MINI-PREVIEW: STARS VS. FLAMES
Lindy Ruff's President's Trophy race leading Dallas Stars (23-6-2) return to action on Thursday night, hosting Bob Hartley's Calgary Flames (14-14-2). Game time at the American Airlines Center is 7:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest Plus.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season. On Dec. 1 in Calgary, the visiting Stars were unable to protect a 3-0 lead in the third period and went on to settle for one point in a 4-3 loss via shootout.
The Stars and Flames each last played on Tuesday. Dallas hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets while the Flames visited the Nashville Predators. Thursday's game is the second match of a three-game homestand -- amid a stretch of five of six games at home -- for the Stars. The Flames are in the second game of a four-game road trip.
On Tuesday, the Stars overcame a sluggish start to skate to a 5-1 win over Columbus. Kari Lehtonen played a very strong game in goal, stopping 34 of 35 shots. Dallas got a first period goal by defenseman Johnny Oduya, followed by a three-goal outburst in the second period courtesy of an Alex Goligoski rebound tally and two goals scored by Tyler Seguin within 30 seconds of one another. Mattias Janmark added some additional insurance in the third period.
After the game, Ruff publicly laced into his team for what he felt was a disjointed and sometimes sloppy effort despite the lopsided final margin of victory. The coach has felt of late that the team has too often been reverting to the way they played last year -- a run-and-gun style that proved unsustainable -- and he wants more of a consistent 200-foot game from the entire team. In Tuesday's game, he juggled line combinations to try to get greater two-way balance.
The Flames bring a six-game winning streak into Dallas. The club is coming off a 2-1 overtime win against the Predators on Tuesday night; Calgary is now 8-1 in games decided in OT, and 1-1 in shootouts.
Statistically, the Stars still rank as the NHL's top offensive team (averaging 3.42 goals per game) while Calgary is at the bottom of the NHL with 3.43 goals against average. Offensively, the Flames rank 14th (2.63 goals per game) but the club has scored 23 regulation/OT goals during it's six-game winning streak; an average of 3.83 goals per game.
On the injury front, the Flames are without Michael Frolik (upper body) and F Lance Bouma (leg). The Stars currently have no reported injuries.