Dallas Stars Hope for Anything Positive Versus Jets

The Dallas Stars are in Winnipeg tonight as they continue a three-game road trip. A win is required for the Stars to keep any of their slim postseason hopes alive.

The Dallas Stars will continue their road trip as they take on the Winnipeg Jets tonight. Puck drop is set for 7PM CT from the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Records and Scores

The Stars (22-25-10) fell to the Nashville Predators Sunday night in a 5-3 effort. Dallas got out to a three-goal lead before surrendering it in the second half of the game. The loss proved rather devastating for the team, but they will hope for a different result tonight.

Winnipeg (25-29-4) fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night, 4-1. They also find themselves in a rather high pressure situation as their playoff hopes are on the line as well. They will hope to surpass the Stars in the standings with a two-point effort at home tonight.

Storylines

Tied Teams Post Losses

Both the Dallas Stars and the Winnipeg Jets find themselves with 54 points. Dallas is currently one spot above Winnipeg, though, being that they have a game in hand.

Regardless of their current standings positions, both teams are in difficult spots. There are limited points up for grabs between now and the season’s conclusion and they will need help from other clubs in order to be playing past mid-April.

Disappearing Leads

Unfortunately for the Stars, their weekend loss proved to be a result of their lack of persistence. The team surrendered five unanswered goals in the second half of the match-up knowing full well that their lives were on the line.

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That kind of effort does not bode well for the team’s morale and makes it difficult to think it possible that they could turn this season around. Especially considering how few games remain.

A key to victory in tonight’s match-up will be having a good start and maintaining any leads that are established. Dallas needs to prove to themselves at the very least that they are capable of closing out games.

While their playoff hopes have greatly diminished over the course of the first half of February, the Stars need to re-establish confidence in their room heading into the offseason. That becomes increasingly more important with the almost certain personnel changes to come.

Injuries

The Stars will be without Johnny Oduya (ankle), Mattias Janmark (knee) and Ales Hemsky (hip) tonight. Jason Spezza (upper-body) made the trip and is an option. Jamie Oleksiak (hand) is unlikely.

Winnipeg will play tonight’s game without Tyler Myers (lower-body), Marko Dano (lower-body) and Tobias Enstrom (lower-body). Ondrej Pavelec (concussion) resumed skating, but is unlikely to play.