Stars at Canucks
THE STORY: The Western Conference-leading Vancouver Canucks look ripe for the picking, dropping three of their last four games heading into Tuesday's home game with the red-hot Dallas Stars. Dallas has won six of its last seven games, including a 3-2 overtime victory against the Canucks on Feb. 26 that snapped a six-game losing streak to Vancouver. Dallas closes a three-game Western Canada road trip at Rogers Arena, where it hasn’t won in its past five visits.
TV: 10 p.m., FS Southwest (Stars), RS Pacific (Canucks)
ABOUT THE STARS (35-26-5): Dallas has been great at mopping up its mistakes. The Stars, who rank 12th in the NHL on the penalty kill (82.5) have weathered 33 of their last 36 penalties, including all three power-play opportunities against Calgary in Sunday’s 3-2 shootout win. That special teams display is a big reason why Dallas has won four straight on the road and can equal its longest road winning streak of the season with a win Tuesday. The Stars strung together five in a row on the road between Oct. 18 and Nov. 8, 2011.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (41-17-8): Vancouver's scoring has taken a turn for the worse during the slide, most notably the production of star forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin. The twins have both failed to register in a point in nine of the past 12 games, including Saturday’s 5-3 loss to Buffalo. Adding to that is a dismal power play, which is 0 for 6 in the first two games of March. Since netting four power-play goals versus Boston on Jan. 7, Vancouver has a 14.6 success rate with the man advantage. The Sedins combined for 33 power-play goals last season, but only have 16 this year.
OVERTIME:
1. Dallas improved to 20-0-2 when leading after two periods after it protected a 2-1 lead entering the third against Calgary.
2. Despite its woes on the power play, Vancouver is still third in the NHL at 21.0 percent.
3. Dallas netted a power-play and shorthanded goal against Calgary on Sunday, only the second time this season it has accomplished the feat.