Anaheim (10-8-3) at Dallas (6-9-3), 8:00 pm EST
DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Dallas Stars are about to find out what
life is like without captain Brenden Morrow - as if it were not
tough enough already.
Losers in six of their last eight, the injury-riddled Stars hope
to snap out of their funk when they host the Pacific Division
rival Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
Morrow suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right
knee in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and will
likely miss the rest of the season.
"We are obviously very disappointed to hear the news about
Brenden's knee," Stars co-general manager Les Jackson said. "As
our captain, he will obviously be missed, but we have every
assurance that he can and will come back from this injury at 100
percent. There is a lot of hockey left to be played this
season, and we are confident our team will rally together and
keep pushing."
Morrow recorded five goals and 10 assists in 18 games for the
Stars, who have trudged through a trying season after appearing
in the Western Conference finals six months ago.
With a dented offense, goaltender Marty Turco will need to step
up if the Stars plan on matching last season's 45-win campaign.
Holding a career 2.21 goals-against average, Turco has struggled
while posting a 3.67 GAA in 16 games. He seemed to have
returned to form prior to the loss to Chicago, holding opponents
to two or fewer goals in four of his previous five starts.
Anaheim is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the St. Louis
Blues. Defenseman Scott Niedermayer scored with one second left
in the third period to force the extra session.
The Ducks, who have dropped five of six, are tied with the
Toronto Maple Leafs for second-worst in the NHL in goals allowed
(67). Only Dallas (68) has yielded more.