|
Stars Gameday: 1/5/12 @ Predators |
|
|
|
|
|
PREVIEW 6:00 AM CST
Games often get feisty when the Dallas Stars (21-16-1) meet up with the Nashville Predators (21-14-1). Tonight, the Stars travel to Nashville for a game that starts at 7 PM CST and will be broadcast locally Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season, and the first of two in Music City. The clubs played in Dallas in the final game before the Christmas mini-break, and the Stars rode an early three-goal outburst to a 6-3 win. Vern Fiddler, Loui Eriksson, Steve Ott, Mike Ribeiro, Jamie Benn and Michael Ryder all lit the lamp in a rare scoring bonanza against a club that usually plays strong defense and gets elite goaltending.
The Stars are coming off a wide-open 5-4 home loss to Detroit, in which Dallas fell just short in one of its patented third-period comeback bids. Jamie Benn had arguably his best game of the season and Ryder continued a hot streak that has seen him score eight goals in the last eight games. The Stars will need more of that tonight. It also looks as if the sorely missed Stephane Robidas (foot bone bruise) will make his return to the lineup.
The Predators have won three straight games heading into tonight. Even without star defenseman Shea Weber (concussion, questionable for tonight), the club has played strong hockey of late. In the Preds' 5-3 win over Calgary on New Years Day, Sergei Kostitsyn tallied a hat trick.
Even with Robidas likely to return to the lineup, the Stars still have injuries on the blueline. Sheldon Souray (ankle) remains on injured reserve, while Philip Larsen (concussion) has not yet been cleared to play. Young forward Tomas Vincour (knee) is also on IR.
******
KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Stars Buzz; a one-stop feed for all things Dallas Stars-related at HockeyBuzz. Content is automatically updated whenever a new blog is published. For more information,
click here.
Dallas Stars Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»