The Dallas Stars head from Chicago to Colorado for the second game of a back-to-back this weekend to face the Avalanche.
Two huge points are up for grabs in the race for the Central Division as the Dallas Stars take on the Colorado Avalanche on national television Sunday night.
With just a handful of games left in the season and after Saturday's loss against the Chicago Blackhawks, these two points carry a lot of weight. The Stars currently sit three points ahead of the Avalanche for first place in the Central, and both teams have played an equal amount of games.
The Stars look to bounce back after yesterday's loss, where the Blackhawks were outshot 44-17 by Dallas and somehow still managed to hang on for the win. In the Stars best period, Chicago was able to get on the board three times on five shots, while Dallas could only manage a single goal on 23 shots. The Stars did not capitalize on a two-man advantage in that second period, and again could not cash in on the power play down by a goal with less than five minutes remaining in the third.
Jamie Benn continued to stay red-hot, scoring his 20th goal of the season on a deflection of a Miro Heiskanen backhand shot in the third period. Benn's 20 goal campaign breaks a tie for the franchise record for most 20 goal scorers in a season with eight different players breaking that plateau. The Stars are an anomaly, with no player in the top-20 in the league in scoring but as a team are only behind the Avalanche in total goals on the season. Colorado has scored 287, and Dallas is close behind with 283.
The big difference in scoring for both teams is how top-heavy Colorado is. Nathan MacKinnon has put together a Hart Trophy type season, with 131 points and only trailing Nikita Kucherov for most points in the league. He and Mikko Rantanen have led a top line that looks dangerous on every shift of every game.
Rantanen took a big hit from Mattias Ekholm of the Edmonton Oilers Friday and did not return afterwards in the Avs 6-2 loss. Rantanen will not play against Dallas Sunday, creating a huge void for a top heavy offensive team. There is no long term prognosis on how much time Rantanen might miss, but Colorado will be desperate to have him fully healthy and ready to go come playoff time if they want to contend for another Stanley Cup. Forward Miles Wood will also miss Sunday's game with a lower-body injury.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar publicly talked about how goaltender Alexander Georgiev needed to have a bounce-back game against the Stars after a poor performance in the Oilers game. Over the past month, Georgiev has a 3.04 goals against average, and a below average .899 save percentage.
For the Stars, lineup news Sunday included an announcement that the team sent Mavrik Bourque back to the Texas Stars. Bourque played 11 minutes and was not on the ice for a goal for either team in his NHL debut. Tyler Seguin will slot back in after his day of rest, marking the second time since returning from his injury that Seguin has had a game of rest to make sure he is fully ready for the playoffs.
Projected Lines:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
Benn-Johnston-Stankoven
Steel-Faksa-Smith
Harley-Heiskanen
Lindell-Tanev
Suter-Lundkvist
Oettinger
Wedgewood
Puck drop for Saturday's game is at 9:00 p.m. CDT and can be seen on ESPN nationally. John Bucigross and Ray Ferraro are on the call.
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