With the team mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (39-31-10) will play their final road game of the 2014-15 season when they take on Bruce Boudreau's Anaheim Ducks (50-23-7) on Wednesday night at the Honda Center. The game will be nationally televised on NBCSN at 9:30 p.m. CDT.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between the teams, who opposed one another in the Western Conference Quarterfinals last spring. On Halloween night, the Ducks captured a 2-1 overtime win at the American Airlines Center. On March 1st, the visiting Ducks earned a 3-1 regulation win. Tuesday's match is the lone season series game in Anaheim.
The Stars have been red-hot down the stretch drive of the season (12-5-0 in the last 17 games), but it was simply too little and too late. Ultimately,the team's too-frequent defensive lapses and a generally down season for starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen spelled doom for Dallas' hopes of a second straight playoff appearance.
On Monday night, the Stars did their part to stave off mathematical elimination as they earned a 5-1 road win over the disappointing San Jose Sharks. Team captain Jamie Benn, who has been on fire during the stretch drive, led the way with two goals and an assist. Jhonas Enroth got the start in goal and stopped 23 of 24 shots.
Dallas' season will conclude on Saturday night with a home game against the playoff-bound Nashville Predators. With the Stars out of the playoffs, Hockey Canada formally confirmed the much-rumored appointment of Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill as the GM of Team Canada for the upcoming 2015 IIHF World Championships in the Czech Republic.
In an upcoming blog, I will look at the Stars candidates to represent their national teams at the tourney. Barring injury, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin should play very prominent roles in the tournament for the Canadian side.
The Ducks had a four-game winning streak snapped on Friday night in a 4-2 home loss to Colorado. The team has had four idle nights since then. Anaheim has already clinched the Pacific Division championship and is two points ahead of the St. Louis Blues (with two games remaining for both clubs and the Ducks holding a tiebreaker advantage) for guaranteed home-ice throughout the Western Conference playoffs. The New York Rangers have already clinched the President's Trophy and guaranteed home-ice should they reach the Stanley Cup Final.
On the Anaheim injury front, Matt Beleskey (lower body) and Tim Jackman (lower body) are both listed as probable for this game, while defenseman Clayton Stoner (lower body) is questionable.