Dallas hosts playoff foe Colorado for the first time since eliminating them in the second round last season.
After a quick break for Thanksgiving, the Dallas Stars have to quickly regroup from a blowout loss as the up-and-down Colorado Avalanche visit the American Airlines Center Friday night.
The Central Division match-up is the only meeting the two teams will have in Dallas this year, with the other two games later in the season in Denver. The two teams currently occupy the third and fourth spots in a very competitive division race. Both teams have 26 points but the Stars have played two fewer games.
The Avalanche are coming off a 2-1 shootout home win over the Vegas Golden Knights the day before Thanksgiving. Valeri Nichushkin, who has only played six games due to his enrollment in the NHL Players Assistance Program, scored his second goal of the season in the second period, just 33 seconds after Vegas opened the scoring. Nichushkin also won Colorado the game after being the only one to score in five rounds the shootout. Alexander Georgiev picked up a rare win in which he allowed two or fewer goals against.
In the Avs prior game, Colorado lost 8-2 in Tampa in a game that saw Justus Annunen start, Georgiev come in in relief, and then Annunen come back in for the third period. The Avalanche have had several games where their team defense has been exposed this year.
The Stars last outing was against the Chicago Blackhawks in what was probably their worst performance of the season. The Blackhawks kicked off the miserable night by immediately scoring within the first 20 seconds of the game. Taylor Hall, who had recently been healthy scratched by head coach Luke Richardson, ended up scoring a hat trick by the second period after only scoring two goals all season going into the game against Dallas.
There wasn't much about the Stars game that was working for them against Chicago, but in particular the defensive effort was abysmal. The pairing of Brendan Smith and Matt Dumba allowed several goals. Smith ended the game -4 and Dumba finished the night with a -3. Casey DeSmith allowed a personal season-high of six goals against.
Colin Blackwell drew back into the lineup due to a minor injury to Roope Hintz. After missing several games, Blackwell was able to get on the scoreboard with a gritty goal scored right in front of Petr Mrazek. And Matt Duchene, who has arguably been the Stars hottest forward, tallied his 12th goal of the season.
Things to watch for:
- Earlier today it was announced that the Stars recalled Alexander Petrovic from the Texas Stars. With the recent performance, this call-up was a statement by the coaching staff. Pete DeBoer announced after morning skate that both Smith and Dumba would be healthy scratches, so Petrovic will make his season debut against the Avalanche. Nils Lundkvist will draw back into the lineup after dealing with an injury for the previous few games.
- Duchene has 17 points in 16 games against his former team, including 12 goals and five assists. He also scored one of the most memorable goals for Stars fans in recent history when he netted the double overtime winner to end the series against Colorado last season. He was picked third overall by the Avalanche in the 2009 draft.
- Wyatt Johnston is on a four-game point streak with one goal and four assists heading into tonight's game. Johnston was having a slow start to the season butsince he has been put on the top line with Hintz and Jason Robertson, he has finally picked up his production. In his career, Johnston has tallied five points in eight games against the Avs.
At morning skate, it was announced by DeBoer that Logan Stankoven is dealing with "a little thing from last game," so he will be out of the lineup. When addressing the lineup, DeBoer stated that at this point in the season, the excuses for new players to get up to speed are quickly running out. Winning games is key, and DeBoer seems prepared to put whoever will give the team the best chance to win on the ice.
Projected lines:
Robertson-Hintz-Johnston
Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
Benn-Bourque-Dadonov
Steel-Back-Blackwell
Heiskanen-Lyubushkin
Lindell-Lundkvist
Harley-Petrovic
Oettinger
DeSmith
Puck drop is at 8 p.m. CDT and can be seen across the nation on TNT and streaming on Max.
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