STARS @ HURRICANES GAME PREVIEW
Looking to strengthen their very tenuous control of the final wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars (37-27-11) travel to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes (33-32-11). Game time is 6:00 p.m. CDT. The match will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the second and final meeting between the inter-Conference clubs this season. On Feb. 27 at the American Airlines Center, the Stars cruised to a 4-1 win. Coming into tonight's game, Dallas has won each of their last four games against the Canes.
Dallas has been on a roll of late, sporting a 5-1-0 record over the last six games. The play of goaltender Kari Lehtonen has been a big part of the reason but the entire team has shown a renewed commitment to two-way play and aggressive puck pursuit. The Stars have outscored opponents by 23-11 margin over the last six games, and have gotten balanced scoring along the way.
The Stars enter this game coming off a 5-0 shutout win over Washington. Dustin Jeffrey scored his first two goals in a Dallas uniform while Alex Chiasson racked up three assists. Tyler Seguin, Ray Whitney and Ryan Garbutt (shorthanded) also tallied for Dallas. Lehtonen compiled a 35-save shutout.
On the injury front, forward Erik Cole (upper body) and defenseman Aaron Rome (lower body) are day-to-day. Rich Peverley (heart surgery) is out for the rest of the season.
Carolina is realistically out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, out six points with six games to go. However, the Canes have stepped up to bite several teams above of them in the standings. They are coming off a 4-1 road win in Pittsburgh, in which the team controlled the final 40 minutes of play against a seemingly disinterested Penguins team.
On the Carolina injury front, Andrei Loktionov (lower body) and Jiri Tlusty (upper body) are both questionable for tonight. Joni Pitkà¤nen (heel) has missed the entire season.