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Stars Gameday: 3/21/13 @ Kings

March 21, 2013, 11:28 AM ET [3 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Dallas Stars Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
PREVIEW 10:00 AM CDT

Coming off a devastating collapse in Denver last night, a Dallas Stars (13-13-3) team that typically struggles in the back end of back-to-back games faces a virtual must-win road game tonight against the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings (17-10-2). The game starts at 9:30 p.m. CDT and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

This is the second of five meetings between the teams this season. On March 7, the Stars traveled to LA and skated off with a 5-2 win behind two goals from Jaromir Jagr, and one apiece from Cody Eakin, Brenden Morrow and Antoine Roussel (empty netter). Kari Lehtonen was stellar in making 31 saves for the victory.

Not much has gone right for the Stars as of late, especially on the defensive side of the puck. The team is 1-4-1 over its last six games, and has yielded 15 goals over the last three games. The Stars have given up four or more goals in nine of their last 16 games.

Last night in Colorado, Dallas jumped on the Avalanche in the first period, building a 2-0 lead on goals by Jagr and Trevor Daley. Thereafter, Dallas went to sleep and the Avalanche gamely battled their way back into the game. From the second period onward, Colorado took over the match.

Early in the second period Lehtonen had to make numerous tough saves to preserve the 2-0 lead, but the play in front of him did not pick up. Instead, a Dallas turnover on the doorstep and a shorthanded 2-on-1 goal by Gabriel Landeskog (who elected to shoot and then quickly followed up his own rebound) enabled Colorado to tie the game at 2-2.

Before the end of the second period, Dallas restored a one-goal lead on a great individual effort around the net by Ray Whitney. Jagr, who also helped set up Daley's goal, earned his 998th career assist on the play.

Unfortunately for Dallas, the team was unable to nail down the game in the third period. Lehtonen allowed a soft goal to Ryan O'Reilly, which tied the score at 3-3. The collapse was complete when a side angle shot hit Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas in the face. As Robidas crumbled to the ice in pain, the puck went directly to Chuck Kobasew, who was now wide open on the doorstep. Kobasew stuffed the puck home to create a 4-3 Colorado advantage that would hold up the rest of the way.

Now the Stars need to find a way to bounce back against a Kings club that has won three in a row and seven of its last 10. The LA power play has been on fire of late, connecting at a 36.4% success rate (8-for-22) over the last seven games. Meanwhile, the Dallas power play has gone AWOL, connecting just once in its last 20 tries.

Over the last two seasons, the Stars have been the NHL's worst team in the second half of back-to-back games. Dallas drags a 2-15-2 record over that span (1-4-0 in 2013) into tonight's game, which is a crucial one for Dallas to win if it is to continue to present itself as something more than a pretender in the playoff chase.

No starting goalie for Dallas has been named for tonight as of this wring. There is a chance that Jack Campbell could make his NHL debut in goal tonight for the Stars, as the team typically rests Lehtonen in the second half of b2b games. However, given the importance of the game, Glen Gulutzan may elect to give Lehtonen the start tonight rather than risk throwing 2010 1st-round pick Campbell to the wolves.

On the injury front, checking line winger Ryan Garbutt (hand) and defenseman Aaron Rome (foot) remain out of the Dallas lineup. Philip Larsen (flu) is probable to return tonight.


PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)

STARS

21 Loui Eriksson - 14 Jamie Benn - 13 Ray Whitney
10 Brenden Morrow -11 Derek Roy -72 Erik Cole
18 Reilly Smith - 20 Cody Eakin - 68 Jaromir Jagr
24 Eric Nystrom - 38 Vernon Fiddler - 60 Antoine Roussel

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

32 Kari Lehtonen / 1 Jack Campbell


KINGS

14 Justin Williams - 11 Anze Kopitar - 23 Dustin Brown
73 Tyler Toffoli - 10 Mike Richards - 17 Jeff Carter
22 Trevor Lewis - 28 Jarret Stoll - 74 Dwight King
25 Dustin Penner - 24 Colin Fraser - 13 Kyle Clifford

6 Jake Muzzin - 8 Drew Doughty
7 Rob Scuderi - 26 Slava Voynov
27 Alec Martinez - 5 Keaton Ellerby

32 Jonathan Quick
[45 Jonathan Bernier]


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