Canucks at Stars
The Dallas Stars are unraveling at the worst time of the year and need an abrupt turnaround to keep their sagging postseason hopes alive. A matchup against one of the worst teams in the Western Conference looms as a must-win game for the fading Stars, who carry a seven-game losing streak (0-5-2) into Sunday's game against the visiting Vancouver Canucks.
After going winless on a six-game road trip, Dallas absorbed a crushing loss in the start of a three-game homestand by allowing three third-period goals, including the game-winner with 12 seconds remaining, in Friday's 3-2 setback to Boston. "We've got seven more games that we can win, so we're going to stick with it and try and win all seven, but take it one game at a time," Stars captain Jamie Benn told reporters after the stunning defeat that left his team five points out of the second wild card. The Stars certainly can't afford to look past the slumping Canucks, who rolled to a 6-0 victory in Dallas on Feb. 11. Vancouver, which is wrapping up a four-game road trip, has dropped eight of its last nine games (1-8-0) and scored a total of eight goals in the eight losses.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (26-40-9): Veteran forward Daniel Sedin, Vancouver's second-leading scorer after reaching 50 points for the 11th time in his stellar career, is poised to appear in his 1,300th game Sunday. Forward Sam Gagner reached a personal milestone on Friday night by scoring his 150th career goal, but he had to end a 25-game drought dating to Jan. 6 to get there. Captain Henrik Sedin acknowledged the Canucks are starved for offense, telling reporters: “We know we can’t give up more than two goals.”
ABOUT THE STARS (38-29-8): Dallas has scored 17 times during the seven-game slide despite the efforts of Benn, who is on a late-season surge with goals in his last three games and six of the past eight. With starting netminder Ben Bishop (knee) still sidelined, Kari Lehtonen is expected to get the nod as he seeks his first victory since March 9. Lehtonen allowed a pair of goals in relief in Vancouver's shellacking of the Stars last month, but he owns an 11-7-1 record and 2.69 goals-against average versus the Canucks.
OVERTIME
1. Stars F Tyler Seguin, who needs one goal to reach 40, has eight tallies and 21 points in 16 career games against the Canucks.
2. Vancouver has failed to score on the power play in nine of its last 10 games.
3. Dallas has allowed eight power-play tallies in the past seven contests.