Canucks at Stars
The Dallas Stars look to extend their winning streak to a season-high six games and continue dominance in the series when they host the struggling Vancouver Canucks on Sunday afternoon. The Stars have won all five games in February, allowing eight goals combined, after edging Pittsburgh 4-3 in a shootout Friday and have not lost in regulation in the last 14 games against Vancouver (13-0-1).
All-Star center Tyler Seguin extended his goal-scoring streak to five games Friday to move within one of his fourth season with at least 30 as Dallas improved to 1-14-1 when trailing after two periods. “We learned a lot about ourselves (Friday),” Stars coach Ken Hitchcock told reporters, “and we learned a lot about how deep we can dig, and we dug deep tonight to get two points.” The Canucks are going in the opposite direction with four straight losses after a 4-1 setback at Carolina on Friday without leading scorer Brock Boeser (wrist). “Our execution with the puck was nowhere near close enough to beat a team that skates like that,” Vancouver coach Travis Green told the media. “We’re not a good enough hockey team to have half a team play well.”
TV: 4 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), FS Southwest Plus (Dallas)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (21-28-6): Boeser, who leads all rookies in the NHL with 26 goals, was injured in Tampa Bay on Thursday and could miss his second straight game. Defenseman Chris Tanev (leg) along with forwards Markus Granlund (ankle), Sam Gagner (ankle) and Brendan Gaunce (foot) are also questionable for Sunday’s contest. Goalie Jacob Markstrom (15-19-5, .908 save percentage) told reporters he needs to come up with more timely saves than he has of late: “The past couple games, I haven’t been good enough.”
ABOUT THE STARS (33-19-4): Kari Lehtonen stepped up to win the shootout Friday and provided some rest for No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop (23-14-3, 2.43 goals-against, .920 SP), who has stopped 190 of 202 shots in his last six contests. Alexander Radulov boasts five of his team-leading 53 points in the last four games while John Klingberg leads all NHL defenseman with 52 to tie captain Jamie Benn for second. Seguin owns six tallies and two assists along with a plus-7 rating during his goal streak, and is fourth on the team with 51 points.
OVERTIME
1. Radulov scored the winner and Bishop made 38 saves as the Stars won at Vancouver 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 30 for their third straight triumph in the series.
2. Vancouver LW Darren Archibald, who was signed recently, played his first NHL game since 2013-14 on Friday and logged 16:10 of ice time.
3. Dallas C Martin Hanzal (leg) missed Friday’s contest - the 21st he has sat out this season - and is questionable for the Vancouver matchup.