PREVIEW 6:30 AM CST
Coming off a 4-3 opening night win at the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Stars have to turn around and make a trip to Minnesota to take on the Wild. The game starts at 7 p.m. central time and will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.
Last night, future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr made an electrifying debut for the Stars, tallying the first two Dallas goals and then setting up the last two. His first goal and final assist were things of beauty. Based upon the way he was skating as much as the plays he made, Jagr looked to be healthy again after being plagued on-and-off by groin and lower back issues for much of last season in Philadelphia.
Jagr and linemate Loui Eriksson displayed instant chemistry in the opener without the benefit of any preseason games. Eriksson made a nice lead pass to Jagr on the goal that opened the scoring. In the third period, Jagr returned the favor with a picturesque behind-the-back pass that found a wide-open Eriksson for the game-winning goal.
Last night's game may have been the only time in NHL history that two 40+ year old teammates scored a goal in the same game. New Stars arrival Ray Whitney tallied a power play marker (with Jagr drawing the primary assist) on the Stars' third goal. Meanwhile, Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen picked up where he left off last season. He was very solid in net despite yielding three goals in the opener.
Now the Stars are faced with the task of following up their opening night success. Dallas had an abysmal record in the second half of back-to-back games last year. The Stars went 1-11-2 in these games. Far too many of the outcomes were blowouts or semi-blowouts where Dallas looked to be skating in cement. Excluding shootouts, the Stars were outscored by a margin of 53-21.
More than any other shortcoming last season, Dallas' horrid performance in the follow-up games of back-to-backs was what eventually cost them a playoff spot. For the team to have any hope of being a surprise playoff team in the lockout-shortened season, the club needs dramatic improvement in its performance in such games. Tonight, they'll get their first crack.
A year ago, the Stars won three of four games in the season series with Minnesota. There has been considerable roster change on both sides since then. It also should be noted that the Stars were able to catch Minnesota twice last season during a juncture of the season when the Wild lineup was utterly decimated with injuries.
The new-look Wild dispatched Colorado last night by a 4-2 score. Dany Heatley scored two goals in the Minnesota debut games for Zach Parise (two assists) and Ryan Suter (minus one, four shots). Pierre-Marc Bouchard and highly-touted rookie Mikael Granlund also tallied for the Wild. Goaltender Nicklas Bäckström made 25 saves for the victory.
On the injury front, the Stars are still without defenseman Aaron Rome (groin pull). Top-line center Jamie Benn remains unsigned. Minnesota is missing defensemen Jonas Brodin (upper body) and Marco Scandella (groin).
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
STARS
Loui Eriksson - Derek Roy - Jaromir Jagr
Ray Whitney - Tom Wandell - Michael Ryder
Brenden Morrow - Vern Fiddler - Eric Nystrom
Ryan Garbutt - Cody Eakin - Reilly Smith
Alex Goligoski - Stephane Robidas
Jordie Benn - Trevor Daley
Brenden Dillon - Philip Larsen
Kari Lehtonen/Cristopher Nilstorp
WILD
Dany Heatley - Mikko Koivu - Zach Parise
Matt Cullen - Mikael Granlund - Devin Setoguchi
P-M Bouchard - Kyle Brodziak - Cal Clutterbuck
Darroll Powe - Zenon Konopka - Torrey Mitchell
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Clayton Stoner - Tom Gilbert
Justin Falk - Nate Prosser
Niklas Bäckström/Josh Harding
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