The Stars play their fourth game in a five-game homestand Wednesday night against the Arizona Coyotes.
The Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes will face off in the second of three meetings Wednesday night at American Airlines Center. The Stars (41-19-9, 91 points) haven't played a game since Saturday, a 4-1 win at home against the Los Angeles Kings.
Dallas finds itself in third place in the Central Division, although two points separate them from the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche, with those two teams tied in points with 93.
The Coyotes (28-35-5, 61 points) are mired in seventh place in the Central. They are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games, including a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils in their last game this past Saturday.
The two teams haven't met since last November, when the Stars claimed a 4-3 overtime win over Arizona in Dallas. Tyler Seguin (1-1-2) and Matt Duchene (1-1-2) each led the Stars with two points, and Jake Oettinger stopped 23 of 26 shots.
Dallas has dominated the Coyotes in recent years, going 18-2-1 in the last 21 games against them. In the last 20 games at home, the Stars are 17-0-1 against the Coyotes dating back to March 20, 2012. It's the second longest active streak in the NHL and the second longest in franchise history. The Stars are 54-30-12 all-time against the Coyotes at home.
Jason Robertson currently leads the Stars in points with 68, while Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston are tied for the top spot in goals (26). Clayton Keller leads Arizona in both points (59) and goals (27).
Things to Watch for:
- The Stars rank third in the NHL in faceoff win percentage (53.8%) while Arizona is last (45.5%).
- Miro Heiskanen is currently on a seven-game point streak against Arizona, recording two goals and eight assists for 10 points.
- Joe Pavelski has played a team-high 79 career games against the Coyotes, and leads active Stars in goals (32), assists (31) and points (63) against them.
- Nick Schmaltz enters Wednesday's game with 13 points in the month of March for the Coyotes (3-10-13) and is tied for the second-most points in the NHL this month.
- With a point against the Stars Wednesday, Coyotes rookie Logan Cooley would tie Christian Fischer and Christian Dvorak for the tenth-most points in a rookie season in team history.
Lineup Changes:
- Tyler Seguin, who has been out since February 22, returns to the lineup for the Stars Wednesday.
- Jani Hakanpaa, who has also been nursing a lower-body injury, will not play against the Coyotes. Nils Lundkvist will be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past several games.
- Jake Oettinger will start in goal for the Stars. Scott Wedgewood is about to become a dad, so he will not be with the team for the game. The Stars have recalled goalie Matt Murray from the Texas Stars to back up Oettinger.
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