Still needing to improve upon a 6-10-4 road record that currently has the team outside the Western Conference playoff at the statistical midpoint of their season, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (17-16-8) open the second half with a road tilt against Randy Carlyle's Anaheim Ducks (21-13-8). Game time at the Honda Center is 9:00 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.

This is the third and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the lone game in Anaheim. Now looking for a season-series sweep, the Stars captured home ice victories on Oct. 13 (4-2 final) and Dec. 13 (by a 6-2 count).

Dallas is playing the second half of back-to-back games. The team picked up a psychologically important win -- as well as two crucial points in the standings and a notch in the regulation/OT win (ROW) column -- as they pulled out a 6-4 road win over the LA Kings on Monday. On the heels of back-to-back losses, the Stars were unable to protect a two-goal lead in the third period as LA pulled even at 4-4. Jiri Hudler, scoring his first goal as a Star, put Dallas ahead to stay. Recently returned from a concussion, Patrick Sharp had one goal and two assists. Radek Faksa chipped in three assists for Dallas, which snapped a three-game losing streak.

At the midpoint of the Stars' season, the team currently sits two standings points and two ROW tiebreaker category notches behind the Kings for the lower wildcard seed in the Western Conference. Additionally, the Stars trail the Vancouver Canucks by one point but hold one game in hand and have a 17-16 edge in ROW. Lastly, Dallas trails the Winnipeg Jets by one point and has an 18-17 ROW disadvantage but holds two games in hand.

Stars captain and top-line left winger Jamie Benn has missed the past three games with a foot injury. Benn participated in Monday's morning skate in Los Angeles and is considered questionable for this game. Meanwhile, Mattias Janmark (preseason knee surgery) and Ales Hemsky (hip surgery) remain on injured reserve.

The Ducks brought a three-game winning streak into Sunday's home tilt against the Minnesota Wild but suffered a 2-1 setback. Ryan Kesler, who recently scored a hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers, provided the lone goal for Anaheim. The Ducks were unable to draw even after a pair of Minnesota tallies in the second period.

Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf (lower-body injury) is in a similar situation to Benn's but is likely not quite ready to return to the Anaheim lineup. He skated on his own on Monday and could participate in Tuesday's morning skate. Officially, he is day-to-day. Elsewhere on the injury list for the Ducks, Nate Thompson (Achilles tendon) is unavailable and both Clayton Stoner (midsection) and Simon Despres (head) remain on IR.

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