PREVIEW 10:30 AM CDT

As they begin a five-game homestand that runs through April 1, the Dallas Stars (14-13-3) will try to avenge a painful road loss to the Colorado Avalanche (11-14-4) on Wednesday. Tonight's game at the American Airlines Center starts at 7:30 p.m. CDT and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

This is the third and final meeting between the teams this season. On Wednesday, the Stars blew leads of 2-0 after the first period and 3-2 after the second. In the process, Dallas wasted a three-point game from Jaromir Jagr (one goal, two assists) and goals by Trevor Daley and Ray Whitney.

Tonight's game is the back end of a home-and-home for the Avalanche, but not for the Stars. Colorado has not played since the comeback win over the Stars on Wednesday, while the Stars are coming off a bounceback 2-0 win in Los Angeles on Thursday. In the Kings game, Jagr scored for the seventh time in the last 10 games, and fellow 40-something forward Whitney added some insurance to extend his point streak to five games. In net, Kari Lehtonen was stellar in recording a 40-save shutout.

Dallas needs to improve its home record to have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. The Stars enter tonight with a disappointing 6-6-2 record at the AAC. That ranks at the bottom of the Western Conference. Meanwhile, Colorado has the worst road record in the the conference (2-9-3) and has lost eight in a row away from the Pepsi Center.

The Avalanche have been plagued by bad first periods this season, and Wednesday's game was no exception. The Stars jumped on them quickly to build an ill-fated 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, the Stars' season-long tendency to struggle in the second period also came to roost in the last game against Colorado.

The Stars have recalled backup goaltender Richard Bachman from the Texas Stars, and have sent 20-year-old rookie defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and 21-year-old rookie goaltender to the AHL farm team in Austin.

On the injury front, Ryan Garbutt (hand, IR) and Aaron Rome (foot, IR) remain unavailable for Dallas. For Colorado, winger Steve Downie (torn ACL) is out for the season and Ryan Wilson (ankle) is still out of the lineup.


STARS

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

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

32 Kari Lehtonen
[31 Richard Bachman]


AVALANCHE (per Dailyfaceoff.com)

92 Gabriel Landeskog - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 17 Aaron Palushaj
11 Jamie McGinn - 9 Matt Duchene - 15 P.A. Parenteau
7 John Mitchell - 26 Paul Stastny - 23 Milan Hejduk
55 Cody McLeod - 12 Chuck Kobasew - 54 David Jones

4 Greg Zanon - 6 Erik Johnson
3 Ryan O'Byrne - 22 Matt Hunwick
5 Shane O'Brien - 8 Jan Hejda

1 Semyon Varlamov
[35 Jean-Sabastien Giguere]

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