Dallas Stars Begin Road Trip with Division Match-up in St. Louis
The Dallas Stars will kick off a four game road trip starting tonight. It all begins with a visit to the St. Louis Blues.
The Dallas Stars will hit the road for a week as they move to four cities in the United States. First stop is a visit to Scottrade Center in St. Louis where the Stars will take on a formidable Blues club. Puck drop is set for 7PM CT.
Records and Scores
Dallas (9-8-5) most recently defeated the Vancouver Canucks at home last Friday. The 2-1 victory featured more complete play in the final forty minutes, but saw rather alarming plays in the opening frame. Still, the Stars overcame a one-goal deficit early and were able to end the night with two points. They will aim to have similar results tonight in St. Louis
St. Louis (12-7-3) defeated the Minnesota Wild Saturday night in a shootout 4-3. They have been very successful at home, earning points in their last nine games at Scottrade Center, a trend they hope will continue tonight against the Stars.
Storylines
Stephen Johns’ Return?
The Dallas Stars sent defenseman Stephen Johns down to the Texas Stars of the AHL last week and he played a total of two games for them before being called up to Dallas yesterday. Johns scored three goals in those two match-ups, which seemed to impress the Stars enough to give him another shot.
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Johns had been plagued with the struggles of the Stars defense, but his being sent down was a bit of a surprise. Dallas has been making bold moves with their blue line, so sending Johns down after benching John Klingberg was just another move in a sequence of events.
Nonetheless, it looks as if No. 28 will return to the line-up tonight. That then begs the question of what Dallas’ defense will look like in the Gateway City and then on the rest of the road trip. Lindy Ruff could replace either Julius Honka or Esa Lindell in favor of Johns, or he could be opting to have an extra defender for the road trip.
Tonight’s game is the first of a back-to-back, as the team will head to Detroit tomorrow, so bringing along an extra defenseman or two makes sense.
Blues’ Home Points Streak
The Blues have been a really successful team of late on home ice. They have managed to earn at least one point in their last nine games, which is something the Stars will look to be infringing upon tonight.
That, however, is a lot easier said than done. The Blues are a team with a strong defense and a few forwards that have immense talent in the offensive zone. That combination can be daunting for the opposition and is something the Stars will have to overcome if they plan on leaving the Gateway City with two points.
It is also a Central Division match-up which only makes the pressure that much greater. Dallas is trailing the Blues right now by four points. That would increase to six with a loss for the Stars tonight and that is certainly not what Dallas is aiming for.
Injuries
The Stars will play without Mattias Janmark (knee), Ales Hemsky (groin), Johnny Oduya (lower-body) and most likely Jiri Hudler (illness) tonight.
The Blues will not have Joel Edmundson (upper-body) tonight and may be without Alex Steen (upper-body).
Line Combinations
Dallas Stars*
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Sharp
Devin Shore – Cody Eakin – Lauri Korpikoski
Antoine Roussel – Radek Faksa – Brett Ritchie
Curtis McKenzie – Adam Cracknell – Jason Spezza
Esa Lindell – John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis – Julius Honka
Jamie Oleksiak – Jordie Benn
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
*Johns being called up means he is most likely in the line-up. It is unclear as to which defender will come out or if Dallas will play seven instead. If they stick with six, it seems likely that they would swap out Patrik Nemeth and Stephen Johns for another pair.
St. Louis Blues
Jaden Schwartz – Paul Stastny – David Perron
Robby Fabbri – Jori Lehtera – Vladimir Tarasenko
Dmitrij Jaskin – Patrik Berglund – Ty Rattie
Scottie Upshall – Kyle Brodziak – Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo
Robert Bortuzzo – Kevin Shattenkirk
Carl Gunnarsson – Colton Parayko
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Prediction
The Dallas Stars will fall to the St. Louis Blues in overtime, 3-2.