Aiming for their sixth win in seven games, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (34-28-10) play host to Ted Nolan's Buffalo Sabres (20-44-7) on Monday night. Game time at the American Airlines Center is 7:30 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the team, and the lone game in Buffalo. On Feb. 7, the Stars pulled out a 3-2 regulation road win.
The Stars will complete their four-game homestand on Monday. Although the Stars have recently played some of their best hockey of the season, they have not been able to make up significant ground in the standings. With 10 games remaining on their schedule, Dallas remains eight points out of the final wildcard spot.
Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen has been outstanding in the month of March after playing very inconsistently over the first five months of the season. In eight outings, he is 6-1-0 with a 1.85 goal against average and .930 save percentage. The big Finn is coming off a 33-save shutout of the previously red-hot Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, including a penalty shot stop on Brandon Saad.
The Stars put forth a strong 60-minute effort against the Blackhawks. First period goals by Patrick Eaves and Tyler Seguin (power play) were later supplemented by third-period tallies by Shawn Horcoff (power play) and Jason Spezza for a four-goal margin of victory.
On the Dallas injury front, defenseman Trevor Daley (lower body) and forwards Travis Moen (upper body) and Valeri Nichushkin (hip) remain out of the lineup.
The low-scoring Sabres, still possessing the worst record in the NHL despite some improvements to pull themselves out of the league basement in some team statistical categories, are coming off a 3-0 shutout loss in Nashville on Saturday.
On the Sabres' injury front, defenseman Zach Bogosian (lower body) is questionable for Monday's game. Top-line center Zemgus Girgensons (lower body), defenseman Josh Gorges (lower body), agitating winger Patrick Kaleta (lower body), goaltender Chad Johnson (lower body), center Cody McCormick (blood clot) and left winger Evander Kane (shoulder surgery) are out of the lineup.