PREVIEW 9:15 AM CST
Coming off a slump-busting performance on Monday, the Dallas Stars (12-8-0) will look tonight to gain their first win in three tries this season against the Los Angeles Kings (11-7-3). The game at the American Airlines Center starts at 7:30 PM CST (5:30 PM CST) and will be broadcast locally Fox Sports Southwest.
In the first meeting of the season, the Stars played a strong road game but could not solve Jonathan Quick. Jack Johnson's slapshot goal late in the third period broke a scoreless deadlock, and proved to be the only tally of the game for either team.
Five days later, the Kings traveled to Dallas and handed the Stars their first home loss of the season. The Stars got on the board first on a Trevor Daley power play goal but a three-goal explosion by LA in the middle stanza turned the game around and put the Kings in control. Dallas rallied in the third period to tie the game on goals by Michael Ryder and newly acquired Eric Nystrom. However, Slava Voynov restored the lead for the Kings and a Dustin Brown empty netter sealed the Stars' 5-3 defeat.
Terry Murray's Kings enter tonight's game having posted a gaudy 11-2-1 record over their last 14 games. LA had a letdown game against Detroit on Saturday, losing a 4-1 decision that could have been worse that. However, the Kings bounced right back to form last night with a 3-2 win in St. Louis.
For the Stars to change their fortunes against the Kings, they will need get the sort of balanced attack generated against the Oilers. Although LA's power play has not been a particular strong suit (18.9 percent) over the balance of the season, the Stars can ill-afford to have another parade to the penalty box tonight. It's hard enough to generate momentum five-on-five against the Kings without a slew of penalties getting in the way.
Generating power plays of their own has been a problem for the Stars of late, and the team has done little with the few they have gotten. Dallas is 0-for-8 on the man advantage over the last four games and 1-for-12 over their last six.
Kari Lehtonen has been the Stars' MVP so far this season and he will need to avoid giving up anything soft tonight. Dallas has struggled to beat Quick throughout his career, and the LA netminder brings in a gaudy career 12-3-0 record with a 1.99 GAA against the Stars.
On the injury front, Alex Goligoski (broken thumb) and Adam Burish (broken hand) remain out of the lineup for the Stars. For the Kings, Dustin Penner (hand), Alec Martinez (upper body) and Scott Parse (upper body) are unavailable.
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