GAME PREVIEW (8:30 AM CDT)
Looking to get back on the winning track after splitting road games on Friday and Saturday, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (2-2-0) head to Mile High City tonight to take on Patrick Roy's undefeated Colorado Avalanche (5-0-0). Game time at the Pepsi Center is 8 p.m. Central time. The game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the first of five meetings between the teams this season; four of which will take place within the 2013 calendar year. The next one will take place on Nov. 1 in Dallas. Last season, the Stars went 2-1-0 against the Avalanche.
STARS OUTLOOK
The Stars had a Jekyll-and-Hyde start to their current three-game road trip.
On Friday in Winnipeg, the Stars seemed unaffected by a week-long layoff. They jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in route to dispatching the Jets, 4-1. Tyler Seguin racked up a pair of goals and two assists, while Jamie Benn had a goal and two helpers and Alex Chiasson scored for the third time in as many games.
The one damper on Friday's effort: starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen had to leave the game with a groin pull in the second period. Lehtonen was off to his typical great start (1.57 GAA, .953 save percentage) this season. Dan Ellis took over to finish up Friday's game, and then got the start on Saturday in Minnesota. The team recalled prospect Jack Campbell to back up Ellis for the time being. Lehtonen, who was placed on IR, remains day-to-day.
Saturday's 5-1 loss in Minnesota was an ugly one from start to finish for the Stars. The Wild outplayed Dallas in all three periods, and there was not a single facet of Dallas' game that was clicking on this night. Ellis was mediocre in goal, and the team defense and offense alike were AWOL.
Despite Saturday's debacle, Ruff did not change any of his forward lines or defense pairs at Monday's practice. The team did make a couple of roster moves yesterday. The club sent defenseman Aaron Rome on a conditioning assignment to the AHL's Texas Stars now that he has been cleared to play after undergoing off-season hip surgery. Forward Chris Mueller was also assigned to the T-Stars.
AVALANCE OUTLOOK
The Avs could hardly have dreamed of a more ideal start to the Patrick Roy era behind the bench.
Not only is the club undefeated after five games, they have only yielded four goals while scoring 18. The power play is clicking at a healthy 21 percent (4-for-19), the penalty kill is a perfect 12-for-12 with a shorthanded goal. Colorado has scored first in four of its five games to date.
Nathan MacKinnon, the first overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, already looks like a burgeoning NHL superstar. The former Halifax standout leads the team with six points through his first five NHL games.
In a somewhat unusual twist, the NHL named Colorado goalies Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere as its co-second stars of the week.
Varlamov has yielded only one goal apiece in each of his first four starts this season, setting a new franchise record in the process. He's stopped 128 of 132 shots for an extraordinary .970 save percentage. Veteran netminder Giguere posted a 39-save shutout (the 37th of his NHL career) over Boston in his lone start of the season.
In their last game, played on Saturday, the Avalanche crushed the host Washington Capitals by a 5-1 count. Varlamov stopped 40 shots against his former club, while Alex Tanguay notched a pair of goals and Matt Duchene, MacKinnon (first NHL goal) and Jamie McGinn had individual tallies. Gabriel Landeskog and Paul Stastny had two assists apiece.
It goes without saying that the Avs' mind-boggling early pace is unsustainable for any team. Sooner or later, the club is bound to face adversity. The Stars hope to bring Colorado back down to earth tonight.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
STARS
14 Jamie Benn - 91 Tyler Seguin - 17 Rich Peverley
13 Ray Whitney -20 Cody Eakin - 12 Alex Chiasson
21 Antoine Roussel - 10 Shawn Horcoff - 72 Erik Cole
16 Ryan Garbutt - 38 Vernon Fiddler - 43 Valeri Nichushkin
4 Brenden Dillon - 3 Stephane Robidas
33 Alex Goligoski - 55 Sergei Gonchar
24 Jordie Benn - 6 Trevor Daley
30 Dan Ellis
[1 Jack Campbell]
Possible scratches: Lane MacDermid (healthy), Kevin Connauton (healthy), Kari Lehtonen (IR, groin), Aaron Rome (AHL conditioning assigment), Scott Glennie (IR, knee).
AVALANCHE (per Dailyfaceoff.com)
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 26 Paul Stastny - 40 Alex Tanguay
90 Ryan O'Reilly - 9 Matt Duchene - 17 Steve Downie
11 Jamie McGinn - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 15 P.A. Parenteau
55 Cody McLeod - 7 John Mitchell - 58 Patrick Bordeleau
8 Jan Hejda - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Cory Sarich - 61 Andre Benoit
44 Ryan Wilson - 5 Nate Guenin
1 Semyon Varlamov
[35 Jean-Sebastien Giguere]
Possible scratches: Marc-Andre Cliche (healthy), Tyson Barrie (healthy), Nick Holden (healthy).
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