The Dallas Stars will be in action early today as they square off against the Buffalo Sabres to kick off a three-game road trip in New York.
Rise and shine, Dallas Stars fans. It’s time for the Dallas Stars to hopefully get back in the win column against the Buffalo Sabres today at high noon.
The game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Southwest (FSSW), and you can also hear it on 1310AM/96.7FM The Ticket. Puck drop is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CT from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars come into this afternoon with a record of 18-18-8 with 44 points in 44 games. They sit eleventh in the Western Conference and will need a major turnaround to get back into the playoff race. Their most recent game comes as a disappointing 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild and they are 2-3-0 in their last five games.
The Buffalo Sabres, on the other hand, are 16-17-9 with 41 points in 42 games. They sit second to last in the Eastern Conference and are nine points out of the final wild card spot. Their most recent game was a 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes and they are 2-2-1 in their last five games.
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Storylines
Who gets the start?
It might be difficult to predict who the Dallas Stars will send between the pipes this afternoon, especially with the lack of a morning skate. But who will the Stars go with? Kari Lehtonen or Antti Niemi?
After Niemi gave up three quick goals to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, it’s hard to make the case that he starts again. Meanwhile, Lehtonen was brilliant and held the Stars in the game to help them make the comeback. Not to mention his road success this year.
Time to get consistent or get out
It’s been their biggest problem all year and now it is beginning to crush their playoff hopes. The Dallas Stars need to find some consistency and right the ship before it is too late. The fact that they lost yet again on Saturday even after completing a furious rally leaves Dallas on the wrong side of the standings.
If there was ever a time to win three straight, now would be the time going up against three Eastern Conference teams who have stumbled upon some bad luck recently.
Injury report
The Dallas Stars will be missing RW Ales Hemsky (hip) and C Mattias Janmark (knee) who are both still on long term IR, as well as D Jamie Oleksiak (hand).
The Buffalo Sabres will be minus the services of LW Tyler Ennis (groin), D Josh Gorges (hip), D Dmitry Kulikov (back), and LW Johan Larsson (wrist).
Projected lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Jason Spezza
Lauri Korpikoski – Radek Faksa – Patrick Sharp
Jiri Hudler – Devin Shore – Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell – John Klingberg
Johnny Oduya – Stephen Johns
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
Buffalo Sabres
Marcus Foligno – Jack Eichel – Brian Gionta
Will Carrier – Ryan O’Reilly – Kyle Okposo
Evander Kane – Sam Reinhart – Justin Bailey
Nicolas Deslauriers – Zemgus Girgensons – Matt Moulson
Jake McCabe – Rasmus Ristolainen
Zach Bogosian – Cody Franson
Robin Lehner
Next: The Last Thing The Stars Can Do Is Get Discouraged
Prediction
As much as I cannot stand how inconsistent the Stars are playing this year, give me Dallas winning 4-2.