Texas Stars

This week was the least successful week the Texas Stars have had in the last month. They went 1-1-1 (still respectable) to get three out of a possible six points.

Cristopher Nilstorp and Jack Campbell split starts during the week. Nilstorp’s starts went a bit rougher than Campbell’s as he allowed six goals on 48 shots while Campbell allowed only one goal on 30 shots. Nilstorp won the only game for Texas last week though.

The standout skater for the team last week was Alex Chiasson. Chiasson had a goal and three assists to lead the team in points for the week. Jordie Benn returned to the team last week after an extended stay with the Dallas Stars and had two assists to go along with 10 shots on goal. Benn will spend the rest of his time down in Austin unless the injury bug hits the Dallas defense.

Despite the average week, the Texas Stars still lead the conference and have the most points in the AHL. They return home this week for a three game homestand against division opponents.

Feb. 12 – Houston Aeros @ Texas Stars

Feb. 15 – OKC Barons @ Texas Stars

Feb. 16 – OKC Barons @ Texas Stars (again)

Through 12 games this season, the Stars rank 24th in the NHL with a 47.4 face-off percentage. Dallas has lost the fourth most face-offs in the NHL.

The face-off percentage rankings can be skewed a bit due to guys with good percentages while taking very few face-offs. I re-ranked the players in the NHL and only included guys that had taken at least 50 face-offs this season.

Of the four main guys for Dallas (Roy, Benn, Eakin, Fiddler) only Fiddler ranks in the top-50 in the league. Fiddler ranks 46th in the league, Roy at 76, Benn at 83 and Eakin at 93.

Dallas has won the face-off battle in four of the 12 games this season.

Final

Dallas Stars 3 - Anaheim Ducks 1

The Positives:

Jamie Benn is on a roll right now. His goal last night gives him six points in the last three games and he's been carrying this offense for the past week. He looked slightly rusty during his first few games, but he's definitely worked that rust off now. He's found great chemistry with Jagr and Morrow and those guys need to stick together until that magic disappears.

The Stars actually outshot an opponent! Dallas controlled the game in the first and third periods and outshot Anaheim 23-8 in those two frames. It's the first time the entire year that the Stars outshot the other team and that puck possession was critical last night.

Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoski were both excellent last night. Daley was the last man back on three different breakaways and made great defensive plays on two seperate one-on-one chances. He also scored his first goal of the year and was solid all-around.

Goligoski used that one game scratch as motivation as he had his best game of the year. He looked lively and controlled on the puck. He had two assists (although one assist was off his skate) and played well defensively as well against a tough group of forwards.

The powerplay looked good in the first period as the Stars got two goals on tha man advantage. Jonas Hiller looked really shaky in net and the Stars took advantage of that before he left the game with an injury.

He's not a fighter, but I loved Robidas going after Corey Perry early in the game. It helped set the tone that Dallas wouldn't be pushed around this game. There's been very few positives out of Robidas this year so that was good (though a bit odd) to see.

I loved that the Stars went after Perry in every single scrum.

It should go without saying now that Kari Lehtonen was excellent. He made an incredible save on a three-on-one attempt from the Ducks with a gorgeous glove stop.

Anaheim Ducks (7-1-1, 15 pts) @ Dallas Stars (5-5-1, 11 pts)

7:30 PM CT

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

The Ducks

Rankings:

Goals – 4th, Goals Against – 10th, Power Play – 5th, Penalty Kill – 26th

Anaheim was expected to enter this season on a downturn. They finished 13th in the West last season and had pretty much the exact same roster this year (with a few additions on defense). Three weeks into the season and Anaheim suddenly looks like one of the best teams in the league.

The Ducks are getting it done with pretty much their entire roster. Nine players have at least five points (led by Saku Koivu’s 11) and seven players have at least three goals on the season (surprisingly led by Daniel Winnik’s five).

Sheldon Souray leads the defensemen on the team with seven points and has lived up to his hefty contract so far for the Ducks.

The only weak spot on this team has been Jonas Hiller, but even that problem seems to have been readily fixed. 30-year-old rookie Viktor Fasth has played out of mind so far this season. He’s started four games (all wins) and has only allowed four goals. He leads the entire league in both GAA and SV% and seems to have taken over the starting goalie spot.

The Ducks are 26th on the penalty kill, but that’s a bit misleading now. Every single one of their goals allowed on the PK were with Hiller in net. When Fasth is in there, the Ducks have been a perfect 11-11. Anaheim has also been shorthanded only 33 times this season. That’s tied for second least in the entire league so don’t expect Dallas to get many chances tonight.

