MINI-PREVIEW: STARS VS. KINGS
Looking to remain the only NHL team to avoid losing back-to-back games, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (23-7-2) play host on Saturday night to Michel Therrien's Montreal Canadiens (20-10-3). Game time at the American Airlines Center is 6:00 p.m. CT. The game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest Plus and nationally on NHL Network.
This is the first of two meetings between the inter-conference teams this season. They will rematch in Montreal on March 8. Last season, the clubs split two games, with the home side prevailing each time.
The Stars have had a relatively light game schedule of late, but that is about to change before a three-night break from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.
The Stars have been at home for most of the last two weeks. Saturday's game will be the Stars' fifth home game out of their last six games overall. Dating back to Dec. 5, the Stars have only played five games in 13 nights, with just one back-to-back game set.
Dallas has performed inconsistently during that stretch, however. The team is 3-2-0 over its last five games and Ruff was unhappy even after a deceptive 5-1 win over Columbus on Tuesday. For the month of December, the team has gone 4-2-2.
The Stars enter this game coming off a 3-1 home loss to the Calgary Flames. Dallas got off to a good start but a sloppy finish to the first period proved to be fatal and a late comeback push fell short. Dallas needs a win on Saturday to maintain its season-long streak of not having lost back-to-back games.
Saturday's game also marks the start of a busy three-in-four scheduling gauntlet. After this game, the Stars travel to St. Paul to take on the Minnesota Wild on Monday. The team then returns home to host the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks before the leaguewide holiday break.
Montreal has played four of its last five games at home. The club now embarks on a scheduling segment that will see the club play eight straight games on the road including a pre-break three-in-four. After this game, the Habs are in Nashville on Monday and Minnesota the next night. Following the three-night holiday break, the road trip will pick up again on Dec. 27 in Washington.
With defending Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner Carey Price sidelined with a lower-body injury, the Canadiens have been scuffling lately after being the NHL's final undefeated team -- and the hottest team overall along with the Stars for the first six weeks -- of the 2015-16 season. The Habs have lost six of their last seven games, with every loss coming in regulation.
The Habs enter this game coming off a 3-0 home shutout loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. The Canadiens played better than the score suggests. Montreal outshot LA by a 45-20 margin but could not bury a single scoring chance.
Apart from the absence of Price, Montreal is also missing forwards Brendan Gallagher (hand) and Devante Smith-Pelly (lower body) from the lineup. Both players remain on injured reserve.
Despite the Stars' recent inconsistency and the Canadiens' losing skid, a meeting between the two clubs holds the promise of a clash between two of the league's top teams this season. Arguably, the Stars and Canadiens are the NHL's two fastest-skating clubs on a teamwide basis.