Another home game, another tough opponent. The Dallas Stars welcome the New York Rangers to town tonight in hopes of a similar result from Tuesday night’s game against Anaheim.
The Dallas Stars will play the second game of their five-game home stand tonight as they host the New York Rangers. Puck drop is set for 7:30PM CT.
Records and Scores
The Stars (12-13-6) defeated the Anaheim Ducks in a 6-2 outing Tuesday night. They looked like their former selves in the win as they were able to convert on offensive opportunities. It served to be one of their better games thus far this season and Dallas will aim to build on that as they host the Rangers tonight.
New York (20-10-1) fell to the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday night 2-1 in regulation. The Rangers have still had a very impressive season thus far and are a force to be reckoned with. They will be looking to get back in the win column as they visit the Stars tonight.
Storylines
Defensive Line-up Is Up in the Air
Dallas has dealt with a lot of variances in their line-up this season. Most recently those changes have been on the blue line, making predicting which players will be in and which will sit nearly impossible.
Jamie Oleksiak will be eligible for return tonight after having completed his two-game suspension. Julius Honka is nearing return, but seems unlikely for tonight’s match-up. Johnny Oduya made his return to the line-up Sunday night and will almost certainly be in tonight.
That requires the Stars to make big decisions about which d-men will suit up. They have a surplus of quality defenders and with the injured blue liners slowly but surely making their return, the decisions will be hard yet again.
Whichever defensemen are in tonight’s game will have a lot of work ahead of them as the Rangers are a fast and skilled team.
No Quit
The Dallas Stars found their way back to the win column Tuesday night in a game that was a statement. This team is not surrendering their playoff expectations because the season’s start was underwhelming.
They are not willing to accept their fate as a bottom of the division team when they are not even one season removed from being its leader. That will not happen and the Stars will do everything in their power to make sure it doesn’t.
The quest for a comeback begins tonight.
Dallas will have to build off of their victory from Tuesday night and mimic that kind of energy. Playing with a lack of focus or determination is not an option at this point, especially being in the highly competitive Central Division.
The Stars need to keep their expectations high and the pressure on if they are going to right this ship. A win over the Rangers would without a doubt be a step in the right direction.
Injuries
Dallas will play without Patrick Sharp (concussion), Mattias Janmark (knee) and Ales Hemsky (groin). Honka will also most likely miss this game, despite being close to returning.
New York will not have Mika Zibanejad (broken fibula), Matt Puempel (concussion) or Pavel Buchnevich (back spasms) in their line-up tonight. Rick Nash (groin) and Ryan McDonagh (illness) are possibilities.
Line Predictions
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Jason Spezza
Antoine Roussel – Radek Faksa – Brett Ritchie
Jiri Hudler – Cody Eakin – Patrick Eaves
Lauri Korpikoski – Devin Shore – Adam Cracknell
New York Rangers
Chris Kreider – Derek Stepan – Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner – Kevin Hayes – J.T. Miller
Marek Hrivik – Oscar Lindberg – Jesper Fast
Jimmy Vesey – Brandon Pirri – Nicklas Jensen
Prediction
The Stars will continue their home success as they defeat the Rangers 3-2 in overtime.
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