STARS-PREDATORS GAME PREVIEW (11:45 AM, CST)
Kicking off a five-game post-Christmas break homestand, the Dallas Stars (18-12-6) will play host to the Nashville Predators (16-17-4) at the American Airlines Center on Friday night. Game time is 7:30 p.m. CST. The match will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the second of five meetings between the Central Division clubs this season. On Dec. 12, the Preds captured a 3-1 win on home ice.
In that game, Erik Cole got the Stars off to a 1-0 lead with 1:53 left in the first period, but back-to-back penalties on Shawn Horcoff and Brenden Dillon left the Stars shorthanded by two men. Before the expiration of the first period, the Predators struggling power play came alive and cashed in on both the 5-on-3 and 5-on-4 portions with goals by Patric Hörnqvist and David Legwand.
Midway through the second period, Paul Gaustad extended the Nashville lead to two goals with a tally on a delayed penalty to Dallas. Kari Lehtonen made 27 saves in a losing cause for the Stars, while winning goalie Carter Hutton stopped 33 of 34 shots at the other end.
The Stars are 4-1-1 in the six games since the loss in Nashville, including a 3-0-1 mark in the games leading into the Christmas break.
On Monday, the Stars captured a convincing 5-2 upset win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center. Jamie Benn notched a Gordie Howe hat trick, while linemates Tyler Seguin and Valeri Nichushkin also lit the lamp.
Even with the three-day break over Christmas, the Stars' blueline is still riddled with injuries. Sergei Gonchar remains questionable with concussion-like symptoms while fellow veterans Stephane Robidas (fractured right leg), Trevor Daley (high ankle sprain) and Aaron Rome (lower body) are sidelined on the injured reserve list.
The Predators have struggled in much of December, posting a 3-6-1 mark over their last 10 games and 0-3-1 over the last four. However, the club has done better on the road than at home of late -- excluding the win over the Stars earlier this month -- with four wins in their last six games.
Nashville enters this game coming off a 6-2 road loss to Boston on Monday. In that game, the Preds actually cut their deficit to 3-2 at one point in the third period but then got into penalty trouble and the Bruins pounced to turn the game into a blowout.
One Preds player who was hot heading into the holiday break was forward Craig Smith, who notched four goals over the last three games to bring his team-leading total to 10. Veteran forward Legwand remains the team's overall scoring leader with 25 points.
On the Nashville injury front, star goaltender Pekka Rinne (hip) remains on injured reserve.
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