STARS-ISLANDERS ABBREVIATED GAME PREVIEW (8:45 AM CST)
Looking to stop the bleeding of a five-game losing streak and win for the first time this month, the Dallas Stars (20-17-7) are back in Dallas tonight to take on the New York Islanders (17-22-7). Game time is 5:00 p.m. CST. The match will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the two teams. This past Monday, the Stars began an ill-fated three-game road trip through the greater New York area with 7-3 blowout loss at the hands of the Islanders. Dallas actually managed to take a 2-0 lead to the first intermission, despite some shaky defensive play. Thereafter, Kari Lehtonen was not able to rescue the team. John Tavares led the Islanders assault with three goals.
The Stars played a little bit better in a 1-0 loss to the Devils in Newark on Thursday and significantly better against the Rangers in Manhattan on Friday. Dallas held a pair of one-goal leads against the Rangers and controlled the play for significant stretches but still left the building with a 3-2 regulation loss.
The Islanders bring a three-game winning streak into tonight's tilt. On Friday, Michael Grabner's overtime goal sent New York to a 2-1 road win over Colorado. Islanders goaltender Kevin Poulin authored 30 saves.
The Islanders have turned around their fortunes on the road this season. At one juncture, Jack Capuano's team lost 10 in a row away from Nassau Coliseum. Now, the team brings a six-game road winning streak to the AAC. In that span, the Islanders have outscored their opponents by a 25-14 margin.
New York's power play in on fire of late; as the Stars discovered in the game on the Island on Monday. The team has cashed in nine of its last 20 opportunities on the man advantage.
On the Islanders' injury front, goalie Evgeni Nabokov (lower body injury sustained in the last game against the Stars), and defensemen Lubomir Visnovsky (out long-term with a concussion) and Radek Martinek (back) all remain unavailable. On the Dallas side, defenseman Stephane Robidas is out for the season with a fractured right tibia.
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