PREVIEW 7:45 AM CST

Goals have been hard to come by for the Dallas Stars (2-3-1) in the team's last few games. The team has been in position to win each of the last three games, but has been unable to protect one-goal leads and unable to scratch out equalizing goals once they do fall behind. Glen Gulutzan's team will try again tonight when they head to Motown to take on the Detroit Red Wings (2-2-1).

This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season. On Jan. 22, the Stars got a pair of goals from Michael Ryder and Kari Lehtonen (39 saves) flirted with a shutout until the final four seconds of play. Damien Brunner finally got Detroit on the board in the waning moments of the game but the Stars skated off with a 2-1 win.

Last night in Columbus, the Stars did a poor job dealing with a defensively improved Blue Jackets team. Philip Larsen weaved a power play point shot through traffic in front to give Dallas a 1-0 lead in the second period. But a defensive breakdown on a Columbus rush led to Derek Dorsett tying the game. In the third period, Lehtonen allowed his first soft goal of the season, as Vaclav Prospal scored a flat angle goal from near the corner.

Dallas, which relies so heavily on Lehtonen and got several excellent saves from the big Finn last night, was unable to scratch out a second goal to redeem the one bad one their starter yielded. The Stars were unable to beat Sergei Bobrovsky on any of the shots he had a chance to see, and Dallas went down to a disappointing 2-1 loss.

The Red Wings have had a day off since their last game, and could have the fresher legs tonight. On Sunday, the club battled hard but had to settle for one point in 2-1 overtime loss to Chicago. Special teams issues (7.7 percent on the power play, 68 percent on the penalty kill) have been a huge issue for the Wings thus far, along with a lineup that has been decimated by injuries.

The Stars will be without Derek Roy (groin pull) and Aaron Rome (flu) tonight. Jaromir Jagr, who missed a game as a result of lower-back spasms, played last night but was not very effective.

Detroit's injury list is extensive. Per NHL.com, Darren Helm (back) and forwards Mikael Samuelsson (groin) and Valtteri Filppula (knee) were unable to practice yesterday. In the meatime, defensemen Carlo Colaiacovo (shoulder, out at least two more weeks) and Ian White (quadriceps, out at least one more week) are out of the lineup. Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson (hip) and forward Mikael Samuelsson (groin) remained out of the lineup in the Chicago game, but Ericsson may be close to returning.

In addition, Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson (groin) returned to practice yesterday and could be available to back up starter Jimmy Howard.


PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)

STARS

21 Loui Eriksson - 14 Jamie Benn- 68 Jaromir Jagr
13 Ray Whitney - 20 Cody Eakin- 73 Michael Ryder
24 Eric Nystrom - 38 Vern Fiddler - 81 Tomas Vincour
10 Brenden Morrow - 2 Tom Wandell - 40 Ryan Garbutt

4 Brenden Dillon - 3 Stephane Robidas
33 Alex Goligoski - 36 Philip Larsen
58 Jordie Benn - 6 Trevor Daley

32 Kari Lehtonen
[31 Richard Bachman]


RED WINGS

24 Damien Brunner - 40 Henrik Zetterberg - 93 Johan Franzén
44 Todd Bertuzzi - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 13 Pavel Datsyuk
8 Justin Abdelkader- 43 Darren Helm - 11 Daniel Cleary
20 Drew Miller - 25 Cory Emmerton - 22 Jordin Tootoo

55 Niklas Kronwall - 23 Brian Lashoff
27 Kyle Quincey - 2 Brendan Smith
3 Kent Huskins - 4 Jakub Kindl

35 Jimmy Howard
[50 Jonas Gustavsson]


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