PREVIEW 8:00 AM CST
Coming off the emotional high of last night's dramatic win in Chicago, the last thing the Dallas Stars (31-26-4) can afford is to suffer a letdown when they return home to the American Airlines Center tonight to take on the Minnesota Wild (27-24-9). The game starts at 7:30 p.m. CST and will be broadcast locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the third of four meetings between the teams this season, and the second and final one in Dallas. The Wild were scuffling horribly heading into the first match on Jan. 21, but took out their frustrations on the Stars in a 5-2 win after Dallas had built a 2-0 lead. The turning point was a second period fight between Darroll Powe and Steve Ott. Two weeks later, the Stars prevailed 2-1 via shootout at the AAC.
The Stars have yet to win the second game of a back-to-back (0-9-2) this season. There is no better time than right now to finally get off the schneid. Last night's third-period comeback win in Chicago helped to vault Dallas from 10th in the Western Conference to what would be the 8th and final playoff berth if the season ended today.
Rookie backup goalie Richard Bachman rewarded Glen Gulutzan's faith in him with a stellar performance, holding Chicago to a single Marian Hossa goal until his team finally broke through in the final stanza. Team-wide, the work ethic last night was outstanding, despite the fact that the team did not have a single power play opportunity in the game.
Steve Ott, who has been the subject of numerous trade rumors, pulled the Stars even midway through the third period night with his 10th goal of the season. Skating on a hard-working line with Ryan Garbutt and ex-Blackhawk Adam Burish, Ott deflected a Trevor Daley shot past Corey Crawford. On the sequence, the Dallas forwards did some excellent forechecking to keep Chicago hemmed in the defensive zone, and it paid off.
With 5:02 left in regulation, Michael Ryder re-directed a Mike Ribeiro shot home for his team-leading 24th goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, Loui Eriksson added some insurance with his 19th tally of the campaign. That was more than enough for Bachman, who made 26 saves in claiming 1st-star honors.
Tonight, Kari Lehtonen will return to the net for the Stars. He is coming off a shutout victory in Montreal in his last start. The Stars remain without Jamie Benn (laceration) and Brenden Morrow (IR, neck/shoulder), so it will take another scratch-and-claw effort from the offense.
The Wild also bring a two-game mini-winning streak into tonight's game; their first back-to-back wins in over a month. Last night, Minnesota prevailed 3-2 against Florida via shootout. The Wild are 4-1-2 in the second game of back-to-backs so far this season.
Minnesota is even more decimated by injuries than the Stars, which has been a major factor in the team's downturn after being the surprise of the NHL through the first several months of the season. The team is without captain Mikko Koivu, as well as forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion), Guillaume Latendresse (concussion), Jarod Palmer (concussion) and Carson MacMillan (lower body). Also missing are defensemen Clayon Stoner (lower-body) and Mike Lundin (lower body) as well as backup goaltender Josh Harding (groin).
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