Stars at Coyotes
THE STORY: Winning at Jobing.com Arena has been difficult of late for the Dallas Stars. It will be even harder Saturday as they take on the Phoenix Coyotes without All-Star Jamie Benn, who will miss at least two games with a cut to his knee. Benn was injured in Thursday's overtime win over Calgary as he was sliced by Flames defenseman Mark Giordano's skate, receiving a cut that needed 13 stitches to close. Dallas, which has dropped five of seven on the road, has lost seven of its last 10 visits to Phoenix. The Coyotes have won four straight at home and are 6-0-1 in their last seven contests.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TXA 21 (Dallas), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE STARS (29-25-3): Mike Ribeiro scored the winning goal against Calgary. Of his 12 tallies this season, four have been game-winners. With Benn out of the lineup, Dallas recalled center Ryan Garbutt from Texas of the American Hockey League on Friday. The 26-year-old, who has yet to make his NHL debut, recorded 16 goals and 17 assists in 50 games with Texas this season. Adam Burish has scored in consecutive games for the first time since February 2009. Dallas is 10-2-0 when Burish scores a goal.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (28-21-9): Mike Smith has been a major contributor to Phoenix's current surge, winning all six of his starts in February. The former Dallas netminder is coming off back-to-back shutouts and has allowed a total of three goals over his last five outings. Smith is 4-0-3 with a 1.95 goals-against average in seven career meetings with the Stars. Ray Whitney has recorded at least one point in nine of his last 10 games while Radim Vrbata has done the same in eight of his last nine contests.
OVERTIME:
1. The Stars have lost 13 of their last 19 meetings with the Coyotes.
2. Dallas has scored a total of four goals in four games against Phoenix this season while allowing 10.
3. Phoenix's offense has stalled of late, producing only one goal in each of its last two contests.