Stars at Kings
THE STORY: The Los Angeles Kings conclude their six-game homestand Thursday when they face off against the Dallas Stars in a battle between Pacific Division rivals at the Staples Center. Los Angeles is 3-1-1 over the first five games of the homestand and 7-1-3 in its last 11 overall. The Kings have earned at least one point in six of their last seven contests at home (5-1-1) and nine of 10 under new coach Darryl Sutter (6-1-3). Dallas has lost three of its last four road games. The Stars had their streak of consecutive contests with four goals snapped at four when they dropped a 5-2 decision at Anaheim on Tuesday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE STARS (23-17-1): Mike Ribeiro is likely to miss his second straight game with a slightly torn MCL in his right knee. Jamie Benn, who leads the team in scoring with 42 points, has been unstoppable of late. Benn enters Thursday's contest with a five-game points streak (four goals, six assists) and has notched at least one point in 11 of his last 12 matches. Jamie will be the only Benn in the lineup against the Kings as brother Jordie was assigned to Texas of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. Defenseman Jordie notched one assist in two contests with the Stars as the Benns became the sixth set of brothers in team history to play together in a game and the third since the franchise moved from Minnesota to Dallas.
ABOUT THE KINGS (21-15-7): Los Angeles has been impenetrable on the penalty kill, successfully extinguishing its last 37 infractions. Goaltending has been the club's strong spot of late as Jonathan Quick has allowed a total of three goals over his last five starts while Jonathan Bernier has yielded two tallies or less in each of his last five. Quick is 6-0-1 in his last seven meetings with Dallas. Jack Johnson made good on the dare with which he was presented while watching Sunday's NFL wild-card playoff game between the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers with teammates, who suggested the defenseman celebrate his next goal by "Tebowing." Johnson ended his 17-game drought the next night in a win over Washington and promptly dropped to one knee and placed his head on his closed fist, a ritual highly religious quarterback Tim Tebow of Denver regularly practices during games.
OVERTIME:
1. Los Angeles erupted for five goals against the Capitals on Monday after totaling only two tallies over its previous three games.
2. Dallas has lost 11 of its last 16 meetings with the Kings.