GAME PREVIEW (10:30 AM CDT)

Two struggling clubs face off tonight in New York State when the Dallas Stars (4-5-1) take on the host Buffalo Sabres (2-10-1). Game time is 6 p.m. Central time. The match will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

The over-arching storyline for the game is that it marks Lindy Ruff's return to his longtime stomping grounds. Additionally, it is longtime Stars forward (and new Buffalo captain) Steve Ott's first game against his former Dallas teammates. The match also marks the Sabres first game after yesterday's blockbuster trade with the New York Islanders, sending Thomas Vanek to Long Island in exchange for Matt Moulson and first- and second-round Draft picks.

This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The Stars and Sabres did not play each other last season, due to the lockout and revised schedule.

After tonight, the Stars head to Montreal for a Tuesday night game.


STARS OUTLOOK

The Stars are coming off a 2-1 home loss via shootout to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. Kari Lehtonen was stellar in goal but Dallas could only manage a fluky third-period goal by defenseman Stephane Robidas on a seeing-eye, broken stick shot through traffic.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski returned to the lineup on Saturday after sitting out the previous game as a healthy scratch. Fourth line forward Ryan Garbutt will serve the second game of his five-game NHL suspension. The ban stemmed from Garbutt's controversial high hit on Anaheim's Dustin Penner last week.


SABRES OUTLOOK

The Sabres are coming off a 3-2 loss at Tampa Bay on Saturday. Buffalo held a 2-1 lead late in the game, but the Lightning scored two goals in the span of 1:46 span over the final minutes to win the game in regulation. Additionally, on Saturday, Buffalo head coach Ron Rolston benched Cody Hodgson and Drew Stafford for much of the third period

The next day, the team announced a shakeup via the Vanek trade.

On the injury front, Sabres defenseman Mike Weber is out for tonight with an upper body injury. Forwards Patrick Kaleta and John Scott are ineligible due to NHL suspension.


PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)

STARS

14 Jamie Benn - 91 Tyler Seguin - 17 Rich Peverley
13 Ray Whitney -20 Cody Eakin - 12 Alex Chiasson
43 Valeri Nichushkin - 10 Shawn Horcoff - 72 Erik Cole
28 Lane MacDermid - 38 Vernon Fiddler - 21 Antoine Roussel

4 Brenden Dillon - 3 Stephane Robidas
24 Jordie Benn - 55 Sergei Gonchar
33 Alex Goligoski - 6 Trevor Daley

32 Kari Lehtonen
[30 Dan Ellis]

Scratches: Kevin Connauton (healthy), Ryan Garbutt (NHL suspension).


SABRES

26 Matt Moulson – 19 Cody Hodgson – 65 Brian Flynn
9 Steve Ott – 82 Marcus Foligno – 25 Mikhail Grigorenko
28 Zemgus Girgensons – 22 Johan Larsson – 63 Tyler Ennis
23 Ville Leino – 8 Cody McCormick – 21 Drew Stafford

10 Christian Ehrhoff – 3 Mark Pysyk
61 Nikita Zadorov – 57 Tyler Myers
20 Henrik Tallinder – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

30 Ryan Miller
[1 Jhonas Enroth]


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