Coming off the tough 2-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes in the desert on Saturday, the Senators wrap up their four game road trip with their third game in four nights as they head across the desert to face the Stars in Dallas.

They will be hosted by a couple of old friends, as they will face Jason Spezza, Ben Bishop and Marc Methot.

The Stars are in the midst of a playoff push, trying to keep ahead of Colorado and St. Louis in the Wild card race while also tracking down the Wild for the third guaranteed spot in the Central Division.

Methot made his way to the Stars via trade after being left exposed by the Senators in the expansion draft and being plucked by Vegas, who swapped him to Dallas for a 2020 second round pick and goalie Dylan Ferguson. He has been limited to just 24 games so far this season, putting up a single point and a +3 rating.

Spezza has struggled in Ken Hitchcock's system, and is bouncing around the lineup. He will split some time with Alexander Radulov on the top line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin or will drop down to play with Devin Shore and Mattias Janmark on a 2nd/3rd line. Spezza's ice time and production are down. He is averaging just over 13 minutes per game, which would be a career low, and his point totals of 7 goals and 17 assists project to be a career low over a full season.

Bishop hasn't put up great numbers but has been an improvement over what they have gotten in goal in previous seasons, and that has made a difference in the playoff race.

The Stars will be led by Benn, Seguin, Radulov and John Klingberg, who leads all NHL blueliners with 55 points and is a definite is a Norris Trophy candidate.

Ottawa hasn't confirmed a starter yet, and although Mike Condon took the loss on Saturday and Craig Anderson got the win on Friday, Condon was actually the better goalie and at this point I think he gives them the better chance to win on any given night.

Erik Karlsson has been a freer player since the trade deadline passed, although his game is still lacking that burst that gets him out of trouble so often and also allows him to be the leader on the rush the Senators need. Until he regains that, assuming he does and is still a Senator when it happens, he will continue to struggle defensively his numbers will suffer.

Mark Stone will be looking to extend his 8 game point streak, during which he has 13 points (2 goals, 11 assists) and as it has been for much of the season, if something is going well for the Senators, chances are Stone is involved.

After this one, the Senators will play 3 straight sets of back to backs (the third of which will see the return matchup with the Stars), and they still have 5 such situations left of the league high 19 this season.

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