Dallas Stars Host Carolina Hurricanes In Early Saturday Matchup
The Dallas Stars are back home after going winless on a two-game road trip. They will play host to the Carolina Hurricanes today and will simply hope for something positive to happen.
It’s time for a little afternoon hockey. The Dallas Stars are back at the American Airlines Center and will welcome the Carolina Hurricanes today for a matinee matchup.
The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest (FSSW), and you can also hear it on 1310AM/96.7FM The Ticket. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars come into this afternoon’s matchup with an atrocious 21-24-10 record with 52 points in 55 games. They are further below .500 than they have been all season and sit a massive eight points out of the final wild card spot in the West. Their most recent game was a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators and they are 1-4-0 in their last five.
The Carolina Hurricanes enter today’s game with a record of 24-21-7 with 55 points in 52 games. They are still very much in the fight for a wild card in the East and could really use two points today. Their most recent game ended in a 5-0 loss to the Washington Capitals and they are 3-2-0 in their last five contests.
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Storylines
A tale of two teams
Today’s game features two teams who have undergone drastic changes over the past year. This time last season, the Stars were surging above everyone else in the NHL while the Canes were floundering and searching for answers.
Oh how the tables have turned (somewhat). While Carolina is by no means flying high, they are well within sight of a playoff berth and have plenty of games in hand to make a run. After all, it’s only a five-point spread.
Meanwhile, the Stars are stuck in a 100-foot canyon with two feet of rope to get them out. Well maybe not that drastic, but it’s bad. Dallas has lost four straight games in regulation and are now basically four wins out of a wild card spot. While it’s not mathematically impossible, it may as well be.
Carolina hoists a dominant PK
The Dallas Stars have not put up the best power play numbers this season. They own the 20th best power play in the league with a 17.4 percent success rate. In particular, they have struggled heavily over the past few games. In the past three contests, the Stars have gone a grueling 1-13 on the power play.
Those results do not bode well for Dallas today. The Canes come in with the highest ranked penalty kill throughout the NHL with an 86.5 percent success rate. That’s practically unbelievable.
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Considering also that the Stars own the 29th best penalty kill in the league, it may be yet another ugly day for Dallas in the special teams department.
Searching for something, anything positive
The Dallas Stars are in a really rough patch right now. They are dwelling near the bottom of the Western Conference and continue to widen the gap between themselves and a playoff berth. At this point, it is probably in their best interest to start focusing on the trade deadline, NHL draft, and free agency in preparation for next season.
So in today’s game, it would be exquisite if we could simply see something positive from Dallas. Maybe a power play goal. Or at least for the Stars to not put the puck in their own net. We aren’t picky at this point. If it has to be a five-game losing streak, I guess we’ll find a way to manage. But at least pull a little positivity out of the matchup
Injury report
The Dallas Stars will be without C Jason Spezza (upper body), D Johnny Oduya (ankle), C Mattias Janmark (knee), and RW Ales Hemsky (hip) today. D Jamie Oleksiak (hand) remains day-to-day.
The Carolina Hurricanes will be minus the services of LW Bryan Bickell (multiple sclerosis).
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Projected lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel – Tyler Seguin – Brett Ritchie
Devin Shore – Radek Faksa – Patrick Sharp
Curtis McKenzie – Adam Cracknell – Lauri Korpikoski
Carolina Hurricanes
Jeff Skinner – Victor Rask – Lee Stempniak
Sebastian Aho – Jordan Staal – Elias Lindholm
Brock McGinn – Derek Ryan – Teuvo Teravainen
Joakim Nordstrom – Jay McClement – Viktor Stalberg
Prediction
The Dallas Stars are playing without much purpose right now, while the Hurricanes are scavenging for every point. As much as I hate to say it, give me the Canes winning this one 3-2.
