STARS-RED WINGS PREVIEW
Wrapping up a five-game home trip after seeing a seven-game point streak come to an end, the Dallas Stars (20-13-7) will play host to the Detroit Red Wings (18-14-10). Game time is 7:00 p.m. CST. The match will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the second and final meeting between the teams this season. On Nov. 7 in Detroit, the Stars captured a 4-3 win in overtime.
In that tilt, the Stars battled back from a 2-0 deficit with a Shawn Horcoff goal in the final minute of the second period and a Jamie Benn tally early in the third. After Pavel Datsyuk restored the lead for Detroit midway through the third period, Cody Eakin sent the game to overtime with a power play goal with 1:10 remaining in regulation. The game was 19 seconds away from going to a shootout when Rich Peverley scored to win the game for the Stars.
Dallas enters this game coming off a 6-4 loss to the Canadiens. Dallas generated an early-game goal by Jamie Benn (providing their only lead of the match), a second-period penalty shot goal by Valeri Nichushkin that tied the game at 2-2, and third period goals by Tyler Seguin (power play) and Brenden Dillon to re-knot the score at 4-4 before Montreal forged ahead again to stay.
The loss to the Canadiens ended a streak of seven straight games (5-0-2) in which they collected at least one point and held the opposition to two or fewer goals during regulation. The Stars will try to start a new streak tonight.
Both Seguin and Peverley have been under the weather with the flu in recent days but skated this morning, according to the Stars' official site. They are expected to play tonight. In the meantime, both Trevor Daley (high ankle sprain, skated today) and Sergei Gonchar (concussion) are nearing clearance to return to the lineup but will not play tonight.
The Red Wings have won just three of their last 12 games (3-6-3). The team is coming off a 3-2 shootout loss in the 2014 Winter Classic in Ann Arbor. Daniel Alfredsson and Justin Abdelkader scored in regulation, while Pavel Datsyuk was the lone Detroit shooter to convert his shootout opportunity against Toronto's Jonathan Bernier.
Patrick Eaves suffered an upper-body injury in the Winter Classic as a result of a high hit from the Maple Leafs' Joffrey Lupul. He is day-to-day. Defensemen Danny DeKeyser (lower body) and Jonathan Ericsson are out for tonight, along with forwards Johan Franzén (head) and Stephen Weiss (sports hernia). Darren Helm (shoulder) and G Jonas Gustavsson (groin) are listed as day-to-day.
Tonight's game marks the start of a four-game road trips for the Red Wings, with stops in San Jose, Los Angeles and New York after the game in Dallas. On Monday, the Stars open a three-game road trip through the New York Metropolitan area with a game against the New York Islanders. PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
STARS
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Valeri Nichushkin Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt Erik Cole – Rich Peverley – Alex Chiasson Shawn Horcoff – Vernon Fiddler – Ray Whitney
Alex Goligoski – Brenden Dillon Aaron Rome – Jordie Benn Kevin Connauton – Cameron Gaunce
Dan Ellis [Kari Lehtonen]
RED WINGS
Justin Abdelkader – Pavel Datsyuk – Todd Bertuzzi Gustav Nyquist – Henrik Zetterberg – Daniel Alfredsson Drew Miller – Joakim Andersson – Tomas Tatar Daniel Cleary – Luke Glendening – Patrick Eaves(?)
Niklas Kronwall – Brendan Smith Alexey Marchenko – Kyle Quincey Brian Lashoff - Jakub Kindl
Jimmy Howard [Petr Mrazek]
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