Spinning their wheels again as of late and looking to start closing the gap in the Western Conference wildcard chase, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (19-20-10) play host to Dan Bylsma's Buffalo Sabres (20-18-9) on Thursday night. Game time at the American Airlines Center is 7:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.

This is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams and the lone game in Dallas. On Jan. 16 in Buffalo, the Stars fell by a 4-1 score.

The Stars, who have won only one of their last six games (1-3-2), have at least shown signs of getting back on the right track -- staying there for a prolonged stretch has been the problem -- in the last couple games. The club dropped a 4-3 overtime decision at home to the powerhouse Washington Capitals last Saturday and then played the Minnesota Wild to a 2-2 tie through 65 minutes but could not grab the skills competition extra point.

That is an all-too-familiar story for Dallas this season. The club has played 12 games that have gone beyond regulation but have gained only two additional points via OT or shootout wins. It goes without saying that this is a huge reason in today's NHL system why Dallas currently finds itself outside the playoff picture.

On the injury front, forward Radek Faksa (lower body) and defenseman Johnny Oduya (lower body) and Jamie Oleksiak are out. Mattias Janmark (pre-season knee surgery) and Ales Hemsky (hip surgery) remain on injured reserve.

The Sabres, who have points in eight of their last 11 games (7-3-1) and bring a four-game road winning streak into this tilt. Coincidentally, the Sabres' current three-game winning streak consists entirely of wins in overtime, including the club's 5-4 OT win in Nashville on Tuesday.

On injury front, Jake McCabe (shoulder) is unavailable while the list of players on IR consists of forwards Johan Larsson (wrist) and Cody McCormick (blood clot) as well as defenseman Jake McCabe (shoulder).

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