Looking to get back on the winning track, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (4-2-2) are home at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night to take on former Stars' coach Ken Hitchcock's St. Louis Blues (3-3-1). Game time is 7:30 p.m. CDT. The match, which is the Stars' Hockey Fights Cancer Night, will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the first of five meetings between the rival Central Division clubs this season. Tonight's game marks the start of a two-game mini homestand for Dallas and the beginning of a stretch of 10 games against opponents within the Western Conference.
Dallas enters this game coming off a road loss to the New York Islanders. On this night, the Stars were unable to outscore their defensive mistakes and got so-so goaltending from backup Anders Lindbà¤ck in a 7-5 loss. Dallas rallied from a 3-1 deficit to briefly take a 4-3 lead, but Frans Nielsen exploded for a hat trick in the third period to swing the outcome in the Islanders' favor.
Tonight's goaltending matchup is expected to see Kari Lehtonen pitted against Brian Elliot.
On the Dallas injury front, both Valeri Nichushkin (groin/hip) and Sergei Gonchar (ankle) practiced with the team yesterday but neither is ready to play. Rookie defenseman Patrik Nemeth (severe forearm laceration) is out for the season. For St. Louis, center Paul Stastny (shoulder) is out while Ryan Reaves (illness) and Vladimir Tarasenko (illness) are questionable for tonight's game. Former Toronto defenseman Carl Gunnarsson is expected to make his Blues debut tonight after rehabbing from off-season hip surgery.
St. Louis enters this game coming off a 3-2 home win against Chicago. Hitchcock, who had been highly critical of his team through its first six games, felt the team took a significant step in the right direction in its win over the Blackhawks.
Per Stars' Inside Edge writer Mark Stepneski, these were Dallas' practice lines on Monday:
Jamie Benn – Jason Spezza – Tyler Seguin Patrick Eaves – Vernon Fiddler – Ales Hemsky Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt Erik Cole – Shawn Horcoff – Colton Sceviour
Extra forwards: Curtis McKenzie (healthy), Valeri Nichushkin (hip/groin)
Alex Goligoski – Trevor Daley Jordie Benn – Brenden Dillon Jyrki Jokipakka – Jamie Oleksiak
Extra defensemen: Kevin Connauton (healthy), Sergei Gonchar (ankle)
Kari Lehtonen Anders Lindback