PREVIEW 6:15 AM CDT
It's Joe Nieuwendyk Night in Big D. The soon-to-be inducted Hall of Famer will be honored tonight in a pre-game ceremony at the American Airlines Center scheduled for15 minutes before the opening faceoff. At 7 PM CDT, the Stars (7-3-0) take on the New Jersey Devils (4-3-1) in the first of two meeting between the clubs this season. The game will be broadcast locally on TXA-21 and in the New York area on MSG Network.
Dallas will look to get back on the winning track tonight. They have lost two of their last three games -- both to the Los Angeles Kings -- and the lone victory came as a result of a late-game comeback and marathon shootout in Phoenix. The Stars have played well overall, but they have not put all the facets of their game together at the same time since their win in Anaheim in the second game of their four-game road trip that saw the team go 3-1.
Kari Lehtonen has played like a Vezina Trophy candidate through the first month of the season. However, he played slightly below that level in the last game, which only goes to show that the big Finn is a human being who can't be perfect. Tonight, he takes on a Devils team that has scuffled for goals, averaging a mere 2.12 per game. The Stars haven't exactly lit it up, either, averaging 2.30 tallies per game in the early going.
The Devils are coming off an atrocious effort in a 5-3 loss to Phoenix. New Jersey jumped out to a 2-1 lead and then utterly fell apart. Pete DeBoer's club concludes its four-game road trip tonight after winning one of the first three. Patrik Elias (7 points, top overall scorer) and Zach Parise pace the team to date with four goals apiece through their first 8 games, while Ilya Kovalchuk has two goals and six points so far.
For the Stars, Jamie Benn has taken over the team lead in scoring -- as he ought to -- largely on the strength of racking up six assists in the last games. However, he has scored just one goal in that stretch and has been pressing just a tad with the puck. Overall, he has 2 goals and 9 points through the first 10 games. Benn's All-Star linemate, Loui Eriksson has 5 goals and 8 points overall but only one point (an assist) in the last three.
I expect a much improved effort from New Jersey tonight, especially on the defensive side of the puck. The Stars will need to create room for themselves, which starts with Benn and Eriksson, along with linemate Steve Ott, matching or exceeding the performances of the Mike Ribeiro and Vern Fiddler units.
New Jersey is still missing several key injured players. Martin Brodeur (shoulder) is expected to miss tonight's game with Johan Hedberg continuing as starter. Forwards Travis Zajac (Achilles) and Jacob Josefson (broken clavicle) are on injured reserve, while enforcer Eric Boulton (bruised hand) is day-to-day.
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