Preview 10:30 AM CST

Looking for their third straight win, the Dallas Stars (5-5-1) make a brief return to the American Airlines Center tonight before heading out back on the road. Tonight's opponent, the Anaheim Ducks (7-1-1), enters the night in first place in the Pacific Division. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. CST and will be televised nationally on NHL Network throughout the United States and Canada. Locally, the game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest.

This is the first of five meetings between the teams this season, and the first of three in Dallas. Last season, the Stars took five of six games from Anaheim. Goalie Kari Lehtonen registered a pair of shutouts. Jamie Benn led all scorers with 8 points during the season series. and Michael Ryder and Alex Goligoski notched three goals apiece.

The coverage throughout North America tonight centers less around the two teams involved than the presence of two future Hall of Famers competing head-to-head on the NHL's all-time goal scoring list. Dallas right winger Jaromir Jagr enters tonight tied for 10th on the list with 668 career goals. Anaheim Ducks right winger Teemu Selanne is right on his heels with 666 career tallies in the regular season.

Jagr scored the game-winning goal in overtime of the Stars' 3-2 victory over Edmonton on Wednesday night. Dallas' revised top line of Jagr and Brenden Morrow flanking Benn has been very successful the past couple games. Benn has racked up three goals in the last two games, while team captain Morrow has also notched his first goal of the season.

Second-line center Derek Roy scored a power play goal against Edmonton for his first goal of the season. With Ray Whitney missing for the next four to six weeks with a broken foot, it will be imperative for Roy and his linemates to start providing some scoring depth beyond the Benn line.

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan made Goligoski a healthy scratch in Edmonton. The decision to take the offensive defenseman out of the lineup despite a win in Colorado on Monday sent a message not just to the player but the team of the importance of personal accountability on the ice.

Former AIK Stockholm goaltender Viktor Fasth has been the talk of Anaheim lately, especially after a 3-0 shutout against Colorado. Ex-Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray scored his fourth goal of the lockout-shortened season (it should be noted that he started out similarly hot for the Stars last year before his offense went AWOL). Veteran Saku Koivu also lit the lamp on a power play goal, along with defenseman Francois Beauchemin.

PROJECTED LINEUPS -- (Subject to change)

STARS

10 Brenden Morrow - 14 Jamie Benn - 68 Jaromir Jagr
21 Loui Eriksson - 11 Derek Roy - 81 Tomas Vincour
18 Reilly Smith- 20 Cody Eakin - 73 Michael Ryder
24 Eric Nystrom - 38 Vernon Fiddler - 60 Antoine Roussel

4 Brenden Dillon - 3 Stephane Robidas
43 Jamie Oleksiak - 33 Alex Goligoski
36 Aaron Rome - 6 Trevor Daley

32 Kari Lehtonen
[31 Richard Bachman]

Healthy scratches: Tom Wandell, Ryan Garbutt, Philip Larsen.
Injuries: Ray Whitney (foot, IR)

DUCKS

65 Emerson Etem - 15 Ryan Getzlaf - 10 Corey Perry
51 Kyle Palmieri - 9 Bobby Ryan - 8 Teemu Selanne
7 Andrew Cogliano - 11 Saku Koivu - 34 Daniel Winnik
25 Brad Staubitz - 13 Nick Bonino - 67 Richard Rakell

23 Francois Beauchemin - 44 Sheldon Souray
5 Luca Sbisa - 45 Sami Vatanen
6 Ben Lovejoy - 55 Bryan Allen

30 Viktor Fasth
[1 Jonas Hiller]

Injuries: Toni Lydman (questionable, flu), Cam Fowler (IR, upper body).


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