Dallas Stars (7-5-1, 15 pts) @ Edmonton Oilers (3-4-3, 9 pts)
8:30 PM CT
Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The Flames
Rankings:
Goals – 20th, Goals Against – 24th, Power Play – 6th, Penalty Kill – 24th
Things haven’t gone so well for the Flames as of late. They’re off to a slow start to the season and recently lost starting goal Miikka Kiprusoff to an MCL injury. Their defense has been porous and their offense has sputtered when two of their top centers were injured.
In other words, if Dallas wants to break their back-to-back games curse there’s no better time than tonight.
Calgary comes into this game pretty well rested (only 10 games played so far and only one back-to-back to start off their season) but injuries have decimated their top players.
Alex Tanguay leads the team with nine points and is tied with four other players with five assists. Lee Stempniak leads the Flames with five goals and Jarome Iginla is off to a slow start with only one goal this season.
The one thing to note about Calgary is that they are the least penalized team in the league. They average only about eight PIM per game and have been on the PK only 36 times.
Leland Irving should get the start tonight in net. He’s 1-1-1 on the year with a 2.62 GAA and a .900 save percentage.
The aforementioned Kiprusoff is out tonight as well as forwards Mikael Backlund (knee) and Sven Baertschi (hip). Mike Cammalleri also has a hip problem but he should be able to go tonight.
Possible line combos:
Cammalleri – Tanguay – Iginla
Hudler – Stajan – Cervenka
Glencross – Jones – Stempniak
Begin – Comeau – Jackman
D-Pairings:
Giordano – Bouwmeester
Brodie – Wideman
Butler – Sarich
Dallas:
Rankings:
Goals – 25th, Goals Against – 8th, Power Play – 20th, Penalty Kill – 8th
Things are going pretty well for the Dallas Stars. They’re on a four game winning streak and the offense has woken up. Their depth lines have started to produce points and the top lines have been clicking (especially the first line).
The penalty kill has been excellent and the power play has shown some signs here and there of some potential.
They’re taking all that good mojo into another dreaded second night of a back-to-back again this evening. If they ever want this monkey off their back, there’s not going to be as many good chances as tonight.
Jamie Benn is riding a four game point streak while Jagr has a point in three of the last four games.
Expect Oleksiak to be back in the lineup tonight and Larsen to ride the pine again. The rest of the lineup should stay the same with the only question being who starts in goal.
It’s enticing to start Lehtonen again, but the Stars cannot overuse him and get him injured. I’d rather see Richard Bachman in net tonight than Lehtonen just to get him some rest with seven more games left in February.
The only injury for Dallas is Ray Whitney and his broken foot.
Probable lines:
Morrow – Benn – Jagr
Eriksson – Roy – Ryder
Vincour – Eakin – Smith
Nystrom – Fiddler – Roussel/Garbutt
D-Pairs:
Dillon – Robidas
Rome – Daley
Goligoski – Oleksiak
