PREVIEW 8:15 AM CST

The Stars (11-7-0) face a tall order tonight as they try to break out of a four-game losing streak that has seen the club get shut out in each of the last two games and outscored 17-3 overall. Tonight, they will take on the San Jose Sharks (10-5-1) at the American Airlines Center. The game starts at 7 PM CST (5 PM PST) and will be broadcast locally on TX-21.

The game is the first of six meetings between the clubs. Last year, the teams split the season series, 3-3, with San Jose winning each of the final two games. San Jose enters this tilt coming off 5-2 home win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. Overall, the Sharks are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.

The Stars have done very little right over their last seven periods of hockey. Last night's 3-0 loss in Colorado was a carbon copy of the problems that have cropped up through the current losing streak, as well as the penalty problems that the Stars got away with while they were winning.

The Stars got outworked by Colorado in all three zones, and overrelied on Kari Lehtonen to save their bacon. The big Finn stood on his head for two-plus periods but help never arrived, and two late Colorado power play goals (the latter into an empty net) put away the game. In the offensive end, the forechecking pressure was often non-existent, as Colorado had one easy breakout after another. The penalty discrepancy in the game was largely due to the fact that the Stars didn't keep their feet moving and really didn't do the type of things that create power play opportunities.

If the Stars can do a better job of creating power play chances tonight, they may have an opportunity to break out of their offensive drought. San Jose has struggled horribly on the penalty kill so far this year, surviving just 73.2 percent of their disadvantages. Meanwhile, Dallas would be best advised to avoid a repeat of last night's third-period parade to the penalty box. The Sharks have connected on 21 percent of their power plays, while the Stars' PK success rate has fallen to an ordinary 81.8 percent.

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