Anaheim only has one real injury issue to deal with. Cam Fowler has an upper body problem and is on injured reserve. The Ducks recently traded for Ben Lovejoy from Pittsburgh to get an extra body on the blueline.

I would expect Fasth to get the start tonight, but I’m hoping Dallas sees Hiller instead.

Possible line combos:

Ryan – Getzlaf – Perry

Beleskey – Koivu – Selanne

Palmieri – Cogliano – Winnik

Etem – Bonino – Smith-Pelley

D-Pairings:

Beauchemin – Souray

Sbisa – Allen

Lovejoy – Lydman

Final OT

Dallas Stars 3 - Edmonton Oilers 2

Jagr is my hero.

The Positives:

• That revamped Stars top line has caught fire these past two games. Benn scored another goal and had another assist while Morrow also had an assist. Jagr only had an assist, the game winning goal in overtime and the wonderful shushing of the Oilers crowd. Who knows why this trio has such a nice chemistry but they need to stay together while the going is good.

• It was to be expected considering the injuries to the Oilers centers, but the Stars were solid in the face-off circle. It's only the third game all year that the team has won the face-off battle. The 24-18 margin might not be as wide as expected, but each of the Stars four centers were at or above 50%. Benn and Roy were a combined 7-8 in the offensive zone.

• It was good to see Philip Larsen back on the ice. He played well in the game and bailed out Jamie Oleksiak a couple of times when he had trouble exiting the zone. He didn't look rusty out there and tied for the team lead with three shots on goal.

• The Goligoski scratch may have been controversial, but it was definitely needed. Goose has been really bad this season and needs a game or two just to let some of the pressure off. He just needs to let the worries go and just play hockey.

• The second period for Dallas wasn't horrible this time around. They didn't take any penalties, scored two goals and weren't wildly outshot (tied 7-7). It's easily the best second frame for the Stars this season.

• Dallas kept the penalties in check this game. There was only one real penalty taken by Dallas this game (the Robidas high stick) and they only took four penalties overall. It was refreshing not to see a parade to the penalty box, especially against a great power play team in Edmonton.

• Kari Lehtonen, but he's always a positive for this team.

Dallas Stars (4-5-1, 9 pts) @ Edmonton Oilers (4-3-2, 10 pts)

9:00 PM CT

Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The Oilers

Rankings:

Goals – 22nd, Goals Against – 11th, Power Play – 3rd, Penalty Kill – 6th

Edmonton comes into this game on a three game losing streak (though two have been in OT/SO) and riding an offense that hasn’t been as prolific as expected. The Oilers have scored two or fewer goals in four straight games and has dropped three of them as a result.

The explosive potential is definitely still there though considering the top-six that they’ll throw out onto the ice. Sam Gagner is, a bit surprisingly, leading the team in points and assists and has been a big weapon for the league’s third best PP. Rookie sensation Nail Yakupov leads the team with five goals and most awesome celebrations.

The usual suspects of Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall are both having nice seasons and even Ales Hemsky is scoring timely goals. 21 of the 26 goals scored by the Oilers this season have come from the top-six forwards.

The one guy among the top-six that really hasn’t hit his stride yet is top center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. RNH is still goalless on the season and has just five assists. He’s been getting his shots though so it’s just a matter a time before he gets on the scoreboard. The last thing Dallas needs is for him to get hot right when the get to Edmonton.

The Oilers will probably continue to ride Devan Dubnyk tonight in goal. He’s started all nine of the games this season and has played quite well.

Edmonton has a few injury issues to deal with tonight. Forward Shawn Horcoff broke his hand blocking a shot on Monday night and is going to miss significant time while Eric Belanger (broken toes), Ben Eager (concussion) and Ryan Jones (eye) are all dealing with issues that will keep them out of this game. Defenseman Theo Peckham has a hip problem and probably won’t be playing.

Possible line combos:

Hall – RNH – Eberle

Hemsky – Gagner – Yakupov

Smyth – Lander – Petrell

Paajarvi – Hartikainen – Hordichuk

D-Pairings:

Whitney – J.Schultz

Petry – Smid

N.Schultz – Potter (unfortunately no Fistric).

Final

Dallas Stars 3 - Colorado Avalanche 2

It wasn't the prettiest or most convincing of wins, but the Stars were able to get it done last night. Jamie Benn carried the team with his two goals and Kari Lehtonen was just good enough as Dallas put Friday's ugly effort behind them.

The Positives:

• The obvious one here would be Jamie Benn. His first goal was a work of art as he deftly stole the puck away from Matt Hunwick just outside the offensive zone, raced in all alone and easily slid it by Varlomov for the Stars first goal just two minutes into the game. His second goal was a wonderful snipe from about 40 feet away that was the end result of great patience from Dallas on a delayed penalty call.

