Just a quick one this morning as work commitments have me crunched for time.

The Senators will be chasing that elusive third straight victory when they host the Stars tonight in the first have of yet another back to back.

It will be the third game in four nights for the Stars, who played (and lost) in Montreal on Tuesday and Toronto on Wednesday.

Dallas is holding onto a wild card spot by their fingernails, with just a point separating them from the Ducks, and they are in the middle of a tough 6 game road trip that has started with 3 straight losses and will see them travel through Winnipeg and Washington before they get to go home.

In fact, the Stars have lost 5 of their last 6 (0-3-2) and have picked a bad time to go into a slump.

The big story of the night was supposed to be the return of Marc Methot, but a hand injury suffered in Montreal has derailed that event and he will not be in the lineup. Apparently he was around Bobby Ryan too long, as that is Methot's second rather serious hand injury in the last two seasons, calling back to the Sidney Crosby slash that almost cost him a finger tip late last season.

Dallas needs this win more than anything, given their struggles and the pair of tough games ahead, this is the easy mark on their schedule, and losing to the Senators twice in an 11 day period would certainly put a damper on their playoff aspirations.

Ottawa is coming off a sweep in the Sunshine state, with rather decisive wins over two of the hottest clubs in the league in the Panthers and Lightning on back to back nights, but haven't been able to piece together a third straight win since early October.

Craig Anderson will start and Ottawa will be without Mark Stone, who will likely miss another week or so with his leg injury.

The Senators have been led by the trio of Matt Duchene, Mike Hoffman and Ryan Dzingel, a line with speed that has been causing opponents fits. They combined for 5 goals and 10 points in the two game Florida swing. Erik Karlsson has also been on fire of late, at least offensively, with 17 points in his last 18 games, including the OT winner when these teams met 11 days ago in Dallas.

Join the Discussion: » 9 Comments » Post New Comment

» Goodbye, and good luck!

» Can Colin White fill the #2C role as early as next year?

» Boucher staying put, at least for now

» Boucher Day

» Sens fall to #4 in draft lottery