Red Wings at Stars
THE STORY: After knocking off the reigning Stanley Cup champion
Boston Bruins, the Dallas Stars will see another tough customer knock on
the door of the American Airlines Center. The Detroit Red Wings will
open their four-game road trip Tuesday coming off a 3-0 triumph over the
Central Division rival St. Louis Blues on Saturday. That contest,
however, was at Joe Louis Arena - where the Red Wings play like a
heavyweight champion. On the road, however, coach Mike Babcock's club
has dropped six of their last nine outings. "We seem to be comfortable
(at home) and we're playing well here. That's real good for us," Babcock
said. "You want to be good at home; we'd like to improve our road
record here and we're going to have ample opportunity to do that." While
Detroit has its issues on the road, Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan insists
he's only focused on his own team. "For us moving forward, we’ve gotta
look up,” Gulutzan said. “We can’t look down and sideways, we’ll trip
and fall." The Stars have taken three of four meetings with Detroit in
Dallas, but the Red Wings posted a 5-2 home victory on Nov. 12.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, FS Detroit
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (24-13-1):
Goaltender Jimmy Howard, who leads the league with 23 wins, turned
aside 31 shots for his fourth shutout of the season Saturday. Howard,
however, has struggled versus the Stars, winning only three of eight
career starts. Left wing Johan Franzen snapped an eight-game goalless
streak with his team-leading 15th tally of the season Saturday.
ABOUT THE STARS (21-15-1):
Right wing Michael Ryder burned his former mates with a goal to cap a
three-goal first-period uprising as Dallas ended Boston's seven-game
winning streak on Saturday. His team-leading 15th goal of the season
came on the power play. It was one of two goals with the man advantage
for the Stars, who entered the contest by failing on their previous 11
opportunities on the power play.
OVERTIME:
1. The
Stars placed veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray on injured reserve with a
sprained ankle. The 35-year-old Souray suffered the injury against the
Nashville Predators on Dec. 23.
2. Jordie Benn will join brother
Jamie on the ice Tuesday. The former is getting a chance to play in the
absence of Dallas defenseman Philip Larsen, who is dealing with a mild
concussion.