Dallas Stars Head Home to Host Detroit Red Wings

The Dallas Stars are back home and in desperate need of a win. Their first chance comes tonight against an old rival: the Detroit Red Wings.

The Dallas Stars will be returning to the American Airlines Center tonight. They will face-off against the Eastern Conference rival Detroit Red Wings in hopes of earning two points. Puck drop is set for 7:30PM CT.

Records and Scores

Dallas (17-17-8) is coming into tonight’s game following a tough road trip. They fell to the St. Louis Blues thanks to a late goal against in the third period, rallied to preserve a victory in Los Angeles and then lost to the Anaheim Ducks the next night. Antti Niemi had a solid effort for the team in all three games, having to relieve Kari Lehtonen in the first two, which is something they can hope to build on tonight.

Detroit (17-18-6) lost to the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday night in overtime, 4-3. They have lost four of their last five games and are looking to get back on track tonight versus the Stars.

Storylines

Special Teams Struggles on Road Trip

The Stars’ penalty kill was a big point of concern on their most recent road trip. They came out of it with a mere two points out of a possible six, despite having two seemingly winning efforts.

In the loss to the Blues Dallas scored on one of their four man advantages, while their penalty kill surrendered goals on two of St. Louis’ three opportunities. That goal difference ended up as the contrast between winning and losing. Unfortunately for the Stars their efforts were not rewarded and they left that game with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Question of the Crease

Lindy Ruff started Lehtonen in the first two games of the road trip, however, he was subsequently pulled from each game after two lackluster performances.

No. 32 was irate after being removed from goal in Los Angeles, hitting his stick up against the goal post and the boards before eventually throwing it down the tunnel. He surrendered four goals on 21 shots in that game after giving up three goals on 14 shots in St. Louis.

It is important to note that two games do not indicate the direction a goaltender is going. It does, however, show that Lehtonen is not confident right now. The veteran net minder is not comfortable in the crease and is likely over-thinking the game as opposed to trusting his instincts.

More from Blackout Dallas

While all of the goals against in his two appearances on the road trip were not his fault, he was struck by a Stars’ defender’s stick on one, they are not a good sign either.

Dallas needs to decide before season’s end which goaltender they will be protecting in the expansion draft. Lehtonen’s inability to find consistency definitely has to factor into that choice, despite him being the go-to guy in net over the last number of years.

The call of who will get in the blue paint for the Stars tonight is really debatable. It would make sense to reward Niemi for solid play on the road trip with a start at home, but it would also be beneficial to get Lehtonen in so he can regain some confidence. That could backfire, though, if he has yet another bad outing.

Regardless of who is in the crease tonight, the Stars will need a solid performance against the Wings if they hope to get back on the winning side of things.

Injuries

Dallas will be without Mattias Janmark (knee) and Ales Hemsky (hip) for the bulk of the season. Jamie Benn (foot) is a possibility tonight, but Jamie Oleksiak (hand) will not be in the line-up.

Detroit is dealing with a lot of injuries at the moment. They will not have Johan Franzen (concussion), Joe Vitale (upper-body), Brendan Smith (lower-body), Jimmy Howard (sprained MCL), Darren Helm (dislocated shoulder) or Niklas Kronwall (lower-body) in the line-up tonight.