are historically one of the teams that Dallas has wavered against. Denver won their first meeting with the Stars this season in a high-scoring 6-5 decision.
Storylines
Will the real defense please stand up?
The Dallas Stars are have a mixed up identity crisis when it comes to their defense. Some things they’ve been doing better, such as levying hits and blocking shots, but turnovers and possessing the neutral zone are still huge roadblock that the Stars have been consistently stumbling over.
An ill-fated pass was what lost the Stars possession in overtime against New Jersey and ultimately lost them that game. The defense needs to tighten its operations before the Stars can improve. John Klingberg has been a repeat offender, so it will be interesting to see if Lindy Ruff decides that enough is enough and scratches him, or gives him yet another chance to right his turnover wrongs.
Take advantage of fair play
The Stars have struggled in the past with special teams and are not pristine now, but have proven that they can score when the pressure is on. Conversely, they’ve been outscored much of the time in five on five, even play.
This is something they perhaps use to their advantage tonight. Colorado is even harder up on even scoring than the Stars are, having scored only 19 five on five goals for the duration of this season, the fewest of any team in the NHL.
The Stars, then, should take advantage and assume possession of even play from the get-go. However, this also means that they need to pay extra close attention when playing with and without the man advantage. Their special teams, and their penalty kill especially, should stay sharp.
Who to watch
Expect a few players to step up to the plate tonight. For the Stars, Tyler Seguin’s recent play can be compared to the glue holding much of their offensive play together. He leads Dallas in points, with 7 goals and 13 assists for 20 points.
In recent instances where Ruff has split him and Jamie Benn onto different lines, the production has increased. Still be watching the new guys, too: Adam Cracknell, Radek Faksa, and Devin Shore have all seemed eager to score in recent games, so tonight’s five on five advantage may just be their opportunity to get it.
Colorado is lead in points by Matt Duchene. He has 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points. After sustaining a concussion, his first, on Friday, he took part in team practice yesterday for the first time since the injury and is slated to make a comeback soon.
Whether that will be tonight against the Stars, we’re not sure, but we do know that the Stars will need to shut down the Avalanche’s special teams. Although they’ve only scored 31 goals this season, 9 of those have been on the power play.
Injury Report
For the Dallas Stars, Cody Eakin (knee) is still questionable for return tonight, but did participate in the optional skate this morning without a red no-contact jersey. Still out indefinitely are Patrick Sharp (concussion), Jiri Hudler (illness), Mattias Janmark (knee), and Ales Hemsky (hip).
The Colorado Avalanche will be missing Matt Duchene (concussion) and Gabriel Landeskog (lower body) tonight.
Projected Lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Radek Faksa – Lauri Korpikoski
Antoine Roussel – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Eaves
Gemel Smith – Devin Shore – Jason Spezza
Curtis McKenzie – Adam Cracknell – Brett Ritchie
Colorado Avalanche
Andreas Martinsen – Nathan MacKinnon – AJ Greer
Rene Bourque – Carl Soderberg – Mikko Rantanen
Joe Colborne – Mikhail Grigorenko – Cody McLeod
Blake Comeau – John Mitchell – Jarome Iginla
Francois Beauchemin – Eric Gelinas
Next: Dallas Stars' Unbearable Uncertainty of the Blue Line
Prediction
The Stars will take advantage of Colorado’s five on five scoring shyness and will come in hot, scoring first. Of course, they will lag a bit toward the middle and end and will probably give up a one or two on special teams. I’m expecting a final score in the vicinity of 3-2 Stars.