PREVIEW 6:00 AM CST
Off to good start in the lockout-shortened season, the 2-1-0 Dallas Stars will attempt to deal the undefeated Chicago Blackhawks (3-0-0) their first loss of the season. Tonight's game at the American Airlines Center starts at 7:30 p.m. CST and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the first of three meetings between the teams this season. Last year, the Stars and Blackhawks split the four-game set evenly, including a split of a season-opening home and home that saw Kari Lehtonen star in the first game in Dallas and now-departed backup goaltender Andrew Raycroft get pummeled in Chicago the following night.
The Stars are coming off a workmanlike win over Detroit on Tuesday night. Michael Ryder tallied his first two goals of the season, while Lehtonen was once again stellar in goal for Dallas.
Sooner or later, the Stars are going to feel the pinch of missing Jamie Benn if his contract issue continues to drag. For now, however, Dallas been making due with contributions from elsewhere.
On opening night, Jaromir Jagr (two goals, two assists) and Loui Eriksson (one goal, one assist) dominated. Backup goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp had an outstanding NHL debut in Dallas' next game, but came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 score in Minnesota. On Tuesday night, Ryder and the rest of the second line provided just enough production to win, while Lehtonen narrowly missed his first shutout of the young season.
Chicago presents a tough test for the Stars. They are coming off an emotional victory against a St. Louis Blues team that many feel will be a serious contender to come out of the West come playoff time. Chicago built a 3-0 lead and then hung on the rest of the way for a 3-2 win. Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook and Viktor Stålberg tallied for the Hawks. Corey Crawford made 32 saves for the victory.
The Blackhawks have been lighting up the scoreboard in the early going of the season. Eight different Chicago players have tallied at least one goal in the three games to date and four have multiple goals. Marian Hossa (four goals, one assist) and Kane (two goals, three assists) have led the way thus far.
The Stars will need to do a better checking job against Kane and captain Jonathan Toews than they have typically done in the past. For their respective careers, Kane has compiled 23 points (11G, 12A) in 19 games against Dallas, while first-line center Toews has 18 points (6G, 12A) in 17 matches.
Apart from the unsigned Benn, the Stars are still without defenseman Aaron Rome (groin pull). Chicago forward Dan Carcillo will be out for a month or so after sustaining a lower-body injury in his first game back after suffering a torn ACL (on a controversial hit by Carcillo that resulted in his own suspension) last season.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
STARS
21 Loui Eriksson - 11 Derek Roy - 68 Jaromir Jagr
13 Ray Whitney - 20 Cody Eakin- 73 Michael Ryder
10 Brenden Morrow - 38 Vern Fiddler - 24 Eric Nystrom
40 Ryan Garbutt - 23 Tom Wandell - 18 Reilly Smith
33 Alex Goligoski - 3 Stephane Robidas
58 Jordie Benn - 6 Trevor Daley
4 Brenden Dillon - 36 Philip Larsen
32 Kari Lehtonen
[41 Cristopher Nilstorp]
Blackhawks
20 Brandon Saad - 19 Jonathan Toews - 81 Marian Hossa
10 Patrick Sharp - 36 Dave Bolland - 88 Patrick Kane
29 Bryan Bickell - 65 Andrew Shaw - 25 Viktor Stålberg
52 Brandon Bollig - 16 Marcus Krüger - 67 Michal Frolik
2 Duncan Keith - 7 Brent Seabrook
4 Niklas Hjalmarsson - 27 Johnny Oduya
8 Nick Leddy - 32 Michal Rozsival
50 Corey Crawford
[30 Ray Emery]
************
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:
»