Coming off one of the team's most impressive wins of the 2014-15 season, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (27-22-8) host Todd McLellan's San Jose Sharks (29-22-8) on Thursday night. Game time at the American Airlines Center is 7:30 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.
This the second of three games between the teams this season, and the second and final game in Dallas. On Nov. 8, the Stars skated off with a 5-3 home win.
The Stars enter this game having won four of their last five games. On Tuesday, in the absence leading scorer Tyler Seguin and several other regulars, the Stars stepped up to earn a 4-1 road win over the previously red hot St. Louis Blues. Stars captain Jamie Benn delivered his first career NHL hat trick, while Kari Lehtonen stopped 27 of 28 shots. Cody Eakin also scored as the Stars jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back.
Seguin (knee injury) is sidelined for several more weeks. Ales Hemsky (lower body) missed Tuesday's game and is questionable for this game. Patrick Eaves (concussion) remains out indefinitely. Rehabbing forward Valeri Nichushkin (hip surgery) and defenseman Patrik Nemeth (severe forearm laceration from a skate cut) are making progress toward their returns but currently remain on injured reserve.
Thursday's game marks the first time that Stars defenseman Jason Demers and San Jose's Brenden Dillon will play against their former teams. The two players were traded for one another on Nov. 21, 2014.
The Sharks enter this game looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The club is coming off a convincing 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. The third period was a mere formality, as the Preds scored three times in the middle period to open up a four-goal lead. Matt Irwin's first-period goal stood as the lone Sharks tally. Alex Stalock yielded five goals on 37 shots.
On the San Jose injury front, forwards Tye McGinn (upper body), Raffi Torres (knee), Daniil Tarasov (undisclosed), Mike Brown (leg) are all out of the lineup.