Ducks at Stars
The Dallas Stars look to steady their ship after managing one victory in the first four contests of March when they host the surging Anaheim Ducks on Friday night before leaving for a six-game road trip. The Stars played three overtime games - winning once - to start the month before getting blanked by Central Division-leading Nashville 2-0 on Tuesday.
“We’re just going to have to move forward,” Dallas defenseman John Klingberg told reporters after Tuesday’s setback. “We can’t be frustrated. We’re still right in the mix there. We’ve still got the wild card spot. We’re just going to have to move on and find a way to score more goals.” The Stars hold down the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference and will try to avenge a 2-0 loss to the Ducks on Feb. 21 in Anaheim, which is 7-2-1 in its last 10 despite a 4-2 setback at Nashville on Thursday. The Ducks own a playoff position, but are just a few losses from dropping out in the crowded Western Conference after seeing their three-game winning streak come to an end against the Predators. Anaheim’s All-Star forward Rickard Rakell has been red hot of late, collecting eight goals during a five-game streak after scoring twice Thursday and will play his 300th game Friday.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS West (Anaheim), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (34-22-12): Rakell has posted 10 points in the last five games and leads the team with 58 - nine better than captain Ryan Getzlaf, who registered one goal and 10 assists in the past four contests. Power forward Corey Perry has also been on a hot streak with two goals and five assists in the past five games while right wing Ondrej Kase has gone eight outings without recording a point. No. 1 goaltender John Gibson saw his six-game winning streak come to an end Thursday and Ryan Miller, who stopped all 41 shots in the previous meeting with Dallas, could get the start.
ABOUT THE STARS (37-24-6): Center Tyler Seguin has led the way of late, scoring seven goals with four assists in the last seven contests and is one tally shy of matching his career high of 37 in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Seguin tops the team with 62 points while Alexander Radulov is three behind and boasts 24 goals - two from tying his career high with Nashville in 2007-08. Klingberg leads all defensemen in the league with 56 points, but has managed two in the last eight games, while captain Jamie Benn (22 goals, 58 points) has been held off the scoresheet in two straight contests.
OVERTIME
1. Dallas G Kari Lehtonen (11-7-2, .919 save percentage) has stopped 47 of 51 shots over the last two games with G Ben Bishop (lower-body) out.
2. Anaheim LW Jakob Silfverberg notched an assist Thursday to reach 200 points in his career.
3. The Stars have killed 19-of-20 power plays in the last five games and the Ducks are 25-for-25 in the past nine contests.