The Dallas Stars are tied atop the Western Conference standings with St. Louis, but it's no thanks to the Arizona Coyotes.
One of the few things the Stars haven't accomplished this season is to beat the Coyotes. Arizona will go for a sweep of the season series on Thursday night when the teams meet for the third time this season in Dallas.
The game can be seen on FOX Sports Arizona, starting at 5 p.m.
The Stars (46-22-9) are tied with St. Louis for first in both the Western Conference and Central Divison with 101 points following Tuesday's 5-2 win over Nashville, and Dallas holds a three-game advantage in the first tiebreaker -- regulation and overtime wins.
Both teams have five games remaining, but Dallas follows this contest with visits to Los Angeles and Anaheim before facing Colorado and the Predators at home.
The Coyotes (34-35-7) have two the first two meetings over Dallas, both in Glendale, by a combined score of 9-4. That includes a 3-1 victory exactly one week ago. Last season, the Stars won all three games between the teams by a combined margin of 13-4.
Arizona had won three in a row before suffering a 5-2 loss on home ice to Calgary on Monday. The Coyotes play five of their final six games on the road -- with the lone exception coming Saturday night after Washington.
Anthony Duclair had both goals in Monday's loss on the power play -- giving him 19 goals on the season.
Duclair had scored in his last four games (two goals, thee assists), and his 19 goals are tied for second most by a rookie since the franchise moved to Arizona -- three short of Peter Mueller's record of 22 in 2007-08. He's tied with Trevor Letowski (1999-2000) and one ahead of fellow rookie Max Domi.
Martin Hanzal has also scored in four consecutive games for the Coyotes (two goals, four assists) and has tied his single-season career-high with 40 points.
A loss of any kind or Minnesota earning a point against Ottawa will formally eliminate Arizona from playoff contention in a season that started with promise. The Coyotes were second in the Pacific in mid-January but have gone 12-19-2 since while seeing their scoring output dip to 2.30 goals per game.
That's put more pressure on their goaltenders, and Mike Smith has been up to the task since returning from a 40-game injury absence. Smith is 4-1-0 with a 1.20 goals-against average and .965 save percentage since getting back in the lineup, but he's lost his last four starts against Dallas.
Forward and team captain Shane Doan returned to practice Wednesday and is expected to play after missing Monday's game with concussion-like symptoms. "All indications say he's fine," coach Dave Tippett said. Doan leads the Coyotes with 26 goals, five short of his career high.
The Stars are the NHL's highest scoring team and feature three 30-goal scorers -- Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza and the injured Tyler Seguin. Benn has three in his last two games to put him one away from his first 40-goal season. No Stars player has reached that mark since Mike Modano's 50-goal campaign in '93-94 -- the franchise's first season in Dallas.
Kari Lehtonen has had the majority of the starts in goal for the Stars lately, posting a 1.77 GAA and .941 save percentage over a 3-1-0 span. He's 5-1-0 in his last six against Arizona with a 1.51 GAA and .950 save percentage.