Stars fans have been waiting for this from Benn ever since he came back and it's good to see him producing again. He's been playing very well but just had not been able to find his scoring touch.

• The line shuffling by Gulutzan worked well last night (for a change). His top line of Morrow-Benn-Jagr scored all three goals for Dallas and his other lines showed some fire and signs of life that had been missing all season. For the first time I can remember this season, Eric Nystrom crashed the net and was a factor in the game.

• Brenden Dillon is just 11 games into his NHL career and he might already be the best defenseman on the Stars current roster. He's been the most consistent and sound defenseman on the team this season and is one of the few guys that you worry about on the ice. He did get caught pinching in at one point during the first period though and that led to a three-on-two situation for the Avalanche but that luckily didn't lead to a goal.

Dallas Stars (3-5-1, 7 pts) @ Colorado Avalanche (4-4-0, 8 pts)

8:00 PM CT

Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

The Avalanche

Rankings:

Goals – 20th, Goals Against – 11th, Power Play – 30th, Penalty Kill – 22nd

For Dallas, there might not be a better time to play the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs have been riddled with injuries lately as captain Gabriel Landeskog has a head injury (possibly a concussion) and Steve Downie went down with a year-ending ACL injury. Last season’s point leader Ryan O’Reilly continues to hold out and David Jones has a nagging knee issue (though he could play tonight).

Despite those injuries, the Avs have managed to win their last games and put up some of their highest goal totals of the season. Paul Stastny and P.A Parenteau have raised their games and carried the team in the absence of the other offensive leaders.

Dallas has to especially watch out for Matt Duchene though. He’s been a killer against the Stars the past few seasons and currently leads the Avs in points.

Semyon Varlamov is the likely starter in goal tonight for Colorado. He’s won only one of his last four starts and has a 0-1-2 career record against the Stars.

Possible line combos:

McGinn – Duchene – Parenteau

Mitchell – Stastny – Hejduk

McLeod – Sgarbossa – Kobasew

Bordeleau – Van der Gulik – Olver

D-Pairings:

Johnson – Hejda

O’Brien – Barrie

O’Byrne – Hunwick

Final

Dallas Stars 0 - Phoenix Coyotes 2

The Stars had another ugly game on the second night of a back-to-back and found themselves on the wrong side of a 2-0 scoreline last night. The game overall was just flat out bad and the Stars continue to be bamboozled by the back-to-backs.

The Positives:

• There were very few positives to take away from this game. The penalty kill was easily the best part of what the Stars did last night. They actually looked like the more aggressive team despite being a man down and had some of their best chances in the game on the PK.

• Jamie Oleksiak didn't do anything that really stood out, but he played well again for the second straight game. The BigRig had 16 minutes of ice time and led the team with six hits. He just needs to continue to play hockey and he'll get much better in no time.

The Meh

• The line combinations that Gulutzan had for this game confused me. Brenden Morrow was put into the top six and was quiet throughout the game. He had one shot in the opening minute but disappeared after that. Reilly Smith was given only eight minutes of ice time, seven less than Morrow.

Phoenix Coyotes (2-4-1, 5 pts) @ Dallas Stars (2-4-1, 5 pts)

7:30 PM CT

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

The Coyotes

Like Dallas, the Coyotes have been off to a tough start this season. They have the exact same record as the Stars and have lost three of the last four games. A big part of the struggles though may be the fact that Mike Smith has been injured and only played the first two games of the season.

Smith looks like he’ll be back between the pipes tonight. Phoenix will be hoping that Smith is the cure-all for what’s been a very disappointing defense for the Coyotes so far this season. They’ve allowed at least four goals in all but one of their losses and have given up a bunch of power play goals to the opponent.

On the positive side for Phoenix, they somehow have one of the best power play units in the league (at least one PP goal in six of the first seven games).

Radim Vrbata has also played quite well and leads the team in points with seven. He’s on a four-game point streak coming into tonight. He had two goals and an assist in the first game between the two teams.

Phoenix is dealing with a good number of injuries. Matthew Lombardi has an upper body issue and will be out a month. Martin Hanzal and Steve Sullivan are both dealing with lower body injuries and are questionable to play in tonight’s game (or tomorrow’s game) while Raffi Torres is still suspended for one more game.

Defenseman Rostislav Klesa also has a lower body injury that he’s dealing with.

Possible line combos:

Korpikoski – Vermette – Doan

Boedker – Gordon – Vrbata

Moss – Chipchura – Johnson

Miele – Bolduc – Bissonnette

D-Pairings:

Yandle – Ekman-Larsson

Michalek – Morris

Rundblad – Schlemko