PREVIEW 8:00 AM CST

Still looking for their first win in a four-game homestand, the Dallas Stars (12-11-3) take on the NHL leading Chicago Blackhawks (22-2-3) tonight at the American Airlines Center. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. CST and will be broadcasted locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season, and the final one in Dallas. On Jan. 24, the Stars settled for one point in a 3-2 overtime loss after building a 2-0 lead and carrying a one-goal advantage into the latter stages of the third period. Kari Lehtonen made 38 saves in a losing cause while Loui Eriksson (shorthanded) and Ray Whitney tallied the two Stars' goals.

The Stars enter this game coming off a hard-fought 2-1 shutout loss to Anaheim on Thursday night. Whitney scored the lone goal for Dallas in a solid first period, but the team was unable to solve Jonas Hiller again. Lehtonen was strong in goal for Dallas.

Jamie Benn (wrist injury) skated at practice yesterday but was unable to shoot any pucks. He'll try it out today and will be a game-time decision. The Stars have sorely missed their top line center, as the team's offense has largely disappeared in his absence. Apart from Benn, checking liner Ryan Garbutt (hand) is questionable for tonight and defenseman Aaron Rome (foot) is out.

Chicago struggled a bit after their remarkable streak of regulation points finally came to an end. However, the Blackhawks enter this game coming off a convincing win over Columbus.
Key forward Patrick Sharp (shoulder) is out of the lineup for tonight.

PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)

STARS -- Jamie Benn questionable

72 Erik Cole - 11 Derek Roy - 13 Ray Whitney
18 Reilly Smith -20 Cody Eakin - 68 Jaromir Jagr
81 Tomas Vincour - 60 Antoine Roussel - 21 Loui Eriksson
24 Eric Nystrom - 38 Vernon Fiddler - 40 Ryan Garbutt ?

4 Brenden Dillon - 3 Stephane Robidas
43 Jamie Oleksiak - 33 Alex Goligoski
58 Jordie Benn - 6 Trevor Daley

32 Kari Lehtonen
[31 Richard Bachman]


BLACKHAWKS (per Dailyfaceoff.com)

20 Brandon Saad - 19 Jonathan Toews - 81 Marian Hossa
39 Jimmy Hayes - 36 Dave Bolland - 88 Patrick Kane
29 Bryan Bickell - 65 Andrew Shaw - 25 Viktor Stalberg
52 Brandon Bollig - 16 Marcus Kruger - 67 Michal Frolik

2 Duncan Keith - 7 Brent Seabrook
27 Johnny Oduya - 4 Niklas Hjalmarsson
8 Nick Leddy - 17 Sheldon Brookbank

50 Corey Crawford/ 30 Ray Emery

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