The Ottawa Senators put their three game March winning streak on the line when they head to Big D to face former teammate and captain Jason Spezza and the Dallas Stars.
The Stars are all but eliminated from the playoff race at this point, but they have managed two straight wins to keep the faint post-season hope flickering just a little bit. Their last outing was a 4-2 win over the league leading Capitals on Monday night, snapping Washington's home ice winning streak that stood at 15 and dated back to December. They completed their short two game road trip (a strange one that went through Florida but not Tampa before going to Washington) with a 2-0 record.
Ottawa beat the Stars 3-2 just over a month ago, with Mark Stone scoring the winner in the third after the Senators had coughed up a 2-0 first period lead and allowed Dallas to tie it in the second.
Spezza missed that game with an injury, but since returning to the Stars' lineup he has 7 points in 9 games, and 5 points (3G, 2A in his last 5 games). But as usual, the Stars' offense is keyed by Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, who seem to have been re-united on a full time basis after an experiment to spread the offense out. They have been playing on a line with Spezza and in the nine games since Spezza's return Benn and Seguin each have 12 points to go with Spezza's 7, and they have a 5-4 record. Even though Guy Boucher doesn't have the last change, you can bet he will do what he can to get Jean-Gabriel Pageau and his line out against the loaded Stars trio, and it will be a big test for Cody Ceci and Dion Phaneuf on the back end.
Offense hasn't really been the Star's problem this season, as their totals are just outside the top 10 in terms of goals per game. Keeping the puck out of their own net has been the downfall, as only fellow Western bottom-dwellers Colorado and Arizona have allowed more goals per game than the Stars. Dallas also has a league-worst 74% penalty kill, which is also a result of shaky goaltending as much as anything. However, Kari Lehtonen played both games on the Stars short road trip and was outstanding, allowing just 3 goals on 86 total shots.
I have said it before, and will say it again, the Senators play well against good teams but seem to let down against the lesser teams. With just a shade over a month left in the regular season, this three game road trip will not cost them the playoffs per se, but a poor showing with a bunch of tough games on the horizon will make things a little more tense than they should be if Ottawa walked in and swept this set, or at least come home with four or five out of six points.
I wouldn't expect any lineup changes for the Senators based on the last 3 games, although Mike Condon deserves to get a start in one of these back to back games, either tonight against Dallas or tomorrow night in Arizona. Craig Anderson's numbers have been stellar since his return, but there is no sense in wearing him out ahead of next week's grind that starts Thursday with Chicago, Montreal back to back, Boston, Pittsburgh and Montreal yet again in a nine day stretch where he will be put to the task. (of course, right after I write that, Boucher goes on the radio and says some guys are banged up and there could be some lineup changes after all.)