PREVIEW: STARS @ SHARKS
Having at least temporarily fallen out of first place in the Central Division, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (29-12-4) will look to get back on track Saturday evening as they take on Peter DeBoer's San Jose Sharks (22-18-2) in the second match of a three-game California road trip. Game time at the SAP Center is 9:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season. On Halloween in Dallas, the Stars captured a 5-3 win over the Sharks. The season series concludes on March 26 in San Jose.
Stars Outlook
The month of January has not been kind thus far to the Stars. After racking up a comfortable lead atop the Central Division and Western Conference through the end of the 2015 calendar year portion of the season, Dallas has stumbled to a 1-4-1 record thus far in January. In the meantime, the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks have rattled off 10 straight wins since a late December loss in Dallas and have overtaken the Stars in the standings. Dallas, however, holds two games in hand on Chicago.
Saturday's game is the second half of a back-to-back set for the Stars; the team is 4-2-1 in such games thus far in the season.
On Friday night in Anaheim, the Stars fell in a 4-0 hole in the first period and never got closer than 4-2. Mattias Janmark (10th goal of the season) and Jamie Benn (26th) scored in a losing cause for Dallas, while Kari Lehtonen turned back 31 of 35 shots. Exiting a five-night schedule break, the team did not have its legs or timing at all in the first period, and Lehtonen was peppered with 19 shots in the opening 20 minutes.
After this game, the Stars have a two-night break before wrapping up the road trip on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Team captain Jamie Benn leads the Stars with 54 points (26 goals, 28 assists) in 45 games to date. He is followed by Tyler Seguin (24 goals, 27 assists, 51 points), young defenseman John Klingberg (six goals, 32 assists, 38 points, plus-10), Patrick Sharp (16 goals, 21 assists, 37 points) and Jason Spezza (14 goals, 21 assists, 35 points).
Former Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi, who earned the win against his ex-team the first time the teams met this season, will get the call in goal. For the season, he has posted a 16-8-4 record, 2.41 goals against average, .914 save percentage and three shutouts in 25 starts and four relief appearances. Lehtonen has posted a 13-4-0 record, 2.80 GAA, .909 save percentage and one shutout in 20 starts and one relief appearance.
Sharks Outlook
The Sharks bring a four game winning streak into Saturday's tilt. On Thursday, San Jose earned the bonus point via shootout in a 2-1 final against the visiting Edmonton Oilers. Overall, the Sharks are 6-3-1 over their past 10 games.
On Thursday, Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored the lone regulation goal for San Jose. Martin Jones turned back 24 of 25 shots in regulation and overtime and then denied both Oilers' shooters he faced in the skills competition. Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi were both successful on their respective shootout attempts for San Jose.
Pavelski leads the Sharks with 43 points (22 goals, 21 assists) in 42 games played, as well as a team-high seven power play goals. Offensive defenseman Brent Burns (18 goals, 22 assists, 40 points, minus-10) is next, followed by veteran playmaker Joe Thornton (nine goals, 24 assists, 33 points, plus-13), fellow veteran Patrick Marleau (14 goals, 16 assists, 30 points, minus-12) and power forward Joel Ward (13 goals, 14 assists, 27 points). Jones has posted a 19-13-2 record, 2.42 GAA and .914 save percentage in 35 appearances.
On the injury front, the Stars have a healthy lineup. Veteran forward Dainius Zubrus is on injured reserve for San Jose.