STARS-SHARKS GAME PREVIEW (10:00 P.M. CST, 12/20/13)
Coming off one of their best performances of the season, the Dallas Stars (17-12-5) will look to match that effort as they begin a two-game California trip with a match against the San Jose Sharks (21-8-6). Game time is 9:30 p.m. CST. The match will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season. On Oct. 17 at the American Airlines Center, the Stars captured a 4-3 win via shootout. Tyler Seguin, Trevor Daley and Cody Eakin scored for Dallas, erasing three separate one-goal deficits. Alex Chiasson notched the winning goal in the shootout. Winning netminder Dan Ellis stopped 32 of 35 shots in regulation and overtime. Tyler Kennedy, Matthew Nieto and Patrick Marleau tallied for the Sharks.
The Stars enter this game coming off a strong all-around performance on Thursday, in which Dallas snapped an eight-game point streak for Vancouver with a solid 4-1 win. Kari Lehtonen played in his best game in several weeks, looking strong in turning back 27 of 28 shots. Jamie Benn, Colton Sceviour (third goal in four games) and veteran Erik Cole notched goals for Dallas.
Checking line forward Vernon Fiddler (upper-body injury) participated fully in the team's practice on Friday, and there is a good chance he will be ready to play in Saturday night's game against the Sharks. However, Ryan Garbutt (lower-body) did not practice and is questionable for the game.
San Jose has been one of the NHL's most dominant home teams thus far in the 2013-14 season, posting a gaudy 11-1-3 mark on home ice to date. However, the Sharks have had their share of ups and downs in the month of December.
The Sharks enter this game with a 3-5-1 mark in December. The club has dropped two of its last three games, all of which were played on the road. In their most recent outing, San Jose dropped a 4-1 game to the rival Los Angeles Kings. Marleau broke up Martin Jones' shutout bid with 2:10 remaining in regulation, but it was too little and too late.
Veteran center Joe Thornton leads the Sharks in overall scoring with 31 assists and 36 points. Marleau's 16 goals pace the squad. Workhorse starting goalie Antti Niemi (2.31 GAA, .913 save percentage) has already appeared in 31 games.
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